Assistance with Reception in Arlington, VA

[jedge04]

Appreciate any help you guys can provide. Can i reasonably expect a different antenna to help? The primary channels that I get are NBC, CBS, Fox, but not ABC. I want to do anything I can to get ABC. Below's my information:

Antenna: Currently use Terk HDTVa Amplified Indoor Antenna
Location: Indoor is my only option as I live in a condo. I am on the third floor of the building. Thick foliage and other buildings are in direct sight lines where the antenna is located. The above channels are found with the antenna pointing NW out a window.
Setup: Connected to only 1 TV, the antenna is directly beside the TV. If I end up putting a TV in my bedroom, then I will likely just buy a second antenna rather than running coaxial cable throughout the condo.
TV Signal Analysis: TV Fool

Thanks for the help!

 

[Fringe Reception]

:welcome: jedge041

Outdoor antennas beat indoor antenna 99+% of the time.

An indoor antenna is not your only option thanks to Federal Law which trumps condo rules. Please review this Federal Government web page which explains your legal rights: Installing Consumer-Owned Antennas and Satellite Dishes | FCC.gov

Now that you know you can have an outdoor antenna, do you have a deck area where you could mount one? It could be 'mounted' as simply as a mast in a 5 gallon bucket of sand, or clamped or bolted to your deck rail. If you own your condo (not renting one) you should be able to use wall brackets to mount your own antenna on your wall.

Jim

 

[No Static At All]

Hello neighbor!! You are too close to DC to be using an amplified antenna. Go to Radio Shack & buy this antenna. If it doesn't help, you can return it for a full refund. Unfortunately, your options are very limited with indoor antennas.

 

[jedge04]

:welcome: jedge041

Outdoor antennas beat indoor antenna 99+% of the time.

An indoor antenna is not your only option thanks to Federal Law which trumps condo rules. Please review this Federal Government web page which explains your legal rights: Installing Consumer-Owned Antennas and Satellite Dishes | FCC.gov

Now that you know you can have an outdoor antenna, do you have a deck area where you could mount one? It could be 'mounted' as simply as a mast in a 5 gallon bucket of sand, or clamped or bolted to your deck rail. If you own your condo (not renting one) you should be able to use wall brackets to mount your own antenna on your wall.

Jim

Thanks for the welcome and information on my legal rights. Unfortunately I do not have a balcony. I live on the top floor, so theoretically I could wire something to the roof and mount the antenna up there - perhaps going through the same holes used for the heat pump. This is certainly an option that I will have to consider, but I will likely exhaust my indoor options before taking that step. The channels that do come in have great signal strength, but unfortunately ABC is being stubborn.

 

[jedge04]

Hello neighbor!! You are too close to DC to be using an amplified antenna. Go to Radio Shack & buy this antenna. If it doesn't help, you can return it for a full refund. Unfortunately, your options are very limited with indoor antennas.

Thanks for the reply - I will head to RadioShack and give it a try. I am interested to know why my proximity to DC (I live in Rosslyn) means that I should not use an amplified antenna. For what it's worth, the signal comes in much stronger when I turn "on" the amplification with my current antenna - so i figured that it has got to be doing something beneficial.

 

[Fringe Reception]

jedge04,

There are several ways to mount a rooftop antenna and if the coaxial cable drops over the edge of the roof to only your unit (for now) so what? Call it "testing".

When your neighbors discover you are saving $100.00 or more per month, they may want to do the same/be included/receive distributed FREE channels from your setup. I have seen this happen before where an entire building (at least several units) go for FREE.

Jim

 

[No Static At All]

I am interested to know why my proximity to DC (I live in Rosslyn) means that I should not use an amplified antenna.

The amplifier is likely attenuating the signal when in the off position. This is true with outdoor antenna amplifiers as well.

If you are still having trouble with channel 7 with the new antenna, you may want to try an FM trap as well. I have one you can test with if Radio Shack doesn't have them in stock.

If you do decide to mount on the roof, this tiny antenna will get you a boatload of channels from Baltimore as well. NBC Baltimore has just added MeTV which has some cool vintage TV programming.

 

[FOX TV]

Amplified antennas sometimes can saturate the receiver with to much signal, thus causing a loss of reception, and not a gain in reception reliability. There are many different indoor antenna solutions, and you may not even have to go the outdoor route at all., but Fringe is right that your landlord cannot restrict your ability to install an outdoor antenna if that is truly your desire. You may piss off your landlord, but that is a different topic all together.

This antenna below (Clear Stream C-1)is small enough for indoor use, and is available at Bestbuy. It WILL NOT receive any VHF channels though.

 

[jedge04]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I am going to give the Radioshack antenna and the FM Trap a try. It appears all the ABC channels are VHF, so the Clear Stream C-1 won't work. I'll report back my success/failure.

 

[Rickideemus]

Thanks for the welcome and information on my legal rights. Unfortunately I do not have a balcony. I live on the top floor, so theoretically I could wire something to the roof and mount the antenna up there - perhaps going through the same holes used for the heat pump. This is certainly an option that I will have to consider

Unfortunately, the roof is not your "exclusive use" area. If the landlord knows the law, and wants to make trouble, he/she could make you take it down.

Also, there may be insurance issues in case of an accident. I really think you should get permission before you climb up on another person's roof.

Rick

 

[Fringe Reception]

Unfortunately, the roof is not your "exclusive use" area. If the landlord knows the law, and wants to make trouble, he/she could make you take it down. ...

Rick

Rick,

That's true but since it is a Condo, he owns his own wall.

Jim

 

[Rickideemus]

That's true but since it is a Condo, he owns his own wall.

Oh yeah! Wonder if he owns the roof right above him too? Hmm ... two floors ...