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Message: [QUOTE="JER, post: 32786, member: 4529"]Big Antennas versus Antenna FarmAgreed! Let's steer the thread back to its original intent on discussing relative merits of different factors that are important for reception. One of the things that strikes me as an antenna engineer is the fact that so many of the designs on the market are still the large VHF/UHF combo antennas. While they are a tried and true designs they only work well for people who are in markets where all the stations are in one direction or for people willing to use a rotator. The truth of course is that most people live in markets where they have to contend with transmitters from multiple directions and multiple bands. The days of using a rotator to watch TV on a single channel pretty much died once we invented the remote control. Most homes now also have several TVs so it seems to me that a small antenna farm makes more sense than a single "big gun" antenna.The low VHF band is also problematic. Physics makes it hard to design good small antennas and now the market for Low VHF is so small that it would be difficult for to recoup any substantial investment that one might make developing new antennas for that band.Personally, I think the FCC made a mistake by not forcing all the DTV stations into one big UHF band so that we could accommodate the consumers preference for small TV antennas and in the future mobile TV. They could have easily reallocated the VHF bands to other services that can live with large antennas and that can make better use of the VHF propagation characteristics. What's done is done of course so now we must try to solve the problems...We are hearing that much of the post transition VHF reception problems have been indoors and related to electronically generated noise (TV's, computers, etc.). The VHF noise in and around most homes is now apparently much higher than the assumptions used in planning the TV coverage areas.  So, while signal strengths are still good and in line with predictions, noise margins are too small or even negative indoors. This is causing lots of grief for viewers and VHF station owners alike.Apparently the problem isn't as bad outdoors away from buildings and electronics. In many cases amplified antennas have been found to worsen the problems as the noise/interference is strong and amplifiers only make it worse. High VHF is apparently strongly affected by harmonics and intermod from strong FM stations so removing amps and installing FM traps apparently helps in some cases.For FoxTV: I would encourage you to take a look at our C5 VHF antenna if you have time. I think it will suit your needs for a compact high VHF solution. You'll find specs and computed data on the antennas direct website!Cheers![/QUOTE]

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