[mythtv-users] Antenna wiring question

[Stefan Jones]

----- Original Message -----
> From: "Leif Pihl" <leif at pihl.us>
> To: "Discussion about MythTV" <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
> Sent: Monday, November 11, 2013 2:15:25 PM
> Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Antenna wiring question
> I've not read all the messages in response to your initial inquiry.
> I do gather that you seem to have an already existing antenna in the
> attic from the days of analog NTSC.
> Most of those antennas had two portions, one for the 2 to 12 channel
> frequencies, and one for the set going up numerically from there.
> (Yea, yea, it's the old UHF versus VHF, and I can never keep them
> straight.)
> _IF_ the manufacturer of your antenna skimped on the higher channel
> numbered set, _THEN_ be aware that you may be better of by just plain
> building a home-brew antenna.
> I did so, in a bit of a rush, but even my semi-slap-dash version works
> rather well.
> True, most of the towers I'm aiming for are at the 9-mile range, but
> if you take better care to do a good job than I did, you should be
> able to increase those received dB of gain.
> I Googled this web site: http://www.tvantennaplans.com/ and it looks
> familiar.
> This may be what I built, except I cheated and used only one piece of
> cardboard for the entire back, not two pieces.
> Try that, and good luck.
> On Nov 8, 2013, at 3:21 PM, Stefan Jones wrote:
> > After my Comcast bill went up $29 in one month, I decided to start
> > exploring alternatives.
> >
> > I am wondering if all the TVs in my house (and my Myth box's DTV
> > tuner cards) could share the same antenna. Please let me know what
> > you think.
> >
> > All of the major rooms in my house have coax. (And Cat6 for that
> > matter.) The coax leads to a closet off of the garage on the ground
> > floor. Right now a couple of splitters are used to distribute
> > Comcast's signals to the cable modem (located in the closet) and the
> > other rooms.
> >
> > I'm thinking of:
> >
> > While I still have it, locate my HDHR Cable Card receiver in the
> > closet. The house router for the Ethernet is right there. I just
> > need to plug it into coax and Ethernet.
> >
> > Connect an indoor antenna to the coax outlet in my front bedroom. I
> > have a clear shot at the local TV towers from the window.
> >
> > Connect the other end of the front bedroom cable to the "IN" of the
> > splitter that used to send Cable TV around the house. Theoretically,
> > this would let the other four or five coax outlets get a signal from
> > the antenna.
> >
> > So. Reality check needed. Will this work? Would the signal
> > attentuate too much?
I may eventually get an attic antenna, but the scheme I mention directly above worked perfectly. The antenna, currently balanced on a window sill with a view of the antenna towers, is store-bought. A combination UHF / VHF (Portland's digital transmitters are in both ranges) with a little add-on amplifier. Down in my wiring closet is a 1:3 splitter. I connected the coax leads to the three rooms of the house with TV. (I also relocated the HDHR Prime Cablecard down there, for as long as I still have cable TV service.) The weakest link in my setup is my HVR-2250 cards. The tuners picked up about 42 stations, including the six or so HD stations that I care about. The TVs, in three rooms, had similar results. 
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