Do TV Antennas Work Better Tilted Upward?
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- In this video, I discuss whether or not an outdoor antenna works better tilted slightly upward. Some antennas have the ability to adjust the tilt so one would think it's there for a reason.
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I always tilt a TV antenna slightly upwards because they sag over time so at least it's level.....eventually.
I agree if you have a large metal or mostly metal antenna it won't hurt it to be installed with a 2 or 3 degree upwards tilt as the antenna is going to sag and bend over years from ice, winds, etc. A 3 degree upwards tilt will hard to even be noticeable from the ground.
@@Bowhunters6go8xz6x Exactly!
Haha I didn't even think of that
I've never heard of or seen such a thing.
A couple degree deviation isn’t very noticeable. My take on the topic is that if the antenna sags over time, then the mfg. didn’t engineer the darn thing right.
My oldest brother worked as an engineer at a large CBS affiliate here for 40 plus years. He and I had this discussion not long ago. Due to the curve of the earth, I was curious too. So I asked him about it. After 20 or so minutes of deciphering the engineering jargon, the answer was “nope”.
Tilting the antenna down can also work in some cases. Like Tyler said it’s crucial to have a signal meter to find the best signal quality. At the end of the day, aim the antenna in whatever position gets the station(s) in the best!
I use a paper clip antenna. If I want channel 7 ABC I make the paper clip straight. If I want channel 9 WGN I bend the paper clip to have a 90 degree angle. Nothing in between works for either channel.
I got you beat I use a needle 🪡
Yeah I've done this before where it helped with the one farthest and hardest to receive Channel. Back in the analog days to make it less snowy. Great video because I wondered what your take would be on that
off topic. Chicago was suppose to get ATSC 3.0 this month but now it's next month but only getting one channel CBS. LoL! Yeah best wait til next year when they get all of their issues resolved hopefully.
When I lived in Colorado, yes because the transmitter was on top of the mountain. Clear line of sight made it easy to aim, and the signal was really good. 😊
The Earth's curve and broadcast antenna's height comes into play here.
Weirdest thing,I have a cheap newer hd(LOL) antenna propped up in my attic. It rarely worked.
One day ,I ran a channel scan and actually received some network stations. Long story short,the antenna got knocked over. Since then,it has been resting at about a 45degree angle. Thank you for posting this video.
Oh, so I'm not the only one with an antenna propped up on a plastic bucket. I was going to mount it, but now I've misplaced the lag screws that came with the mount.
@@hughbrackett343 You're in good company 😀
I have an indoor flat antenna that literally has to lay flat to work at all... sit it upright on its now long lost stand and it didn't pick up anything.
My antennas (3 TV, 2 FM) are lodged in the rafters in my attic.
Tropoducting during the overnight might work better with an antenna pointed 'slightly' up.
Have an awesome day!
Thank you for the video. When measuring with a signal meter, do you monitor from your TV location first? I have the following:
1) Antennas Direct Clearstream 4V TV Antenna, UHF/VHF
2) Channel Master Ultra Mini 4 TV Antenna Amplifier
I am getting ready to make a few measurements and moving my Antenna from Attic to outside.
Thank you,
Gordon
I'd love to find an inexpensive signal meter. Do you have any recommendations?
Love the channel. Please do the head tilt side to side and bla bla bla thing each video as your thing. Loved it.
The antenna doesn't have that tight a pattern. So tilting unlikely will help.
I found that tilting my antenna at a 45 degree (not horizontal) angle give a little stronger signal for me.
I like these quick tips. Keep 'em coming!
I use the old boomerang style car antenna. I currently get 50+ channels when I do a scan. I also discovered, that if you do a scan for channels, late nights or early mornings,you get more channels,i guess due to less air traffic during those times.
😎✌️
You are exactly right on the best times to do a scan.
I noticed cell phones and car stereos can mess signal up.2 or 3 am good time to scan
That is because there atmospheric phenomenon that affects RF signals, the mirage phenomenon that occurs with high temperature and high humidity basically the signals blocks so can't reach your antenna but that occurs in summer. Mostly and in coastal areas or in high temperature and high humidity areas. As a interesting thing in Spain when they turned on the transmitters several areas got that phenomenon and people couldn't tune in the channels do had to move frequencies on UHF band .
@@megacap55 interesting 🤔, thanks 👍
Jan 2024
testing out this idea now with my televees antenna indoors slightly elevated upward
tall wooden mast indoors my bedroom
9 stories high 60 away nyc..to bridgeport ct
at present time seems to improve the weaker pax 31 nyc market supports laff
wwor 9 ...
i tilted my 3 element CB beam ant at a 45 deg angle and my radio committed suicide!!
Thanks for sharing
Thanks!
In some cases yes, especially when there are trees in front. I use AMIKO TSC 1270 digital meter when I install TV antennas, and I can see the signal strength, signal quality, MER, BER and CBER. I see a slight improve on signal strength sometimes even better strenght. The signal quality must be 100% all the time otherwise there is something wrong with the antenna or cable.
When I was using my 700 Mhz yagi trying to receive the 775 Mhz Bucks County site 001 I found it received only when I tilted the antenna down a little bit.
I also found it didn't work when I pointed it straight at the tower because of houses in the way. I pointed east through a gap in the houses and that was the only way it worked
Whatever works to give higher gain, but technically no. Years ago the radio shack VU-90 was popular and DIYers would sometimes install them backwards like an arrow pointing to transmitter which is clearly wrong.
I agree that tilting usually won't make a difference. Sometimes if you are at the foot of a high mountain with the transmitter on the top, it may be slightly useful. Even in this unusual situation most of the transmitted energy is passing above you. The most useful thing you can do, in any low signal condition, is mount the antenna as high as possible and us a compass to verify it is pointed correctly. One can spend a fortune trying to receive a signal that just isn't there. Even the most expensive antenna, can't fix a signal that is below a useful level.
If you're so close to the transmitter that you need to point it up, you probably don't need an outdoor antennas at all.
When you get far enough away the curve of the Earth will block the signal and only raising the antenna could help.
This video shows that there is no one-size-fits-all for TV antenna installations. Every situation is unique and will have little fiddly details that can make a difference in reception.
I wish you lived near me, I'd hire you in a heartbeat to put up a new antenna for us. Ours is over 30 years old.....
Weirdly enough they would work a bit more tilted that way but thought it was all wrong, however it kept my grandmother cozy
the local NBC, ABC, CBS CHARGE Comcast cable subscribers $25.00 per month EXTRA, above cable charge, to receive their signal.
Yes, the same program as over the air. comment please
The local stations charge the cable/satellite companies a fee to rebroadcast their signal. The cable/satellite companies pass that fee (with profit) onto their subscribers.
If you can monitor tilt, twist, etc. Also, in some cases living in a valley, pointing at opposite hillside can work best.
If there is a difference, it's going to change according to the antennae type. There will be less effect with a clearstream, channel master 4221 etc. due to the multiple vertical arrays. A classic yagi has a narrower beam width, both horizontally and vertically. Trying a few different position doesn't necessarily hurt. As Tyler mentions, a few inches in any direction can make quite a difference.
I was always curious about that aspect of my Televes antennas. I tend to concur as I saw little difference when I only had a single antenna. Now I am running a horizontal stack so I just leveled both antennas to keep it simple.
Yes. VHF/uhf was adjusted in our military rigs just about dark then in the morning. Some thing about the sun's angle . On the. Atmosphere.( Layers)
0:32 ....70 x70miles x8inches divided by 12 inches = 3,266 feet 😮 curvature calculator that's one tall antenna!
I am still amazed by how the digital signal works so much better than the old broadcast signals. Best thing to ever happen for me.
Have a great weekend everyone.
In my experience the analog signals were actually stronger and more consistent. Some times I would get a slight fuzzy picture. Now a days, the signal is ether there or its completely gone.
Yes and no. Digital gives you studio quality video, but it's not as forgiving with interference. Stuff like smearing and ghosting with analog will destroy a digital signal.
A slight upward angle may improve reception if you're not far from the transmitter and the transmitter is very high. (The correct angle can be calculated.)
However, if you're near enough where that angle is important you're probably near enough such that you have plenty of signal anyhow.
Tilting, pointing in the wrong way, or turned (twisted from horizontal) might also be helpful in eliminating interference. More signal may not be best if that also means more unwanted signal.
I been using a needle 🪡 and been picking up around 30 stations. I do live about a mile from all major network towers which helps a lot. Atlease I don’t have antennas sticking around trying to poke an eye out.
Thank you for answering the question right off the bat, then providing the explanation.
I see the HDTV Mate in this video. How would this one rate versus the others for testing antenna strength? Thanks!
I keep having occasional pixilation and total drop out at certain times of the day when the signal is still showing about 80%?? What could be causing this? I have an outdoor antenna but it is mounted inside on a five foot pole, house is two foot off the ground so it makes the antenna at 7 foot off the ground. Like last night about 9:30PM I was watching channel 12.13 an it just dropped out completely for 30 min??? 30 miles from the transmitter.
I live in Sydney Australia almost right underneath high power transmitter masts. When my antenna was installed I notice its tilted slightly upwards towards the masts, my antenna man said being so close the signal could go over the top of me if the antenna wasn't tilted.
I'd think that's a bunch of poop. If they are transmitting electric power (isn't Australia on a 50Hz AC electric system?), it might give off strong electromagnetic waves to 'generically' interfere with your signal pickup, but since TV is usually on the upper VHF and/or UHF radiowave ranges (Ghz) vs 50Hz power transmission I'd doubt it. I've got a power transmission tower about a 400m from my home (60Hz), and in the signal path between the broadcast towers and my home antenna, and I don't have a problem with the signals.
I just installed a 50 dollar antenna from Amazon to use an HD home run duo to receive OTA broadcasts thru my Plex media server, and on the initial test I just lobbed the antenna up in the attic, aimed it west and did a channel scan and 40 some channels came in. I had to run new coax so permanent installation was delayed. Finally got that done and I plugged the antenna in and after ch scan I was only getting 22 channels, I found this app for IOS called signal GH and I went back up in the attic and aimed the antenna to the northwest and angled it up and Shazam, got like 44 channels now.
Discovered your videos and it has helped me learn about the subject tremendously. I got a new roof and had to make sure my antenna was not tossed as they usually do as roofers think it is a relic no longer used. I had them cut down the height a bit...it was about 5 feet, now a bit less than 2. I was concerned about wind and no longer wanted the multiple support wires. But I think it is high enough being at the top of the roof with no neighboring roofs as an issue. I am aiming to a mountain that has all the stations broadcast locations on Mt. Wilson for my 91016 zip code east of Los Angeles, Ca. I may have to experiment with tilting a bit as in some bad weather, some stations get week. My big question is...this antenna is large with lots of wide bars and lots of the small ones and is directional but is over 45 years old! Maybe that is not a factor. However, it has a split, flat old two wire TV type wire separated by about 3/8 inch of plastic that connects to the antenna then runs a few feet to a junction with a standard screw on cable connector for the cable to my junction that is the Y to two more cables and two TVs. Is this old Flat TV wire a problem? Is this old antenna a problem? I am getting most of what channels that I would want. Thanks.....
My homemade gray hoverman antenna does pick up better with the slight bend in the pvc pipe i made it on... the 10" bend model i made holds the channels it picks up better but the 6 1/2" bend picks up more channels i will try a combination of both measurements on my next build..
This doesn’t make sense. Keep the antenna horizontal. It depends on the hypotenuse of the angle between the tv tx tower and the receiving antenna. If you experiment raising or lowering your antenna in half wavelength increments you will find the right height to receive the strongest lobe of signal from the tower. This method is only practical for distant weak signals.
Tyler, I live in grand junction colorado and we just recently lost half of our over the air channels. Help!!!
That's what I thought.
My winegard antenna is not pointed upwards
Works perfectly for great tv channels in Charleston sc
Most Antennas are already tilted up in relation to the broadcast signal due to the curvature of the Earth. If you can see the transmission towers, aim your antenna directly at them.
That's an old Rf engineering joke, if down tilt reduces coverage, up tilt should increase it
This is one of my favorite channels
Mine as well
Will tilting my tv antenna up allow me to pick up the tv tower a mile away from me
My not tilted but it fell across the roof wind yet had cable attached to it but it pulled the gide line out of the wood of the house. Now lot channels are gone
Hey @AntennaMan
I have an issue with my antenna and the signals in my area. I have a long range antenna mounted on the side of my house with an extension pole. Some station towers are North East and the others South to where my house is located (I used the Channel Master broadcast tower map to guide the antenna).
Initially when I installed the antenna outside about 3 years ago I was able to pick up a decent signal on most of the main channels even without an amplifier, then the signal on the channels started to fade so but I figured the issue was the antenna’s location, it was also too low, so about six months ago I’ve raised its with an extension pole, and bought a Channel Master CM-7777HD Amplifier with an LTE Filter and I was able to pick up all my main stations (NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, CW, ION) even better than before, and it’s been great until a few weeks ago when the channel signals started to degrade and others showing low to no signal regardless of the time of day and time.
What on earth is going on? my antenna hasn’t moved, they are zero new buildings in my area, I live in West Palm Beach where the only new buildings being built are in downtown area which is East which is nowhere near my line of sight with the towers and yet and the distance is no more than 50 miles, I can't believe after all that I've done I still have no signal on most of the main channels and I had OTA antennas before but it feels like it is getting more and more complicated.
Are these guys purposely lowering the power on their broadcast signals? 😒
Thanks for help or advice.
No, TV stations are not reducing power at random times. Your antenna is probably just barely picking up the stations. You'll likely need to upgrade to something better. Sign up for my antenna recommendation service below if you would like me to look into things for you: www.antennamanpa.com/antenna-recommendations.html
Will do thanks
@@AntennaMan I've submitted a payment for a consultant on June 9th and I haven't heard from anyone yet. Please? Thank you.
@@adrianjlive4922 I sent your antenna recommendation back on June 11th. I'll send it again. Check your spam folder. Confirm whether or not you received it.
@@AntennaMan my bad, thanks
What brand and model is that first antenna in the video? The large one.
The one at about 26 seconds? Televes DATBOSS LR Mix Hi-VHF UHF Long Range Antenna
My VHF antenna is pointed pretty much at the sky.. No, really.. It looks like I'm trying to pull the space station. No mountains, no obstructions, 50 miles away from the stations I'm aiming for.. No identifiable reason for it to like this configuration. I was trying to fine tune the antenna, accidentally pulled down on the reflector which caused it to tilt way up.... and my signal meter app was extremely happy with it.. So I shrugged and snugged it down. RF is one part science, one part magic. Sometimes you just gotta go with the whims of the signal gods.
That's what I love about antennas - the magic part that can never be explained by theory.
So your saying the earth isn't flat???
Most FM transmissions are circularly polarized. If you have VHF-LO TV channels (usually horizontally polarized) in your area your FM antennas are better mounted vertically to reject those strong TV transmissions!
If you have antennas mounted in the attic, check reception of all wanted channels on rainy or icey days. If reception is poor on a particular channel you may need to move the antenna forwards or backwards a quarter wavelength (at the poor channel RF frequency) to get out of the null. Of course recheck all channels again after moving the antenna, good luck.
This reminds me of the old days when we had a "rabbit-ears" antenna perched on top of our TV. Each of these also usually had a UHF loop or bow-tie antenna incorporated into their design. In order to receive the best signal strength, on UHF or VHF, lots of times you had to move the antenna to convoluted positions. That made for some interesting twisters in the analog days. Thank God for digital TV now. All you need in most cases is a 12" wire in most cases, to receive all the useless religion, jewelry, and government propaganda channels.
Seems like you're running out of topics. A few suggestions might be how to integrate your antenna with Plex. The best ways to pick up OTA TV mobile. Or a good antenna set up for an FM transmitter to keep it legal. Different DIYs for installing antennas. Do a face off between HDhomerun and tablo. Would love to hear your thoughts on some of these things.
Hmmm... do you know how an antenna works?
I got great reception if I had a superior grade of cable and a big Antennacraft. Since digital took over in 2009, my antenna TV watching screeched to a halt. The licensed stations, that is.
Here in terrain challenged NH back in 2008 when I redid our outdoor antenna system I tilted the UHF bow tie antenna up a few degrees. Even though it is on the roof of a 2-story house it is below tree level and being 40-ish miles from the transmitter there are nearby hills in the path so no line of sight. Unfortunately back then I did not have a way to test whether or not it helped and being at the top of a 15 foot mast it is difficult to test.
A few years ago I used to pick up a very distant channel in a neighboring market to get ME tv since it was not available in my market. I found that pointing the antenna slightly upward helped just enough to where I could pick up the station 24/7 that was around 60 miles away.
Seems to me that tilting an antenna would mess up the antenna polarization in most cases unless the wave is reflected.
How you solve the problem when you have just one antenna but tv towers are in 2 different directions?
Ok even if you have 2 antenna… that’s the question.
The Televes SmartKom linked below. It's the only true antenna combiner on the market that lets you combine up to three antennas pointing in different directions without negatively impacting reception. Other cheaper methods include wiring each antenna separately or using a TV tuner to find a direction where all channels are picked up by one antenna. amzn.to/48HvMZI
Two words: Antenna Rotator. They can be purchased through a few suppliers and even stores like Home Depot.
@@AntennaManI’m surprised you haven’t done a review (at least that I saw) of the SmartKom. I saw a couple other reviews of it but you’ll test the signal strengths with and without it.
@@AntennaMan
Wow, I bought this Antenna Combiner Preamp and oh mama, it has improved the reception so much even with just one antenna. I have a Televes Dinova Boss antenna and it has an internal amplifier, but as I see now it's not as effective. In short, I highly recommend this amplifier but this thing is very expensive.
I use my TV antenna for green energy. It captures lightning strikes and powers my house.
Why not give any demo?
honestly.. if someone could invent something that would let you 'see' radio signals, setting up an antenna would be much easier...
I wonder if a tinfoil hat would help?
@@polystictus i was more-so thinking augmented reality software... basically looking through the screen of your cell phone with the camera on.. and be able to see as a 'fog' where the strong signals are colored differently than the weaker ones.... think FLIR for radio... such an app was built for iOS based on a database of router locations however it did not actually receive any active signals... ..i'm talking about the potential for an actual product that literally could be made with currently available technology and a very clever coder.. you can keep the tinfoil hat.
What is the best TV antenna on the market. Price no concern.
See video below: ua-cam.com/video/QkroujtyJv0/v-deo.html
I LOVE YOU
An antenna will need to be mounted vertical if the incoming signal is vertically polarized which is more common for relay transmitters in Europe
Makes sense for a relay if only pointing at one receiver but for wide area broadcast horizontal is used in North America.
Also keeping the signal pointed to the ground and not to the sky.
Who ever owns that house need a bigger garage
😷 ☕
I live about 4 miles from one of the tallest TV towers in the world (1300 ft tall channel 61 Farmington CT). I can see it from my house clearly and to point my antenna at the transmitting antennas at the top I definitely need a bit of a tilt. As Ant Man said a signal strength meter is the best way to fine tune your antenna.
At that point couldn’t you just use a paperclip?
Yes right or even a wet noodle.
TV stations use beam tilt.
I tend to concur
My brother used to aim a channel 41 yagi into our neighbor's roof to get channel 35. Results will very, but it's worth a shot. That was probably back in the analog days. On the other side of town, the BOK tower/William's Center in Tulsa was blocking the transmission towers. He actually aimed right into the tower to get the channels. That was definitely during the analog days.
Thanks
COOP
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I never liked Monique from way back, she was always blaming skinny women for her weight problems calling them skinny _ itches and always blaming everyone else with what went wrong in her life, when in reality she has no one to blame but herself.