Antenna Recommendation

Green Bay stations will be easy. Most any small to medium combo antenna should work OK, even attic mounted if you can get it pointed correctly.

Other markets will be much tougher, but if you are willing to spend some time and money, reception will be likely.

If you mount a good separate VHF hi-band antenna (Winegard YA-1713) and an Antennas Direct 91XG UHF antenna high on your roof, you will get a very solid signal from Green Bay stations. The antennas should be mounted with the UHF about 5' above the VHF.

More height may be better in your location because of obstructions such as other buildings or heavily wooded areas. I personally built a 43' high tower so my antennas could "see" over the top of a hill I live on. The results were like night and day!

I use multiple antennas pointed in different directions and joined together using "Jointennas". This allows me to watch any channel at any time on any TV in the house simply by changing the channel...no rotor and nobody in another room whining when the rotor is turned away from the channel they are watching.

This may not work in your case. The rotor may be your best bet because of the number of UHF channels you can receive out of Milwaukee.

I could reccommend a lot of ways to accomplish what you want, but the bottom line would depend on how much you want to spend and how adverse you are to having antennas that can be seen by others.

My wife hated the idea of an antenna tower. I dropped cable and built one anyways. After the near-divorce cooling off period :-) she learned to like the TV reception we have now. Neither she, nor the kids, miss cable anymore. There is something for them to watch all the time. My setup, including an over-the-air 2 tuner DVR, a 43' tower set in a 6,000 lb concrete anchor, 6 antennas, 4 Jointennas, 2 amplifiers, about 200' of RG-6 quad shield custom cabling and a 4-way splitter connecting 4 HDTVs, cost me about $1,800 to purchase and install by myself. Over the last 28 months, I have saved about $3,200 in cable TV bills. My reception is flawless for ALL digital stations within 65 miles of my house and I also receive 2 channels that are 93 miles away at least 98% of the time (We had 1 brief dropout in really poor weather about a month ago...and I hope to fix this by next spring!)

OTA TV and radio is FREE. With the correct equipment, it can be fantastic. With OTA, there will be some maintenance, but that depends on the quality of the equipment and the quality of installation. A well built system should last for at least a decade before cabling may need to be replaced. A poor antenna may weather and fall apart in only a few years.

Just my opinion.

Bill

How many stations does that add up to Bill? I am thinking over 30. BTW, the antenna looks great. Very cool. I admire it every time I drive by.

Thanks!

Right now I receive 22 different digital stations and 2 different analog religious stations all the time. I also receive another 14 digital stations late night or when the weather is favorable for induction. This does not include the PBS doubles and the translator doubles I can get (repeats of the main channels).

I could probably do better, but Madison, Eau Claire, LaCrosse and Milwaukee are just plain too far to capture reliably, and the expense would become very high.

I am adding a vertical 1/2 wave FM whip to the top of the tower as soon as I can schedule a lift truck (NL Tree Service). The new FM antenna will get me over the hill to get better reception of Green Bay and Appleton stations while still receiving Point and Wausau stations. (again...no rotor needed!)

I am thinking that ther will be at least 2 new subchannels coming to Green Bay in the next year, so I am loving being cable free!

Bill

Deos anyone in Chilton get Milwaukee stations? If so: what kind of antenna do you have and how high is it?

Where in Chilton? I can give you a better idea if you give my your location...what street and between what two cross streets.

Bill

Your Green Bay stations are very strong. If you put an Antennas Direct 91XG 10' above your roof peak, and if you can aim it at 172 degrees magnetic (use a compass and just aim it 8 degrees east of due south), you should be able to get all of the Milwaukee stations IF there are no trees in your way.

Your signals are between -2 and -10 db (below the noise threshhold) but can be captured with the 91XG mated to the UHF input of a Channel Master CM7777 mast mounted preamp. Use quad shield RG6 cable and make all connections watertight. Use a ground block where the cable enters the house. Install a 10' ground rod in the ground next to the ground block, then connect the ground block to the rod using at least #6 AWG wire. Then, use the same size wire to connect this ground rod to the main electrical ground rod (this eliminates any ground differential). Run the cable from the ground block into the house and into the power module for the preamp. From the output of the preamp, run a short RG6 QS cable into a splitter (if desired) then to the TVs. Plug in the power module and watch TV!

All Milwaukee stations should be UHF except for Milwaukee Public Television, which is on channel 8. If you think you want that channel, install a Winegard YA-1713 at least 5' below the 91XG and attach it to the VHF input on the CM7777 preamp.

You can find all the info you need by visiting www.tvfool.com and finding your house in the "Start Maps" section.

I make no guarantees, but I would be shocked if it didn't work. Trees and tall buildings are your enemy. If you have a good sight line to a distant horizon (at least 1/2 mile of clear sight to treeline, you should be golden

I hope this helps.

Bill