The Antenna

Preamble: KTVL-DT (our digital transmitter) is on channel 35 and located on Mt. Ashland; we put out 50,000-Watts power. Our digital transmitter is on 24 hours a day.

There is a federal law (OTARD: Over-The-Air Reception Devices [47 C.F.R. Section 1.4000]) which prevents homeowner associations and apartment complexes from prohibiting the installation of reasonable TV antennas. A copy of the rule is available at http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html. This law also applies to small satellite dishes (DirecTV, DishNetwork).

Buying the right antenna: Antennas can be purchased from Radio Shack and various other retail outlets as well as over the Internet. This discussion will refer to Radio Shack (RS) antennas because "everyone knows Radio Shack;" however, we are not recommending RS antennas over any other brand of antenna – they simply are a convenient reference. Go to http://www.radioshack.com to see the specifications on the antennas mentioned in this discussion.

"UHF only" antennas are designed to pick up TV channels 14 and above. A "VHF/UHF combo" antenna will pick up channels 2 through 13 as well as all the UHF channels ("VHF" = channels 2 - 13).

All local stations have been assigned channels in the UHF band for their digital transmitters. Therefore, a "UHF only" antenna may be used instead of a VHF/UHF combo if you are only interested in the digital stations. If you subscribe to cable, a "UHF only" antenna may be your best choice since you already have access to the local analog channels. If you subscribe to satellite, you may want the VHF/UHF combo antenna so you can pick up the local analog stations as well as the digital stations. Since you are installing an antenna anyway, you may as well "get the most bang for your buck."

All antennas mentioned are general recommendations only. We can not guarantee that any one specific antenna will work for you. Check the return policy of the store before you buy the antenna and keep your receipts.

At www.antennaweb.org, you will find an antenna selector program. This site lists all the available analog and digital channels you can receive from your location and the antenna type and size needed. If they recommend a different antenna than we suggest in this discussion, go with their selection.

Indoor antennas: Many retail outlets (Sears, Best Buy, etc) as well as Radio Shack sell indoor antennas. There are many different indoor antenna designs available.

"Rabbit ear" antennas are two telescoping rods (RS# 15-136). A "loop antenna" is that round piece of wire that used to come with some sets (the circle portion of RS# 15-864). A "Bow Tie" antenna is a bent piece of wire (or sheet metal) shaped like a bow tie (RS# 15-234 and RS# 930-0998).

Looking at the various antennas shown on the Radio Shack website, you will see that most of the antennas shown are a combination of and variations on the basic rabbit ear and loop antennas design.

In general, "Rabbit ear" antennas do not work well for UHF. If you are very close (10 miles) to our transmitter you might get a picture with rabbit ears (push the rods to their shortest length). A "loop antenna" is designed for UHF and is more likely to work. Rabbit ear and loop antennas tend to lose signal when people walk close to them, however. A dual "bow tie" antenna is reported to be one of the better indoor "UHF only" antenna designs (such as RS# 930-0998). Another very good UHF only antenna is the "Silver Sensor" by Zenith. Radio Shack sells a "Silver Sensor" look-alike made by Terk.

Rabbit ear, loop, and other indoor antennas do not normally work well in mobile homes or homes with metal siding or a metal roof. There is nothing keeping you from putting an indoor antenna in the attic (or in a window, on a wall behind a curtain, etc.) if you want to "hide" it out of sight.

Outdoor antennas: If you have tried indoor antennas and can't get a picture, you probably need an outdoor antenna. You may or may not need an amplifier. If you have tall trees close to your home, you will probably need a bigger antenna.

Mounting the antenna: The outdoor antenna must have a clear "line of sight" to our transmitter/translator. Central air conditioning ducts and other metal objects will block the signal, and may rule out the "antenna in the attic" idea.

If your home has metal siding or a metal roof, you will probably have to mount the antenna on the outside of your home. Chimney, wall, tripod and eaves mounts are available if you don't want to put in a pole. The bottom of the antenna should be at least 3 foot above the top of the roof in most cases.

You may need to put the antenna on a pole. In general, the higher you get the antenna, the better. In some cases, getting the antenna higher will keep you from having to purchase an amplifier. Alternately, an amplifier can make up for slightly short antenna heights. The choice is up to you.

If you have tall trees close to your home, you may experience problems picking us up. About the only solution is to get the antenna higher. An amplifier does not help much when trees are in the way since it can not amplify a signal that isn't there.

Safety First! All outdoor antennas must be grounded to protect your home as well as your TV set. Use of a "grounding block" (such as RS # 15-909) will satisfy this requirement.

Connecting the antenna: Use coax cable between the antenna and the TV set. The flat stuff (twinlead) is likely to pick up interference while coax is immune to most types of interference when properly installed. Coax cable is available at many retail outlets including Radio Shack, Sears, Lowe's, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, etc.

You should connect the antenna directly to your TV set or Digital tuner when first setting up the antenna. If you subscribe to cable or "regular satellite" (non-HDTV satellite), disconnect it for now. Once you get HDTV pictures you can reconnect your cable or satellite service. You most likely would be able to get your HDTV antenna working without disconnecting your cable or satellite service, but if you run into problems you wouldn't know for sure if it's the antenna or the cable/satellite equipment which is causing the problem.

If your TV set or digital tuner has a second antenna input for a digital antenna, this temporary removal will not be necessary. Connect the antenna cable directly into this second antenna input.

If you are using a satellite HDTV receiver, connect the antenna to the "antenna" input connector on the back of the satellite receiver. You should leave all satellite cables connected when using a satellite HDTV receiver.

Aiming the antenna: The open end of the antenna should be pointed towards Mt. Ashland or the translator site for your area. Visualize the antenna as a cup "filling up" with signal, rather than an arrow pointing toward a transmitter/translator.

The easiest way to aim the antenna is to use the signal strength meter on the HDTV set or digital tuner. If your set or tuner does not have a signal strength meter, tune your TV set to our analog channel 10 signal and turn the antenna until you get the best signal (for this method to work, you will have to have purchased a VHF/UHF "combo" antenna). In most cases, our digital translator is co-located with our analog translator, so this position will be very close to correct in most cases.

The www.antennaweb.org website also lists the direction to point the antenna for each station. If you have a compass, this information might be useful.

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