An OTA tower for St Mary's

SamSpade

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
So I am hoping someone knows the laws and capabilities to answer this question -

Before that - this is about the only place I have ever lived where it's next to impossible to get even ONE live, over the air (OTA) signal to watch TV. When I go online to look for broadcast towers, I see the closest ones ARE in fact, in DC, in Annapolis, even on the Eastern Shore - but there's a massive DEAD zone surrounding this county and neighboring counties. You have to go at least 50 miles in ANY DIRECTION to hit a tower, which is the furthest reach of most OTA broadcasts, no matter what they claim.

So -

Is there a way we could get one - or more - put in our county? A re-broadcast tower, as it were? Something. Because otherwise - we JUST have Breezeline (or FiOS but **ONLY** if you are very lucky) and they just keep ratcheting up the cost. Cable/Internet is now rivaling the cost of a new car, and it gets worse year by year.

And it ain't because they are improving the service.

If it is possible - what hurdles need to be overcome?
 
Sneakers

Sneakers

Just sneakin' around....
OTA transmission towers are almost always co-located with the transmitting station. Since there aren't any broadcasters in this area, there won't be any antennas. Not cost effective to run cables or other transmission means from DC to St. Marys just for an antenna.

OTA is mandated by the Federal govt for broadcasters. If there were no fed requirement to have OTA, I'd bet there would be far fewer antennas than there are now.

And as far as "not one" signal... I have an antenna and get 50-60 channels. Granted, many aren't worth much, but they are there. In fact, I'm watching cartoons from MeTV on channel 47.3 right now.
 
SamSpade

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
Sneakers said:
OTA transmission towers are almost always co-located with the transmitting station. Since there aren't any broadcasters in this area, there won't be any antennas. Not cost effective to run cables or other transmission means from DC to St. Marys just for an antenna.

OTA is mandated by the Federal govt for broadcasters. If there were no fed requirement to have OTA, I'd bet there would be far fewer antennas than there are now.

And as far as "not one" signal... I have an antenna and get 50-60 channels. Granted, many aren't worth much, but they are there. In fact, I'm watching cartoons from MeTV on channel 47.3 right now.
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(shrug) Then I'm just fishing for solutions. I'm sick to death of being squeezed for more money for increasingly poorer service - and aside from satellite, there's no alternatives.

I've seen what towers are out there - and yeah, most of them are crap channels that you wouldn't want to replace your cable with.

I just remember, years ago, I lived in a development in PG - and they had SOMETHING going on, because they had a tower within the development, and I thought we were getting our reception from THAT one.
 
Sneakers

Sneakers

Just sneakin' around....
I seem to remember you saying that an outdoor antenna was not something you would put up, limited to indoor or attic only. That's your killer right there. You have to get outside, above the roof line with a rotor. If you can't do that, you will get few to no channels. Those indoor antennas just don't have the gain needed. And since there's a good 90 degree or better difference in direction between DC and the Eastern shore, a rotor is mandatory in this fringe reception area.
 
SamSpade

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
Sneakers said:
I seem to remember you saying that an outdoor antenna was not something you would put up, limited to indoor or attic only. That's your killer right there. You have to get outside, above the roof line with a rotor. If you can't do that, you will get few to no channels. Those indoor antennas just don't have the gain needed. And since there's a good 90 degree or better difference in direction between DC and the Eastern shore, a rotor is mandatory in this fringe reception area.
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Good memory. Yeah, wife considers it an eyesore and I am not sure how I can distribute an OTA signal throughout the house even if I get ONE attached to such an antenna.

But she also had a friend with a massive tower on his property - and it still barely pulled in more than one or two channels. I know, because I tried to use a TV attached to it. A mere handful of very poor quality video.

But alternatives are probably in our near future - Breezeline is slowly killing off their cable service in favor of an all streaming one, which I personally think is stupid. But their regular cable is dreadful already. Channels we get regularly just drop out for minutes; On Demand will refuse to work sometimes. We'll have intermittent audio. For this we get raised prices and fees totalling forty bucks or more.
 
Sneakers

Sneakers

Just sneakin' around....
SamSpade said:
But she also had a friend with a massive tower on his property - and it still barely pulled in more than one or two channels.
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Something wasn't designed right. I have a pretty small high-gain antenna on a 6' PVC pole on my furnace chimney, and it works really well.
 
SamSpade

SamSpade

Well-Known Member
PREMO Member
Sneakers said:
Something wasn't designed right. I have a pretty small high-gain antenna on a 6' PVC pole on my furnace chimney, and it works really well.
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Who can say? Maybe it's all the damned trees or commercial interference. I have no idea.
 
TPD

TPD

the poor dad
I’m getting 20+ OTA channels from an outside antennae on a 33’ telescoping pole. All channels are from the Eastern Shore - can’t get any DC channels. MeTV is my favorite, which Breezeline stopped broadcasting awhile back for some unknown reason to me.
 
PeoplesElbow

PeoplesElbow

Well-Known Member
SamSpade said:
Who can say? Maybe it's all the damned trees or commercial interference. I have no idea.
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Usually it is because the person doesn't understand what they are doing.

25 ft off the ground the below antenna can get a ton of stations right in the heart of Lexington Park. No rotor, just pointed toward DC.

www.techhive.com

Televes Dat Boss Mix LR review: This is a great outdoor antenna

This is a strong outdoor TV antenna featuring both a signal amplifier and an onboard LTE filter.
www.techhive.com www.techhive.com

And this is how you would distribute throughout the house.

www.solidsignal.com

Televes TV Antenna Distribution Amp 5-Port with LTE Filtering (552380)

Televes TV Antenna Distribution Amp 5-Port with LTE Filtering (552380)Domestic distribution amplifier intended to extend the over the air television signal coming from an antenna in a home coaxial cable network. This amplifier provides a total of 5 outputs, four of which have a maximum gain of...
www.solidsignal.com www.solidsignal.com
 
PeoplesElbow

PeoplesElbow

Well-Known Member
TPD said:
I’m getting 20+ OTA channels from an outside antennae on a 33’ telescoping pole. All channels are from the Eastern Shore - can’t get any DC channels. MeTV is my favorite, which Breezeline stopped broadcasting awhile back for some unknown reason to me.
Click to expand...
What kind of antenna do you have?
 
PeoplesElbow

PeoplesElbow

Well-Known Member
As a comparison my mom's house has all of the TV antennas just 5 miles away. I put the below antenna up there, no amp at all, just goes through a passive three way splitter (which divides the signal by a little more than 3). It works fine inside, but I put it outside and used the cable to connect to it and use the house wiring. TV anywhere in the house from a single antenna. Its such a cute little antenna but works flawlessly.

www.solidsignal.com

Televes VZenit Mix Antenna (149381)

Experience superior TV signal reception with the Televes VZenit Mix Antenna. Combining two antennas in one, it offers high VHF and UHF signals. Built with top-quality materials for durability. Enhance your viewing experience today. Shop now!
www.solidsignal.com www.solidsignal.com
 
Sneakers

Sneakers

Just sneakin' around....
PeoplesElbow said:
Usually it is because the person doesn't understand what they are doing.

25 ft off the ground the below antenna can get a ton of stations right in the heart of Lexington Park. No rotor, just pointed toward DC.

www.techhive.com

Televes Dat Boss Mix LR review: This is a great outdoor antenna

This is a strong outdoor TV antenna featuring both a signal amplifier and an onboard LTE filter.
www.techhive.com www.techhive.com
Click to expand...
I have that antenna at your recommendation, but without a rotor it will only see signals directly in front of it. If it's pointed at DC, I don't get Baltimore or Eastern Shore. Point at Eastern shore, no DC/Baltimore. Very narrow reception angle with the LR (long range). But that's ok, I have no issues swinging the antenna around.
 
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