Bert,<br><br>Employing my amateur radio knowledge here. The twin lead 300 ohm line loss will be significantly less than coaxial cable. But, it IS more vulnerable to interference. Your plan to keep it away from metal objects is a good one. Especially other wiring like telephone and electrical.<br>
<br>Don't forget to employ a 4:1 balun to transform the 300 ohm line to the 75 ohm cable input into your TV for best results IF you don't have a 300 ohm input. These are fairly cheap and also easily to build if you would like to "roll your own".<br>
<br>As far as the claims of receiving stations from 100 miles away or more, you will need to remember that VHF and UHF communications work by "line of sight" generally meaning if you can see it, you can hit it. Structures blocking that signal can cause issues; trees, buildings, mountains, etc. Having an antenna in the attic will never be as efficient as having an antenna outside. Placing an antenna as little as 5 feet above the roof of your home could result in a significant increase in received signal strength. With HD signals the way they are, this could yield more stations not previously received. As with everything. There are many factors in place here, but no magic. Your mileage may vary but if your happy with what you receive from an attic installed antenna, there's little reason to change it unless you want something you can't get from the attic. The higher you go, the more you will get is the general rule.<br>
<br>Regardless of where you put the antenna, directional antennas will always yield more signal strength than say a bow tie. Looking at the bow tie antennas, to me they resemble a dipole. Simply 2 resonant wires. A directional antenna on a rotator will provide significant signal strength over the bow tie or dipole . . . .<br>
<br>If you amplify the antenna, this will increase the signal but also the noise. There are ways around removing the noise as well but it could also degrade the wanted signals. So, it's always going to be trial and error here and see what's best for your pareticualr installation.<br>
<br>Good luck.<br><br>Scott<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 4:37 PM, <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:bhaskins@chartermi.net">bhaskins@chartermi.net</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I have had a copy of the infamous quad bow-tie antenna placed<br>
behind my 40" Samsung LCD for quite some time.<br>
Can't even be seen since it's a nice corner cabinet.<br>
The 0 dollar guy really works quite well even out to forty miles or so.<br>
Now I want to move it or some other antenna up to the attic<br>
<br>
Questions:<br>
I have read that the old style 300 ohm twin lead has a lower loss<br>
per foot than coax.. true/false ?<br>
Since this will be about a sixty foot run, would the twin lead be a better deal?<br>
It would be well protected and not be close to any metal.<br>
<br>
What if this design was expanded to six or eight bow tie pairs?<br>
<br>
There are many antennas on ebay that claim good reception<br>
out to as much as one hundred miles on indoor installations.<br>
Is this just hype or has anyone actually got results like this?<br>
<br>
I really! don't want an outside antenna, been there, done that.<br>
<br>
I have cable but again I'm trying to get around the one STB<br>
per channel problem.<br>
<br>
Many thanks,<br>
Bert<br>
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