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Outdoor antenna setup

I will soon be in a position to install an outdoor antenna on the south west peak of my house. Living in Hartford, CT I am hoping to pull in some Boston or NYC stations. I'd like some advice on the type of antenna to buy and what type of cable to use(coaxial vs flat), the necessity of a rotator and other helpful pearls of wisdom. I will need to run 75-100 feet of cable to get from my antenna to my tuner(Rotel receiver Rx-975). Also advice on alternative tuners considering my location and desire to get stations 120 miles away would be appreciated. Thanks alot. Len
bigo

Showing 2 responses by sugarbrie

sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
While I cannot comment on how the phases of the moon and the mating habits of insects affect the FM signal, I can pass on some real world results.

I am running a very large Winegard TV/FM Antenna in my attic crawl space. The entire FM band is between TV channels 6 and 7, so a good VHF TV antenna will work as good as any FM only antenna, despite what the sellers of over-priced FM antennas will tell you. Just make sure the FM trap is OFF if the antenna has one. I do use Star-Quad RG6 coax cable. You could also consider a powered preamp to boost the signal.

I find 60 miles is the best I can do for a quality FM stereo signal. I can get stations further out with the mute off and in mono for better sound. I would do slightly better if my antenna was outside.

A bonus is that I also use it for television in some rooms that don't have cable/satellite hookups.

A great web site for information on classic tuners is:

http://www.geocities.com/tunerinfo/

sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Lightning is one reason I like mine under the roof in the attic. There it also does not alter the appearance of the house.
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