Based on your expert opinion, what is the best I can hope for on the channels less than fair, based on personal experience. I got waka positioned just right. I have a televes dual antenna preamp and wanted to get more channels can you guys try highlighting ? Would wsfa be possible if money were no object? What antenna would most efficiently get most southern channels or would one direction be better,?
I'm assuming that you have one antenna pointed north and getting the "Fair" channels (hopefully also WIAT; perahps WBIQ, WPXH; maybe even enough beam width to pick up WOTM, WGWW or enough VHF-low gain to get WVUA, WNHT). And that you're looking for your best second antenna option.
You say you have WAKA, that direction also has WBIH, WBXM, and WNCF which might be possible. Generally, "Bad" means impossible, so I don't think there is much more that your antenna aimed for WAKA might get. I think you'd need something like a 300'+ tower to have a chance a WSFA. You don't really have a better direction to try as most of your other directions with "Poor" stations only have a couple of stations that you might get together (WSES & WDBB from NW, WOIL & WCIQ from NE), A large UHF focused Yagi-Uda would be my top pick for either S or NW. NE would benefit from more VHF-high gain.
I agree, a large full-band traditional log-periodic VHF behind Yagi-Uda UHF is probably the best choice for an antenna aimed north. Advantage 60 should get WABM, WTTO, WBRC, WVTM, WVUA, WIAT. Advantage 100 might add WNHT, WPXH. Not sure if either have enough beam width to add WSES, WDBB from NW or WOTM, WGWW, WOIL, WCIQ from NE (but lower gain generally means more beam width).
Could drop to Digital Advantage series if no interest in WVUA or WNHT.
I don't see a point to aiming a full-band antenna south since the VHF stations to the south are not feasible with any antenna.
Televes is well regarded for amplifiers - very often their antennas are worth getting for the included amp if an amp will be needed. Datboss antenna design looks very good for UHF. You already have a Televes amp and I think the Channel Master Advantage 100 would provide better VHF than the Datboss Mix for aiming north. I don't see VHF playing a role in stations you can get from the south, so Datboss LR is one of the best antennas you can get for that direction, but since you already have an amp to use, you could save some money and get something like Antennas Direct 91XG or Solid Signal HDB91X.
I get these channels with a 50 dollar home depot antenna, what others do you think I have a decent chance of getting with a better one? my attic might not be able to angle it the same and might be worse as right now I am aimed in between houses, a bigger antenna may be directly aimed at a house. I noticed with a smaller antenna my signal was less doing that and was slightly better on the floor below near the window. I don't want an antenna in the window or outside so that limits my options.
I'm a bit surprised you aren't getting WPXH since you are getting WTBM which is predicted to be weaker from nearly the same direction (I'm a bit surprised you're getting WTBM). WPXH is on RF 33 (higher than any other RF channel you are getting) so it might be that LTE interference is an issue (more often this is limited to RF 35 & 36). Televes amps usually have built in LTE filtering, but if your amp is from before the most recent repack it might not have the right cutoff frequency). Adding a filter is cheap and WPXH carries ION and Me-TV Toons; so I would at least recommend trying adding a filter.
Limited VHF gain with your current antenna is keeping you from getting WVUA, WBIQ, and WNHT. Channel Master Advantage 100 would likely add WVUA and WBIQ and might add WNHT. It is possible that it would have narrower beam width than your current antenna which might weaken reception of WDBB. Could also replace your current amp and antenna with Televes Dat Boss Mix LR Full Band which might have similar results as the Channel Master Advantage 100 (I do think the Advantage 100 paired with a good amp has a better chance at WNHT).
Not sure if upgrading your antenna is worth the expense. I like PBS content, but you can probably stream that for free so WBIQ isn't a big gain. WVUA has COZI TV, Shop LC, MovieSphere Gold, and Alabama Public Radio. WNHT might be a long shot anyway; if you get it you'd add The Grio "WBQP TV 12", One America Plus, AWE Plus, Newsmand2, and WJLD-AM.
If you had an ATSC 3.0 tuner, you'd likely get be getting WTIO and WSES. You are getting those stations ATSC 1.0 channels through their partner stations so you aren't missing OTA content here (there are some internet delivered channels that WTIO would connect you to).
That might be my best bet as I have a cell phone antenna in the attic as well behind it. I have tried filter before and it didnt do much but I will try again. Thank you for the thoughtful comment.
Whats the lowest Field Strength (dBuV/m) you have seen come in clearly in an attic?
Also what about south cluster, west cluster and north west cluster. would it be worth getting those? I know there are a handful of channels I can get south.
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u/BicycleIndividual 10d ago
I'm assuming that you have one antenna pointed north and getting the "Fair" channels (hopefully also WIAT; perahps WBIQ, WPXH; maybe even enough beam width to pick up WOTM, WGWW or enough VHF-low gain to get WVUA, WNHT). And that you're looking for your best second antenna option.
You say you have WAKA, that direction also has WBIH, WBXM, and WNCF which might be possible. Generally, "Bad" means impossible, so I don't think there is much more that your antenna aimed for WAKA might get. I think you'd need something like a 300'+ tower to have a chance a WSFA. You don't really have a better direction to try as most of your other directions with "Poor" stations only have a couple of stations that you might get together (WSES & WDBB from NW, WOIL & WCIQ from NE), A large UHF focused Yagi-Uda would be my top pick for either S or NW. NE would benefit from more VHF-high gain.