over the air HD channels?

[raverx3m]

sooo
i tried the RCA ANT700R cost me 40 dollars

that got me about 40 channels with very good reception( sometimes cuts out)


then i thought wow if i get a bigger antenna with more **** sticking out of it should get even better.

well i bought a 120dollar antenna from frys
http://www.amazon.com/Terk-HDTVO-Amplified-HDTV-Antenna/dp/B0009W9WHQ
the worst damn reception ever. i barely got 15 channels with it mounted outside pointing towards the majority of stations.


so how the f is that tiny RCA antenna get double the amount of channels than this monstrous ugly POS TERK antenna.
somehow this ot rated #9 of best antennas 2013 donno about that.



both of them are amplified.

can anyone explain?
my antenna knowledge is a bit rusty. last time i messed with tem was about 15 years ago

RCA i just threw it around and any way i put it it was still getting reception for most of the channels.
took it outside and just taped it to the wall on the fireplace and got 6 more channels.

terk i rotated it and rotated inside and outside of the house and didnt get ****.

 

[PP Mguire]

They keep using the phrase highly directional, which I'm guessing is part of the problem.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

The RCA ANT700R is a multi/omni-directional antenna, which means it does not need to be pointed towards towers. But while it is omni-directional, it doesn't have as far of a range for reception. The "Monstrous" antenna is directional, which means it must be aimed towards the towers for reception, if any are behind it, it won't pick them up. Chances are you live in the middle of numerous towers and they are all around you, and you really don't want a directional, you want an omni.

 

[raverx3m]

most of the stations are in teh south almost in same spot.
The Digital TV Transition: Reception Maps

i took it of and rotated slowly few times and still didnt get the channel i had with rca.
i had the map printout with me and tried every station and nothing.

from the above link look up the area code 98036 thats the area i live in and you can see that only one station is way up north.

rca range is said to be 40 miles that station is 65 miles away and i had it about 80% of time.
kbtc is 38 miles away and even when pointed directly at it still didnt get anything with the terk.

does the ampllifier play a big role in it?

and since the rca did so good. are there any better designs than the fin antenna that i tried?

there are those flat square antennas also available from rca but i have no clue what im looking for.
alot of google searching brought me to webpages that give same fn advice.
try different antennas.
well the store is about an hour away and 20 dollars in gas that makes no damn sense to try 10 antennas and spend 100 bucks in gas.

theres that multidirectional flat square antenna that i was eyeballing and its also amplified but i cant be going back and forth every 3 days to swap the antennas

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

The amplifier does have a big impact, especially if you have a good length of coax between the antenna and TV... You should always make sure you have a pre-amp with in a few foot of the antenna, probably no more than 5 foot worth of cable from it. Then, if you have it go straight to the TV, if over ~50 foot, you should get a small amp to put between the cable and TV. But you also have to be careful, because too much amplification can mess the signal up, and can also cause damage to the TV.

 

[raverx3m]

i tried the 1450 model(square amplified)
and switched it back to the 700 model that i initialy bought.

mounted and adjusted it yesterday and got all the channels back.

can 2 amplifiers be used inline? one at the antenna another one next to tv?

or what else can i do to improve the reception?

the cable is straight to the antena without any breaks or connectors from tv
its a 50 foot cable i ran just for that purpose.


or can 2 antennas be combined for best reception?

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

Unless you get a special combiner and antennas that can be combined properly, I wouldn't bother trying to combine them, especialy omni-direcitonal ones. If your cable is only ~50 foot, and you have a pre-amp at the antenna then you should be fine for the most part. You can always have 2+ amps on a single cable, but, the cable has to be long enough to NEED that much amplification (usually needed right before going into a splitter). Since it's a straight shot though and a short run (50 foot is short IMHO), a pre-amp right after the antenna is more than enough. Chances are, you are getting the most channels you will ever get unless the broadcast towers start offering more sub-channels per each channel.