How To Combine Two TV Antennas for More Channels
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2024
- In this video I explain a few ways to combine two or even three antennas together without negatively impacting reception. This is a great option if you live between multiple markets or are unable to pick up all local channels with one single antenna pointing in a fixed direction.
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I hired Antenna Man to help me in Florida. He is fabulous!
The fact that VHF/UHF combiners are still made answered my question about antennas of different frequency ranges... Thank you for reminding me of these.
VHF was practicly dead in france on the Digital TV transition
Well VHF should have died on 1981 when TF1 went to color and moved to UHF
But Canal+ (a over the air premium cahnnel) picked up the VHF canal
It was crap especially when they cranked up encryption and pushed many to a satelite reception
I'm glad this channel exists. Not too long ago most men understood antennas. Today, basic electrical theory is a mystery to most. Still, a cheap splitter and some coax from even Ace Hardware will accomplish the task of gaining two signal paths.
I paid for your advice, and I am really happy with my antenna. You hardly notice the antenna on the back of the house, and I’m getting 40 free tv stations instead of 19 (granted some of my new channels are in Spanish) but your service was well worth the money. I save at least $60-$70 a month!
What are some good choices for indoor antennas 30 mile range
This is for me for sure. I'm between Buffalo and Toronto and I have two antennas. Currently I'm just using the cheap splitter that drops the signal 3.5dB. It does work but I have always wondered if there is something better for me out there and what my best options are. i use 2 Channel Master 8 bow tie antennas.
I am using a Televes 560483 Dual Input Antenna Preamp Amplifier/Combiner for two antennas for different markets. It works extremely well. I had to adjust the input gain from each antenna on the Televes to eliminate multipath issues. And the correct way to pronounce Johansson is "yo hanson". 😀
Good info. In my case I used a UHF/VHF-High/FM combiner and at the end a 20db adjustable amplified splitter. But for those who have to use 2 UHF antennas it may be problematic due to interferences.
I highly recommend Tyler’s Antenna Recommendation Service. I used it twice - once for me and once for my daughter. In both instances, Tyler was thorough, responsive, and quick. His recommendations were perfect,
5 years now, I have combined 2 antennas . simply matched the coaxial cable lengths from each antenna to the reverse spliter. No special amp, just the old radio shack amp you recommended years ago. I'm 40 miles, with many mountains, NW NJ,. Perfect reception. Key is matched cable lengths. System runs 4 tv no problem.
Works for me two. Equal lengths of RG6 to the antennas pointing in different directions, then into a 3 into 1 splitter into the preamp input. Then in the house into preamp power supply then to the TV set. The tuner will sort the stations out..
This is a waste of money.
This Televes SmartComb.
Maybe, maybe in a extreme circumstance it maybe needed.
I'm going on close to 10 years now, using 3 antennas with the same length of cable to each into a splitter with a booster. Use HD home run plus Plex and also A fire recast to fire devices. It works great. We have antenna farms in multiple locations in our area and are able to pick up everything. Can even stream from away from home.
Yes. This is pretty much my rig as well. I'm 60 miles out from DC and Baltimore markets to the west. I am zero issues and reel in 93 channels. @@mtlmn1971
@@diycarhome9151what you're saying is wrong, equal length cables mean nothing when the antennas are pointed in different directions. That only matters when you are aiming in the same direction. In that case everything has to be exactly the same. The same model and preferably the same production antenna, exact same cable cut from the same roll with the exact same length and connectors and antennas aimed in exactly the same direction and level. There's plenty of documentation why combining antennas in different directions is usually problematic. Usually that only works when the second antenna in the null of the first antenna, ie.. 90 degrees perpendicular. Your setup may have worked for that reasons but most of us have trouble due to multi path. Your negative comments about SmartKom are unfounded. Plenty of us use it to combine antennas and balance signals.
@@bobh.4580 Sorry mate, but it works well for me and as you can see, others.
I had one antenna pointed east and one west and worked pretty good
Thanks for making it simple. These antenna gurus in the comments section obviously have plenty of experience and technical knowledge in this arena.....which newbies like me don't.
Awesome video. It makes me want to set up a home lab and multiple antennas and try to pick up those fringe signals I can't receive now.
Wow! This video addresses my situation exactly. I live in Columbia, MD, right about where the letter "L" is in the word "Columbia" on the map of the Baltimore -Washington metro area shown in your video. I had purchased a Tablo receiver and an antenna similar to the ones in your image showing the two antennas connected by a splitter to a TV. I had positioned the Tablo and the antenna in a second floor room at the NW corner of the house, where the computer and router live. The result was I could receive Baltimore market stations fine, DC area stations not so much. I gave up on the idea and returned the antenna and Tablo. This video suggests that it might be worth revisiting the idea.
The Televes SmartKom might just be the best thing since sliced bread for TV antenna reception. Aside from it's main purpose of combining antennas is also applies automatic gain control per individual channel. So all your channels end up looking like they have 100% signal strength without one channel being too strong or another being slightly too weak.
Good information. I didn't know about the newer options. I have a PBS channel in the opposite direction from my main stations. This would fix it.
I combined 2 antennas with a 2 antenna combiner and a channel master distributor amplifier and works with no problems. Pickup over 50 channels in Myrtle Beach area.
Great information. Thanks.
Txs Brian.
What you state makes sense. 🙂👍
Another Stupendous video!
I may do this someday to get channels from 4 markets I'm close to. Pittsburgh (Main Market) [Slightly Southwest]), Wheeling(also Southwest) Youngstown OH (To the Northwest), and Johnstown/Altoona (to the SouthEast). This could be a cool DXing project. This could be done with 3 Televes antennas.
I have been combining two antennas now for a while. One is a VHF and the other is a UHF. The VHF is fixed and only points at one broadcast station, while the UHF is on a rotator. Both work through a combiner . Does a good job.
Are you using a UVSJ / Diplexer ?
Ah ok! Thanks for this info! Will buy this device!
As an experiment, I made a "Y" connector out of cable and connected two flat indoor antennas, facing opposing 45 degree directions. I can pick up at least 11 "over the air channels" without an amplifier. I'm less than 120 miles from multiple TV studios and that is more than likely why I am not suffering from much signal loss, distortion, and don't require a signal amp.
Everything Tyler stated was absolutely true. I've been using the previous Televes amplified combiners and yes, they work wonderful. Mine has 2 UHF and 1 VHF input. One UHF antenna sits out on a deck picking up a station 70 miles away perfectly and the other antenna is in the attic for local channel reception. I also have a VHF antenna up there as well since one station isn't aligned with the rest of them. It all works perfect.
Prior to that I had an amplifier on the antenna for my distance channel and fed that into a splitter with the local channels. The distant channel was fine but as Tyler stated, I fought multipath issues with the local channels! The Televes amplified combiner was a great solution.
I see the complaints about cost. My Televes model has 2 outputs and each output has a huge signal, so additional amplifiers are not necessary and should be avoided. This may save you some $$. In fact the Televes amp has so much gain, you can often go with a smaller antenna with less gain. I really don't like to advise this, but I substituted my 8 bay UHF for a UHF/VHF suburban antenna at half the cost and the results from my distance channel was still QUITE adequate, so if the cost is an issue, buy the amp first and maybe you can trim back on the antenna cost some.
I lived in Grand Rapids MI, ten years ago. I used 8 cheap rabbit ear antennas to get all the channels with solid signal. I took four and put on a 4-1 combiner/splitter from Radio shack. I doubled this and connected the two 4-1 into a 2-1 which was then ran to my Tivo Premiere.
You exactly describe my set up in Sequim, WA. I'm totally sold on Televes. They're worth the money. My set up is a Stellar Lab VHF only Yagi and 2 Televes UHF only Yagis. The VHF points SE and both UHFs point N. The UHFs are a little over 60 feet apart (opposite ends of the house, same height above ground). One has a 6 foot cable run to the Televes combiner (same as the VHF) and the other has the 60 foot run. I opted to boost this last antenna with a Channel Master High/Low switchable preamp. I first tried the low power setting then decided on the high power instead. I get consistent reception with no ghosting on the UHF channels. Of course that is dependent on reasonably good weather. With that caveat, I pull in a couple of VHF stations from Seattle about 60 miles away over forests and mountains, and a few decent UHF channels from Vancouver, BC, 100 miles away (Victoria and Bellingham, both UHF sources, are no problem for reception).
Can you pick up Vancouver stations in addition to those Victoria ones? I can from Stanwood.
@@be236 I'm only in Sequim in the summer. When I'm there, most of the time yes, but it depends on time of day and weather. Your Stanwood location sounds like the sweet spot for getting OTA from three major markets.
@@starroger Actually, it's too hard to get Victoria (blocked by Camano/San Juan Isl/Whidbey) and their transmitter power is so low!... Can get Vancouver mostly, but sometimes it cuts-in-and-out, even with LOS (I have trees blocking just north of me)... and it's very difficult to get Seattle, due to various hills along the way south.
@@be236 Living in hilly or mountainous terrain does present reception problems. However, not all stations need to be LOS. Sometimes a reflected signal can be picked up good enough to be tuned in. An onsite analysis has to be done to determine if the stations you’re targeting can be picked up at your location. The odd thing is your neighbor across the street might be able to pick up stations you can’t simply because that’s where the reflected signal is going. It may even be the case that different parts of your house or roof can pick up some stations that other parts cannot. If you don’t have the technical skills to DIY then consulting a professional like Tyler might be worth a try.
@@starroger Yeah, I know about hills and mountains blocking my signal path... and I do use Rabbit Ears to give my report ... it's somewhat accurate, but not completely... I've done a lot of experimentation, holding antenna on a pole and walking around my yard to find each station, which is very time-consuming and tiring. And what's most frustrating part is... one location may pick up 2 of the 4 channels I want, but then if I got to a another location, I get the other two stations but then lose my first two stations.. yikes. I've not had much time to combine two antennas, etc.. just more time than I have for now to play with.
I wish those devices had been available years ago. I’m in the U.K. and I remember trying to combine two aerials for analogue reception (both uhf as that’s all we use here) to get different “markets” as you’d say. The stronger signal suffered severe “ghosting”/multipath from the very direction of the second aerial, the second transmitter was a lower power and the loss of db degraded the picture so in the end none of the channels had a satisfactory outcome, I think what I ended up doing was separate downleads, one to the tv, and one to the VCR with a SCART cable as the VCR to Tv, which meant an occasional swap of the coaxs when VCR recording demanded it
For a while I had one Tablo hooked up to an antenna facing north, Austin, and another Tablo hooked up to an antenna facing south for San Antonio stations.
I guess you reconsidered this topic. Love the video!
Yes, the last video I made got a lot of views so it's definitely of interest to some people.
Thanks for the information, I’m going to watch every video you have put out because I’m angry about you being demonitised
This is good information
I purchased the Televis Smarkom and get almost 90 channels now from three different transmitter locations. For each channel it locks on to the antenna where the best signal is received and prevents the other antennas from causing the reflection issues. Although many of the channels I get are shopping channels, or channels I have no insterest in, I find there is more T.V. content than I can possibly watch. I now get almost 90 channels in the Tulsa, OK area. Although the initial investment may sound high, I always have to belive the investment in good antennas, cables, combiners and splitters was good when I hear people complain about their cable or satelite provider charging over $200 per month. And the thing is, you don't have to do everything at once. Start simple and upgrade as you can afford.
I used to have a low VHF and a High VHF Yagi TV antennas combined together, then combined in the UHF Yagi into one 300 ohm line to the TV set. Using combinators designed to do this with TV antennas. This back in the Good old Analog days when there was 83 or 69 TV channel frequencies available.
I have a dedicated Stellar labs 91 element UHF antenna and Stellar Labs 30-2475 VHF high antenna in my attic, I use a Kitztech KT-700 which has a built in UHF-VHF combiner, I think I put a high pass on the VHF antenna to filter out the FM band and below since there are no FM stations in my area, I may have an additional external LTE filter in addition to the built in one on the Kitztech but it's been over a year since I climbed up in the attic and messed with it, I went through several iterations of different combiners and splitters and filters and then I eventually simplified it all because I went overboard initially, Although when it comes to power pass splitters I like the one port passing CATV ones the best they have the best signal characteristics for OTA, most power passing splitters are designed for sattelite and are all ports pass with diode steering and have pretty poor return loss characteristics in the OTA band which I don't care for.
Thank you!
The Smartkom solved my issues with high power stations drowning out low power adjacent channels.
Thanks for sharing this. I didn't think about the benefit of automatic gain control on the unit. I wonder if the regular Televes preamp would have done the same thing.
@@AntennaManunfortunately, as you probably know sometimes AGC will cause low power stations to be lost if the full power stations cause the AGC to kick in. In most cases this is not a problem. But I've read about a few cases where the low power station lives in the shadow of a high power station.
Thanks
COOP
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Kathrein TV antenna manufacturer (now owned by Ericsson) has had active combiners since 1980 and likely way before that. There are also other antenna companies that make active filters and combiners.
Thank you well done
I’ve got 5 different markets coming from 4 general directions. Still trying to figure out how to do this. Years ago during the analog era, we had the largest VHF/UHF antenna plus a heavy duty rotor.
Assuming that you already tried an Omni-directional antenna, I have an unusual solution. A half-wavelength dipole antenna picks up signals at 90 degrees from the dipole line. If the dipole runs east-west it picks up signals north and south. If you use a one and one-half wavelength dipole it picks up signals at 45 degrees from the dipole direction . This should pick up signals NE, SE, SW, and NW. A one and one-half wavelength dipole for VHF would be about 8.5 to 9 feet long. Two pieces of copper or aluminum tubing about 4.25 to 4.5 feet long joined in the middle with one of the old UHF twin lead-to-coax adapters. It might have to go in an attic. The larger / heavier the tubing the better. I know. It sounds crazy! Another note- a folded dipole would be even better for wider bandwidth.
@@dargan1956 I've been reading your comments, I'm intrigued by some of your Solutions do you have a web page or an information source ? Especially about your attic setup with one antenna flipped upside down. Seriously, I would like to read more about your techniques. I'm always looking to gain some knowledge.
Thomas, if you've got four different markets then the Avant X is the answer for you. You can frequency shift also, meaning if you have a co-channel you can move it to an unused frequency its capabilities are double of the SmartKom as well as the price, but I'm very happy with mine.
@@bobh.4580If you start out with 2 identical simple dipole antennas that are side by side and connected with the same polarity so that the combined signal from them is in sync and in phase, what happens when you rotate one of them 180 degrees?
The answer is that this signal is now 180 degrees out of phase with the other antenna. When you combine the signals they cancel each other out. The choices are to switch the polarity of the coax connection or flip the antenna over. 😬
This is me exactly, I point eastward for the majority of channels, but theres a few WSW but I would need another antenna to reach them. might be worth it.
Thanks
Thanks for the video. I live in the Wash DC area south of National Airport, due to one of my favorite TV stations, PBS from Annapolis MD is far away I ended up using a combiner like the one you mentioned, not the alaves combining a Yagi and a winegard 769 series. It worked fine for yrs until recently and could not receive even the local Fox 5 which broadcasts Sunday NFL games. Eventually I tried a CM-7777HD channel master amplifier connected only to the Winegard antenna and seems to work. The only issue is when it rains, can’t get the signal but in good weather I pick a couple stations from the Baltimore market.
thanks
I live in my DMA's primary city, so I won't need this kind of setup. Nice to know this kind of thing can be done, though.
I have 2 Winegard HD7694P antennas in the attic that are pointed almost exactly in opposite directions. Using a Winegard combiner and a Channelmaster distribution amplifier. One important part of the setup for me was to make sure the antennas are positioned so that a wave from the towers hits the coax port at exactly the same time on both antennas. Also, because I have antennas pointing in opposite directions, I found it best to flip one antenna over so that one coax port is pointing up and one is pointing down. This is so the signals from a station are additive when they are combined rather than canceling each other due to signal coming in from the back of the antenna. Of course you have to use equal lengths of coax from the antennas to the combiner in this setup. I should add that I have preamps between the antennas and the combiner. Also, due to space constraints , the antennas are spaced out horizontally about 6 feet from center to center. I wish the SmartKom was available when I was trying to set this up. It was quite a frustrating learning curve. I would say that SmartKom or any filtering system is not going to fix interference in the antennas caused by having them improperly spaced apart. If they are too close together they can interfere with each other and no filter is going to fix that.
I have two antennas connected by a cable/antenna switch that looks like a regular TV splitter. The antennas are aimed in two different directions and I reach behind the TV and switch to the other antenna as needed. No problems. It helps me pick up a PBS channel from a southern direction. Rescanning channels are not always necessary unless I want to see if new channels are available.
Yep, even back in the analog days as a kid we used switches because we needed as much signal as possible from 12 ft VHF band antennas. One tuned to Ch8 and the other tuned to Ch3. And a switch to switch to the optimum antenna. One day it all came down and an all-channel was put up. Never worked as well as those individual huge antennas with a switch! It's a great, cheap solution!
You never know until you try. I have 2 antennas directly combined with a gutted splitter. I do have one hooked with the uhf out of a uhf vhf combiner to eliminate interference on vhf. They are 90 degrees apart as well. I get youngstown and cleveland from barberton perfectly.
There is a third way. I am combining 2 Datboss L/R mix antennas using the Televes mast mount preamp 560383. It also allows dc to pass through to power the preamps built into each antenna. I have 2 edge diffraction from the Albany transmitters and a ton of multipath from trees. This setup has tightened up reception to the point of usability. Good advice in your video for different directions.
The Televes 560383 dual input preamp doesn't work as well as the SmartKom since it doesn't separate the frequencies which will result in multipart issues for a lot of people. If it's working fine for you, that's great. If some channels go in and out, try the SmartKom as it should work better.
@@AntennaMan But it does work if all the signals are coming from one direction. But for most people you are correct in that it is not the best solution.
The Channel Master combiner been serving me well for years.
I have 2 Winegard HD7694P antennas in the attic that are pointed almost exactly in opposite directions. Using a Winegard combiner and a Channelmaster distribution amplifier. One important part of the setup for me was to make sure the antennas are positioned so that a wave from the towers hits the coax port at exactly the same time on both antennas. Also, I found it best to flip one antenna over so that one coax port is pointing up and one is pointing down. This is so the signals from a station are additive when they are combined rather than canceling each other due to signal coming in from the back of the antenna. Of course you have to use equal lengths of coax from the antennas to the combiner in this setup.
Great information but one other option is to purchase a TV Antenna that is considered (Multi Directional) and it has elements that can be moved by hand during setup and locked into two or more directions and it comes with a built in antenna combiner to get it into one coax, if you do a Google for a (2 Direction TV Antenna) you will see them. Most are BowTie type antennas and most of them have very good reception, they are better for UHF than VHF but will work for both.
This is true of the flat panel antennas with articulating panels, but then when they are close to 180° opposite there will still be multi path which causes multi path resulting in Phase cancellation . I have this problem as my DMAs are 170° opposite. Chicago antenna cancels some of the Milwaukee signals, and vice versa resulting in a lower channel count. Flat panel antennas work best when the signals are 90° which puts one antenna into the null of the other
@@bobh.4580I’m not too familiar with the wiring on those arrays but if you were able to switch the wiring so that the polarity on one panel is opposite the polarity on the other then you should be able to correct the phase inversion when it is past 90 degrees.
An inherent downside of combining 2 antennas is that both antennas will pick up some signal on each channel and these signals will combine in the output signal. In certain situations, the added signal will degrade the stronger signal. One possible way to avoid the degradation is to block shift the signals from one of the antennas. Currently, only UHF RF channels 14-36 are assigned for TV, but many converter boxes and TV sets still tune the original full range 14-69. (Antenna Man would know if newer equipment stops at channel 36.) With modulators, it would be possible to shift the 23 channels 14-36 to another block in the UHF spectrum, perhaps 33 channels higher, 47-69. In order for this to work, signals in this range received by the antennas would need to be filtered out and good connections made to the TV sets and set top boxes to prevent signals from being rebroadcasted and interfering with services using those frequencies. The virtual channels would be unchanged but there would be duplicates. The user would need to program the equipment to skip over the weaker signals and only tune the stronger signals. This can be difficult if the equipment doesn't tell you which RF channel it is receiving. One way to find out would be to have ability to switch off the block shifting. If the channel went away, then the user would know that it was being received in the block being shifted.
Antenna Man may have enough influence to convince a manufacturer to build a prototype for testing. Also, it might be possible to put something together from off the shelf modulators, amplifiers and filters.
Im stackin 2 yagi vertical they dont have preamps. But their lomger
Ive 2 other yagi smaller and their active element have preamps and rotators.
I may just switch elements of the differ. Combiner is not a splitter splitter divides after combiner for 2 feeds. ?
I do something similar using two HDHomeRun tuners. Two antennas point in different directions, and each has its own tuner. To watch TV, I feed both tuners into "Channels DVR", which has been configured to know which HDHomeRun tuner to switch to to either record or play live TV. No combiner or rotator needed here, and "Channels DVR" chooses the correct antenna for me.
My grandparents had VHF hi and low. You got up and threw knife switch. 😀 And to change channels while your up.
I knew people who mounted their 30ft antenna mast next to a window in their LR. When they switched channels, whoever was near the window had the duty to raise the window and pull the lever attached to the mast to rotate the antenna. Cheaper than buying a rotor!
Question : Could the Televes SmartKom be used to combine say an antenna, an RF modulator and Clear QAM channels?
A special case of combining two antennas is that of one channel in a distant market carrying programming of interest. In that case, a homemade high gain antenna cut for that specific channel can be constructed and installed. If the antenna produces enough signal to deliver a decent picture, the problem now becomes to insert that channel for distribution to all TV sets in your home. There were UHF translator products sold for master antenna systems. An older master antenna system (used in hotels and apartment buildings) would only distribute the VHF channels. So, a UHF translator would insert the UHF channel on an unused VHF channel. One of those products is the Pico Macom XUV. You could drop the UHF channel into a vacant VHF channel slot, have all TV sets rescan, and the distant channel would show up. These translators are no longer in production, so you have to search for a used one that will do a suitable translation. Alternatively, you might convert to HDMI and then use an HDMI encoder to put the signal in the low VHF band, but these converters are expensive. Channel Master has one for $349. You are probably better off using a separate converter box and HDMI input on your TV, as described in the video.
I thought of a second application. For some situations, no matter how hard you try, it seems to be impossible to select and aim your antennas so you receive all your favorite channels. If you adjust to achieve decent reception on one of your favorite channels, you end up with degraded reception on a different favorite channel. The solution may be to add an antenna just for one channel and use the Paco Macom XUV or another method to insert that channel into a vacant channel location for distribution inside your home. You might construct a homemade antenna cut specifically for the desired channel, but it would not need high gain because the channel is local.
Or use a slew of A/B switches to change the antenna used. I go this route for the TV right near my bed. Where the others are tied to a HD HomeRun tuner per antenna.
Ooo i might need this here in my country, been wanting to move
How about doing a video for people living in apartment complexes and what antenna to use for that .
If you're in an apartment complex, the best option is to purchase a great indoor antenna like the ClearStream 2V, ClearStream Flex, or Channel Master FLATenna and use a signal meter to find the best location for the antenna where all local channels are picked up reliably. See video below: ruclips.net/video/1_Cy08x5qeY/видео.html
I haven't tried the latest Televis 3 antenna combiner. But the 2 antenna model I've found doesn't work well long term. It hasn't burned out yet. But a year and a half later the signal from one antenna is very weak. Eventually I'll troubleshoot if water got in the outside box the combiner is in.
Okay this has nothing to do about tv antenna, but you were a great help when I setup my Televes system on my house, so thought you might know about this. I am talking about car audio antennas. I changed mine to a newer Kenwood system, but it has terrible AM reception. I was wondering if you had any suggestions for a external am system or booster for AM Kenwooddwx125bt. If you don't I completely understand. Thanks again for your previous help. Randy
If you have any led bulbs in your car that's your biggest problem with fighting am signals
Would this work with antenna and basic cable? (On roku tv, noticed you can scan for antenna & basic cable together)
I appreciate all your content. Unfortunately we are older and not so techy. all of this is quite confusing and would appreciate some clarification. We live 65 miles from the broadcast towers and need help making a decision on a product that will work for our application. We live in greencastle indiana Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. TIA
Removed your old one from my 'watch later' vault and replaced it with this 👍
When you have two antennas together how far apart do the antennas have to be to prevent interference from each other? This is great information.
Usually half a boom length. If the boom of each antenna is six feet, they should be three feet apart if on the same pole.
Thanks for the information. @@AntennaMan
I have 2 antennas in the attic spaced out horizontally. I found that 6 feet from center to center was about the minimum I needed to avoid interference.
Will this work with FM radio as well as a friend lives between Jacksonville & Daytona, Florida & he wants both markets & he tapped cable on his FM tuner.
Great info,Tyler. I have an idea for a cheap alternative and if it is not feasible,please shoot it down. There used to A?B switches for coax inputs. Can you have 2antennas and switch to the antenna that gets the better signal from the 'trouble channel(s) only? Would that provide enough isolation to avoid multipath if you switched only for the weak signals?
You could use an A/B switch but if there were some channels that weren't picked up by both antennas, you would have to run a channel scan every time you switch antennas
Though I have not tried it you should be able to attach a Homerun TV tuner such as a Flex to each separate antenna and send both to your router via ethernet cables. You can do this with as many antennas as you want and there will be no interference. Though Flex homerun is a quad tuner you can also attach as many flexes to the same antenna as you want so many people can watch tv.
I actually have 2 HDHR tuners. Both feed into the Channels DVR app and each one connects to an antenna in a different direction. I program Channels to use either one or the other tuner depending on which antenna one has the best reception for that channel. Works like a champ. Each is independent so you are correct, no interference.
I have a 45 mile range antenna hanging at my window. I live on a hill which is nice, but depending on the day I'll get anywhere from 44 to 63 channels. Curious how many channels others get with just one antenna
Love your videos , however I have two cheap antennas pointed North and one pointed East with a chanelmaster jointenna with no problems.
In some cases, a splitter will work but it's definitely negatively impacting reception through the insertion loss and multipath. If signals are strong enough, using a splitter to combine multiple antennas together might work but not as well as a true combiner.
Even though I use a chanelmaster booster ?
I have seen what looks like cockamamie and antenna hacks on another channel using paper clips. Does it work?
Would combining two identical antennas pointed in the same direction help with indoor reception? I live in an apartment complex and have a large building between my apartment and the transmitting antenna - Building is about 75 feet away and higher than my apartment.
That was a nice video with good information, but I'll stick with my rotator.
Does your rotator system help when a signal is fine in daytime, but signal scrambles at daybreak? More specifically in the Philadelphia market, channels 2.1 thru 2.9 work fine during the day. However, at just about the same time every evening, winter or summer the signal scrambles. I've read it is atmospheric and called a digital cliff effect. Just curious if a rotator system may remedy the issue. TIA
@@joe2459Probably not. If your antenna is pointing directly at the transmitter, that is usually the best position to receive that station. I assume you are having trouble with WDPN on RF channel 2. Since that TV station is on the VHF-Lo band (RF channels 2-6), your reception may be affected by any sort of electronic gizmo in your house (or a nearby neighbor). Since your dropouts happen like clockwork, it could be as simple as cheap LED lights interfering with the signal when they are turned on for the evening. I would suspect something like that before messing with your setup.
BTW, I use a rotator because I have TV signals coming in from THREE different directions. I figure, why have multiple antennas and then try to combine them when you can just turn one antenna toward where you need it.
Back in the 80's you could go to even a hardware store and buy all the baluns you needed to do all this. Needing to antennas was so so so much more of an issue than it is now. You could buy anything you needed to make tv antennas work. But everyone had forgotten all of it. And the UHF and VHF combo was almost on every house even remotely in the " country " kids today would not understand trying to watch a snowy picture from a state away
I'm 47 miles southeast of DC. I have the big Televes antenna on a rotator. I also tried the combiner, but for some reason I still need the antenna power supply for the amp to work even though the combiner is suppose to drive it. It IS putting out the right voltage coming out of the combiner so I don't know what is happening there. I can pick up DC or Baltimore if the atmosphere is right, but most of the time I don't get a strong enough signal. It will fade in and out even though the antenna is about 35 feet above ground. My roof is steep and I'm too old for this sh....
What combiner is best, or adequate, to join a VHF and UHF antenna? I'm actually using a homemade dipole cable, sort of like FM dipole with a 300 ohm with a roof-mounted UHF directional.
A simple VHF/UHF diplexer like the model below will work to combine a single VHF and UHF antenna. amzn.to/3QBX5xR
What about old sat combiners?
What about ethernet TV tuners for a large user base? The HDHomeRuns only have 4 tuners. Their rack mount ones are just 4 of those units in a rack case. They make no sense to me in that you have 4 tuners to then configure, and 4 different IP addresses. The only way to make that setup sane is to have a server constantly tuning to a channel and have it set up for an IPTV service to multicast out. And that's only 16 channels max. They're also ungodly expensive. I am in a campground and sell my internet bandwidth to neighbors during the camping season. Some people can't get a good signal with their camper antennas because of all the trees, and they're just poopy antennas and aren't high up.
What happens if you have an old ham radio antenna tower?
What about the $80 Televes 560483 Dual Input Antenna Preamp Amplifier/Combiner? Wouldn't this be a less expensive alternative to the $200 Televes SmartKom 531981 if you just need two antennas?
The Televes 560383 dual input preamp doesn't work as well as the SmartKom since there's insertion loss between the antennas and it doesn't separate the frequencies which will result in multipart issues for a lot of people.
Please clear this up for me. If I'm going to put 2 TV antennas into 1 coax to service my TV doesn't the splitter have to be "2 in and 1 out" ?
As mentioned in this video, combining two antennas on the same coax tends to mess up reception. You can certainly try it. Otherwise, the A/B coax switch below would be better: amzn.to/4aORdJ2
When are you going to get the Televes combiner and show it off? I really like mine, but the manual configuration might not be for everybody.
While I mentioned it in this video, I don't plan to review it on a video. Unfortunately my videos on super niche products perform (including this one) perform poorly so I'm not really making them anymore. I've shifted my content to more general topics relevant to the average cord cutter. This video was definitely pushing it.
@@AntennaMan Without your videos like this, I might not have even heard of it. Would love a second channel for these low performing, but useful to some, subjects. Thanks for all the valuable information you provide and the awareness you spread about NextGenTV issues.
I am wondering can you combine a FM radio antenna with a TV antenna?
It's possible but would require a specific configuration. Send me an email and I'll explain. No need to sign up for my antenna recommendation service.
Do you need a modem with this setup?
If you're referring to the Televes SmartKom, you don't need a modem. It will automatically configure by pressing the scan bottom on it. It uses bluetooth and an app for manual configuration.
Hello Mr. Man. I have a great old antenna on my roof that works great. Is there a device or dongle I can use to connect that antenna to my PC?
Hauppauge makes tuners that can be installed as PCIe cards in a computer. Or they have external tuners that can connect via a USB port.
Thank U. I see that. I just wish the reviews were better. Trying to cut the cord. They don't make easy.
@@dargan1956
@@askoscarc6732A Plex Media Server running on Ubuntu Server with 4TB hard drive and a Hauppauge WinTV-quadHD tuner was our solution. Only issue with the quad tuner was it needed a slightly stronger signal than a single tuner.
hello Feb 2024
you never showed us smart com combiner
you mention reccomended re watched
all video s none showed that device
can you deminstrate the smart com by televees need to know if it physically works or not
I live on the side of mountain in between two markets. For years I've wanted to put another antenna on the top and combine because then I'd get the locals from the other market but really no need with streaming now. That other market is boring news anyway. Not nearly as many shootings.
It's actually the opposite for me. The news from "in market" channels is all shootings and stabbings in Filthadelphia so I watch the news on a station in an adjacent market.
Filthadelphia @@AntennaMan 😆 Hhaha. Yeah I like the gore. I'm a horror movie guy so the more bodies the merrier.
@@TheKingOfInappropriateComments oh come on now, you guys have got nothing on Chicago and Milwaukee !!
@@bobh.4580 how do yall stack up against Bodymore Murderland or Slaughtekill Florida or Murder-Death county Florida? 🗡️
Will the Smartkom work with Televes antennas that already have a preamp built in such as the Dat Boss 149884, or will it overamp the signal or damage the built in preamp. Right now they're all coming to the house on separate cable runs. It would be nice to combine the signals but not if there's a risk of damaging any of the amplifiers.
Yes, it will work fine with Televes antennas and not damage them.
Thank you for the reply. I'm going to give it a try.@@AntennaMan
What @AntennaMan didn't tell you, is that you can eliminate the PSU's for your Televes antennas. SmartKom will also power your preamps.
Hi I have a question about comet Ota channel it’s supposed to come on channel 24 .2 in Chicago instead I get wovn channel but when I search how to watch comet in my area that’s what it brings up I’ve reached out to them for nothing can you try to look into comet Ota for Chicago IL please and let me know thanks
I've heard this from other people as well, Comet network seems to have been taken off of some stations. I still have it in Oregon on 16-3 so I know it's not just gone forever but I know how disappointing it is when a good airwave channel disappears. Your local listings might not reflect it yet, but it could be worth doing a few 'air searches' with your antenna in different positions to see if Comet turned up on another channel but isn't listed yet.
@@jamescarter3196 Thanks for the tip I can pick it up on that channel only if I point my antenna to Milwaukee however then I lose my Chicago local station I tried using 2 different antenna it didn’t work to well we just got atsc 3 .0 here I got charge on 2.5 now but still no comet only way to get it is with streaming service or there app or stirr app but I’d rather have it on my antenna
A much simpler way would be to hook each antenna to an HD Homerun and then you can use the HD Homerun app (or Plex) on a streaming device to see all the channels in a combined interface. That was my plan. I was waiting for ATSC 3 HD Homerun tuners to come out to implement it. But then found out that ATSC 3 has DRM and recording is limited, so I lost interest in the whole OTA thing pretty quickly.
ATSC 3.0 is down the road. Meanwhile, I have your solution and it works perfect. I believe ATSC 1.0 will be around for quite a while.
Your HD home run idea is innovative but at this point in time not a good solution due to the whole ATSC 3.0 DRM situation what is HDHR5-4K Flex which will pick up NextGen signals but cannot decrypt DRM. Until A3SA cut them some slack, HDHR is not a good choice for a tuner unless you don't care about NextGen. I use SmartKom and Zapperbox and get all that is available in 3.0 in my markets. 161 channels.
What if you have a amateur radio antenna in your attic while trying to have two more antennas for tv wouldn't that cause higher swr and cause further issues.
Yes
Let me get this straight, an internal computer tunes the filter so I can pull in (RF channels for all listed btw) 10 on antenna 1, 11 and 12 on antenna 2, and 13 on antenna 3 and sends this down the same coax cable without excessive issues with multipath or adjacent channel interference? If so, this could mean the ability to pick up Harrisburg/Lancaster, Baltimore, and Washington DC/Hagerstown MD without a rotator or multiple tuners.
Yes! This is exactly how the SmartKom works
What about two antennas, one TV and an A/B Switch? That's what works for me.
Is this one good?
Antennas Direct ClearStream 4MAX UHF VHF Indoor Outdoor TV Antenna | Multi-Directional | 70+ Mile Range | 4K 8K UHD | NEXTGEN TV | w/ 20-inch Mast (Black)
I HATE CABLE! I HATE CABLE! I HATE CABLE! ANTENNA NUMBER 1!
yea, but if understand correctly with ATSC 3.0, channels can choose to have subscriptions, think eventually all channels could all go premium with later releases. Think air channels should never be charge for public use with ads, promos supported.
I live between multiple markets. After repack, channels in both markets were assigned like frequencies, allowing the closer market to capture signal. NAB screwed the viewers for exclusive area advertising.
Is there a way to convert the antenna signal to Ethernet for distribution to, let's say, a couple of outbuildings or throughout the house?
A Plex Media Server can do that and more.
Tablo gen4
I would like to do this, but I am out of range of the secondary market to the West. The secondary market has different programming that is not on in my area that I would like to watch. However, when I look up the station's website they have this posted, "KDKJ-LD, virtual and UHF digital channel 27, is a low-power television station licensed to Tyler, Texas, United States. Owned by HC2 Holdings, it is a sister station to KPKN-LD (channel 35). The station's digital signal can only reach a 25 miles (40 km) radius of the station's transmitter on the southwest side of the city." I am located 100 miles East. Oh well...
jointenna and Smartkom
One area that I wish there was more info on, is getting reception in difficult urban locations, for example, in my area I have been trying to help a neighbor who rents, there is an apartment building complex between the houses and the TV stations, thus even though the stations are only 10-12 miles away, sites like antennaweb will recommend a medium directional antenna. Beyond that, there are issues with rental properties where it would be difficult to do outdoor antenna installations, and it is nearly impossible to find indoor directional antennas. Flat antennas fail to capture most channels from the stations 12 miles away, and the ones with a UHF loop and VHF elements many get 2 channels.
In my case, the only indoor antenna that reliably captured most of the channels was the Terk HDTVA (they have long since discontinued it) where with the LNA, got all of the channels from the transmitters in Manhattan. Though when the LNA failed, it damaged the PCB that had a built in combiner for the Yagi style UHF antenna and the VHF antenna, since then I could not find another indoor alternative that works for these edge cases.
I eventually moved to an outdoor directional, but my neighbor cannot and has to use indoor antennas, and I have been unable to identify the exact values of the components on the PCB in the antenna, and many smaller ones only have 2-3 numbers on them, but I would need to replace the failed components and get a new LNA for it to get it working again.
It looks like there is one of those Terk antennas being sold on eBay. Seller is exceptionespresso
Terk HDTVa
@@dargan1956 Sadly it is a bit risky since the issue with the antenna design, is with the amplifier, it can fail and send 17V into the antenna, which kills some of the components in it, thus resulting in an antenna with a bad amplifier as well as a bad mixer (basically how my unit failed). I will try and see if as a reply I can link to some images of how they design the internals (though the youtube filtering tends to not allow links through.. Their LNA was poorly designed, and had a high failure rate. Beyond that the capacitors, resistors, inductors and a few other passives were fine, though other components would likely need to be replaced.
Forget the Terk. I have tested the Televes Evoca and it is a great "shelf near a window" indoor/outdoor antenna.
How can 2 antennas be combined to one coax without multipath or jacking up the beam pattern. How about running 2 coax cables to a switch?
SmartKom is an amazing device. Through smart Electronics and integrated circuits it is possible to block signals from single antennas and enhance the ones that you want. It's like a magic box that works I've been using mine for 2 plus years with Excellent results. It really works