[mythtv-users] OT - Antenna tuning/aiming

[Brian Wood]

On Nov 3, 2006, at 10:08 AM, Brad Fuller wrote:

> Brian Wood wrote:
>>
>>> That's way too far, I believe. I doubt that I could get that. Never
>>> could before.
>> I guess I was assuming you could receive all the stations you
>> mentioned. That kind of range can be achieved under ideal conditions,
>> but that's pretty rare except for mountaintop-to-mountaintop  
>> situations.
>>
>> I suspect you are trying to get too "scientific". Simply playing
>> around to get what looks best to you will likely take less time and
>> give the same end result. Your beamwidth is wide enough that you
>> should be able to get a median setting that will work OK for all the
>> stations that you can receive.
>>
> I think my only problem is that most of the stations I want are at
> 306deg, but 2 of them are at 356deg. The 2 at 356 are only 16miles  
> away.
> While the others are at most 46miles. I suppose I should point the
> antenna at the 306deg since the 356deg are so much closer.
>

Sounds like a good plan. Remember that a signal out of the rated  
beamwidth will still be picked up, it will just be down by more than  
3db., which at 16 miles range will be a minor factor.

You're more likely to have problems with reflections off mountains  
etc, which can cause real problems with digital signals. Don't be  
surprised if the best reception is significantly off what would  
intuitively seem to be the correct direction.