[mythtv-users] Automatic antenna aiming?

[Andrew C. Stadt]

On 01/12/2013 10:30 PM, Don Brett wrote:
> On 12/1/2013 3:12 AM, Karl Dietz wrote:
>> On 01.12.2013 05:44, Monkey Pet wrote:
>>> On Sat, Nov 30, 2013 at 9:15 AM, Don Brett <dlbrett at zoominternet.net
>>> <mailto:dlbrett at zoominternet.net>> wrote:
>>>
>>>     Does anyone know if there's a way  to automatically aim an antenna
>>>     (i.e. move the rotor) when tuning a particular channel when 
>>> using an
>>>     HDHomeRun.  I ran across this antenna rotor; might be a good
>>>     candidate for a blaster application?
>>>
>>>
>>> How many points do you need to target? If it is only two, then maybe 
>>> two
>>> antennas is a better idea?
>>
>> I was about to suggest the same, as scheduling gets icky with a HDHR
>> connected to a rotor.
>>
>> How do you avoid trying to record show A on tuner A from direction A 
>> while at the same time trying to record show B from tuner B from
>> direction B?
>>
>> One solution would be multiple antennas with on coax feed each to a set
>> of tuners that are each dedicated to one direction/antenna.
>> (In MythTV you use one Video Source per coax feed)
>>
>> Another solution would be to combine two antennas into one coax feed.
>> http://www.engadget.com/topics/hd/2006/01/30/ota-hd-demystified/
>> Allowing all tuners to record all channels.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Karl
>> _______________________________________________
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>> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
>> http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>>
> As I understand, the cable companies do something similar by aiming a 
> custom channel-tuned antennas directly at the local broadcasting 
> towers.  I was considering putting multiple antennas on a single pole, 
> each aimed appropriately, until I read an article about antenna 
> separation; not sure, but I think that only applies when transmitting 
> (might have been a ham site I was reading).  If separation doesn't 
> affect receiving, maybe I should reconsider.
>
> I'm not sure how many to target.  My existing antenna rotor doesn't 
> work at all, so it's hard to experiment.  The farthest station is 50 
> miles away, so I'm guessing a good quality antenna will work for it.  
> The stations are located like this; it looks like I might need three 
> or more, but it's  hard to tell.
>
> http://users.zoominternet.net/~dlbrett/ScreenCapture_346.jpg
> http://users.zoominternet.net/~dlbrett/ScreenCapture_347.jpg
>
> RF Channel 33 - 18 miles @ 109 °
> RF Channel 25 - 49 miles @ 140 °
> RF Channel 09 - 48 miles @ 180 °
>
> RF Channel 45 - 18 miles @ 240 °
> RF Channel 23 - 50 miles @ 273 °
> RF Channel 47 - 38 miles @ 278 °
>
> RF Channel 41 - 02 miles @ 311 °
> RF Channel 19 - 02 miles @ 312 °
> RF Channel 36 - 02 miles @ 329 °
> RF Channel 44 - 03 miles @ 336°
> RF Channel 20 - 03 miles @ 336 °
>
> By the  way, the existing antenna cable is connected to the HDHR box.  
> Channels 36 and 41 work well most of the time, channel 20 is 50/50 
> (pixalates a lot, hard to tune while raining).  I'm not sure of the 
> condition of the connections at the antenna (they may be rusty or 
> broken-off).
>
> I inherited the HDHR box, and it's the single antenna model.  For the 
> moment, I only have a single antenna feed to consider, but if this 
> works out, adding another HDHR box is possible.  Sounds like the 
> multi-antenna approach might be simpler; it seems that the popular way 
> of interfacing rotor aiming with mythtv is a 
> custom-script/lirc/system-event/tuner-timeout exercise; kind of a 
> bolt-on, but people are reporting good success with it.
>
> Not sure of which approach to pursue; any suggestions on how many 
> antenna to use?
I'd go to a site like www.tvfool.com and enter your home address, it 
will give you a very detailed list of channels you should be able to 
get, along with "expected" signal strength.

Assuming those screen shots you took are somewhat close to your 
residence, I ran this report on tvfool 
(http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d46aee56db28527). 
Given those numbers I can't see why you're not getting at least 8 
channels with just a piece of wire sticking up in the air, let alone a 
have decent antenna.

Once you've run your own report (with your actually address, I just 
guessed) you can go to the tvfool forums and inquire what they would 
suggest. You can also go to www.digitalhome.ca forums, while aimed 
primarly at Canadians, there is lots of good info there as well.

Cheers,

Andrew.