The Antenna

Last update October, 2007
Preamble:
KFDM-DT (our digital transmitter) is on channel 21, our transmitter is in Vidor, and 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, Ralph’s Electronics (1293 Broadway, Beaumont), 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”.  I am not recommending RS antennas over any other brand of antenna; but they 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”.

 

One word of caution: KBMT (currently on digital channel 50) will return to channel 12 for their digital transmission when all the analog TV transmitters are turned off (February 19, 2009).  When this happens, a “UHF only” antenna may not pick them up very well. KFDM plans to stay on our UHF channel (21) as does KBTV (40) and KITU (33).

 

All antennas mentioned are general recommendations only.  I 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 I 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 my transmitter in Vidor 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, which I have purchased and tested.  It picked up my HDTV signal just fine for my test at our studio location (about 10 miles from Vidor).

 

Rabbit ear, loop, and other indoor antennas do not normally work well in mobile homes or homes with metal siding or a metal roof. I have heard reports of an indoor antenna working up to 20 miles from my transmitter inside a metal building.  I find this hard to believe, but I am not one to argue with success. It may be worth trying an indoor antenna if you live within 20 miles of my transmitter in Vidor.  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. One person living in the west end of Beaumont has placed his Silver Sensor antenna in the attic and gets good reception.

 

 

Outdoor antennas

If you have tried indoor antennas and can’t get a picture, you probably need an outdoor antenna.  If you live within 30 miles of Vidor, a small antenna will probably work (RS# 15-2160 or RS# 15-2151). If you live in Jasper or other areas equally far away, you will need a much larger antenna (RS# 15-2156) and maybe an amplifier (RS# 15-1109).  If you live somewhere between these two extremes, an “in-between” antenna is in order, such as RS# 15-2152 or RS# 15-2154. You may or may not need an amplifier. If you have tall trees close to your home, you will probably need a bigger antenna than I recommend here.

 

All outdoor antennas I mention here are of the “standard type” (directional).  I know these antennas will work for HDTV.

 

 

Mounting the antenna
If you live within 30 miles of Vidor, you can probably mount the antenna in your attic unless you live in a mobile home or have metal siding or a metal roof.  The “UHF only” antenna (RS# 15-2160) is shorter than the VHF/UHF combo antenna (RS# 15-2151) and will be easier to mount in the attic. In either case, the antenna must have a clear "line of sight" to our transmitter. 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.

If you live more than 30 miles from Vidor, you will probably 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.

 

One of our HDTV viewers in Jasper bought the RS# 15-2156 antenna, RS# 15-1109 amplifier, and put the antenna on a pole 20 foot in the air.

 

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 Vidor.  Visualize the antenna as a cup “filling up” with signal, rather than an arrow pointing toward a transmitter.

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 6 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). Our digital transmitter is located on the same tower as our analog transmitter, 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.

 

Antenna rotor
KITU and KBMT have their digital transmitters located in Mauriceville.  Both KBTV and KFDM’s transmitters are located in Vidor.

 

In most locations, you will be able to aim the antenna somewhere between Vidor and Mauriceville to receive all 4 stations at once.  This may be true even if you live somewhere between Vidor and Mauriceville, since you are so close to the transmitters.  I would not invest in an antenna rotor until after you prove to yourself that you really need it. 

 

         
Note that the above antenna recommendations only apply to reception of KFDM’s digital signal. KBTV and KBMT are currently broadcasting at lower power levels than KFDM and may require larger antennas than those suggested for reception of KFDM’s DTV signal.  KITU is broadcasting 500,000 Watts and should have the highest signal level of all the digital stations.  This means that you may want to use KITU when first setting up your antenna.  If you can’t pick them up, then there is something definitely wrong with your antenna installation or your TV set.
 

Part Four

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