Michigan Radio & TV Buzzboard

TV amp yes or no....I get great local reception with the outdoor TV antenna/Clearstream 4 max antenna/about 15 foot in the air..would I be able to pull in more distant stations with an outdoor amp at antenna...Maybe it's atmospheric, but I get more stations at night...but they diappear with no signal daytime...

West of Saginaw/South of Midland...Hemlock...lots of radio signals
I get 6.1 and 53.1 and 53.2 with two levels consistantly..
at night i got 47 out of Lansing///even touched 20 and 7 from Detroit ///it scanned channel 10 Lansing but couldnt get a signal.

Thanks for any info

It depends on how long your downlead is from the antenna to TV, what kind of wire, and how good of a quality the tv's "front end" is. Also, if you split the output to feed two or more TVs.

It is very likely that you could improve reception with an amp located closer to the antenna, but without knowing too many of the details, hard to say for sure.

Do you rotate or re-aim the antenna for different stations?

omniditrectional pointed south...no rotator ,,,rg 6 one tv 30-35 foot run

fairbankshockeypuck wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 10, 2023 7:14 pm

omniditrectional pointed south...no rotator ,,,rg 6 one tv 30-35 foot run

Omnidirectional doesn't care which way you point it.

This video may prove helpful:


Here is a review of the Clearstream 4 Max from a credible reviewer:


For the size - you've got a darn good antenna, Fairbanks.

You are picking up nearly all the stations you ought to be picking up with that unit. WKAR (PBS from East Lansing) is the only one missing that you perhaps should be receiving.

Perhaps there are directional and omni versions of the Clearstream 4 Max, but the one the Antenna Man reviewed is clearly a directional antenna, not omnidirectional.

If you are using RG-6 with no splitters and the run to your TV from the roof is only 35 feet, a pre-amp shouldn't be necessary.

Yes u are correct...it is a directional antenna...pointed south I get 6/23/53 Lansing..lose a bit of 17 Midland and 19 PBS/one bar...
Point more towards southeast...lost the lansing but PBS 19 and 17 get much better reception...kinda a compromise....
waiting to see when the leaves clear the trees what happens...

Have had Detroit come in late at night...

trop the other day had Dayton Ohio stations in

Which antenna do you have?

If it is directional, you should have a rotator or at least be able to turn it by hand to enhance the number of stations and reception.

Here's the Data Sheet on the Winegard HD-7694.

https://www.perfect-vision.com/WebSuppo ... D7694P.pdf

Solid Signal acknowledges that multi path does affect HDTV signals. It's usually less noticeable than "ghosts" on analog TV, but it probably makes some signals undetectable depending on the situation. And certainly if you have two cochannel signals within range, perhaps a high ERP and HAAT full power facility and an LPTV or translator, it's the only way to see one or the other or both.

To me, the 360 degree models are almost as ridiculous as "turning your house wiring into a giant TV antenna" in the past.

Here's the technical specifications for a similar antenna to the Clearstream above, but with a wire screen which makes it more unidirectional rather than bidirectional, so more UHF gain, but doesn't work on VHF. In your area, I would assume that the VHF stations normally available are WWTV 9 and WJRT 12.

https://www.antennasdirect.com/cmss_fil ... lsheet.pdf

Here is a dipole antenna for VHF, the similar manufactured version of which I've seen for $90.00 online. And it's simple. For maximum bandwidth, feed it into a good 300-75 ohm transformer.

http://ham-radio.com/k6sti/tv.htm

You can adjust the length for whatever the frequency you wish to optimize, FM, High VHF, or whatever frequency you want. Using typical 3/8" tubing, the formula would be:

64.5/f X 109.7" = Length

This formula is based on the k6sti author's modeling.

Get it 25-30 feet high if possible, and keep it away from any other metal and electrical lines.

There's a lot of TV antennas at this link you can build if you're a little bit handy or highly motivated.

You could use the dipole mounting brackets from an old antenna and U-Bolts for mounting to a mast. Or whatever you can cobble together from Ace Hardware or Home Depot.

I have the Clearstream 4 MAX without the mesh...about 15 foot in air

You're picking up everything you should. (I assume you are also able to see WCMU-TV, PBS, licensed to Mt. Pleasant. Their TX site is about 20 miles NW of Mt. Pleasant.)

The only way you're going to get more channels regularly is to put the antenna on a controllable rotor, if you don't already have one, or mount it significantly higher (not worth the hassle at all, in my opinion).

WLNS, WLAJ and WKAR are about 20 to 25 miles closer to you than the other Lansing market signals. Even with a very good outdoor antenna, ~70 miles is generally the best case reception range in this part of the world, assuming you are using a high quality antenna with good connections that is 30' above ground level.

I have repointed by antenna southeast towards the Saginaw/Flint signals...gettem all bars..even 17 LP out of Midland all bars...I have added an RCA outside of antenna booster..antenna bout 15 feet high..east corner of house..lost 6/23/53 out of lansing, cept' they come in at times and mostly at night..
Thinking of adding/coupling a simple RCA antenna and pointing south towards Lansing...

At night, many times getting 7/20/56/62 at times from Detroit....they disappear by morning...

I love messing with this stuff, wifey hates it, now that I am retired..

Radio reception is great and fun dxing AM and even FM..tropo make it interesting at times

fairbankshockeypuck wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 03, 2023 9:14 am

... Thinking of adding/coupling a simple RCA antenna and pointing south towards Lansing... ...

Yep. I did something similar. Threw a few different antennas up in the attic (can't do a tower here) and can pick up stations from three different markets. Two of the antennas have amps, then combine with a third antenna with stronger signals. Then another amp for distribution to all the TV outlets in the house.

I think I'm getting 83 channels, although there are some duplicates. One thing nice though is that even though the networks are duplicated several are time-shifted so there is different programming on them a lot of times.

I added the RCA to the Clearstream...signals in two different directions...really need to get some height...added an amp....50 channels...locals 4-5 signal...distant 2-3 bars...just moved here...maybe next year get the antennas higher....