Outdoor atenna installtion

[Donut417]

Can anyone give me a ball park figure on how much it would be to pay a company to install one? After the FCC repack we have had a challenge getting stations. I have moved the antenna in my room that provides plex with its OTA TV, but on some days we have issues. For like the last two weeks none of the channel 4's worked. Today I rescanned and got them back. But eventually we will have issues. Before the repack I would have issues, but generally they were few and far between, like 95% up time and that was OK. 

 

The reason why Im seeking a professional is because I dont think me or my dad can safely install the antenna. For one we are going getting on the roof, so the plan was to install it to the back side of the house, but I fear that power lines are too close, as they run right next to the East side of the house and they swtich direction and also cross the back side of the property, Id say they are probably 15 ish feet betwen the house and power lines. I just dont think its wise to try putting a metal extended ladder and where near 8000 volts of electricty. 

 

After talking to the old man and hearing the plan, I think we might be able to install it ourselves. Now its about figuring out costs and all that I need to buy. But still would like to know how much it would be for a pro to do it. Just in case. 

[circeseye]

nah, you dont need a pro to install one....you just need a outside digital tv antenna (needs to be for digital, stations switched to that so those huge antennas we used to have dont work for crap). attach it to a pole thats higher then your roof....one person spins the pole one is looking at tv reception...just turn it till your stations come in clear and tighten down pole so antenna stays in that general direction.

some antennas are omnidirectional and just need to get antenna high enough. id look for one of these

oh and good cable running from antenna to tv.

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, circeseye said:

nah, you dont need a pro to install one....you just need a outside digital tv antenna (needs to be for digital, stations switched to that so those huge antennas we used to have dont work for crap). attach it to a pole thats higher then your roof....one person spins the pole one is looking at tv reception...just turn it till your stations come in clear and tighten down pole so antenna stays in that general direction.

some antennas are omnidirectional and just need to get antenna high enough. id look for one of these

oh and good cable running from antenna to tv.

https://store.antennasdirect.com/clearstream-max-v-uhf-vhf-indoor-outdoor-hdtv-antenna.html

 

I was considering this guy. We are looking at hardware that will attached to the back wall of the house, then we will use a mast to get this guy over the roof line. My dad doesnt trust the wood on our Eave. But we have to find a wall mount that can push the mast a little over 12 inches away from the wall to get around the over hang. I think we found something. 

 

But I have a few questions. 

 

1) We have cell towers around our area and I know they can cause interfrence. Where is the best place to put the LTE filter? 

2) Does it matter how long the grounding wires are? I mean they are going to be a decent length. 

3) Do you know a good place to get short lengths of outdoor coax? Due to how were running the coax and where the antenna is being installed I wont need much. Also wheres a good place to get outdoor connectors? Want to keep water out. 

[JZStudios]

7 hours ago, circeseye said:

nah, you dont need a pro to install one....you just need a outside digital tv antenna (needs to be for digital, stations switched to that so those huge antennas we used to have dont work for crap). attach it to a pole thats higher then your roof....one person spins the pole one is looking at tv reception...just turn it till your stations come in clear and tighten down pole so antenna stays in that general direction.

some antennas are omnidirectional and just need to get antenna high enough. id look for one of these

oh and good cable running from antenna to tv.

We have a home made one attached to like a 8ft pvc pole that we painted sky blue so it blends in a bit better and looks a bit less redneck.

 

5 hours ago, Donut417 said:

But I have a few questions. 

 

1) We have cell towers around our area and I know they can cause interfrence. Where is the best place to put the LTE filter? 

2) Does it matter how long the grounding wires are? I mean they are going to be a decent length. 

3) Do you know a good place to get short lengths of outdoor coax? Due to how were running the coax and where the antenna is being installed I wont need much. Also wheres a good place to get outdoor connectors? Want to keep water out. 

1. No idea. I don't think we have a LTE filter.

2. No, ground is ground.

3. Currently? Not really. We have a local electronics we normally go to and they might do up the connections, but with everything being pretty much closed that's unlikely.

[PlayCrackTheSky]

Let me know how much coax you need.  I can cut some to length (with a little extra length) and send it to you.  

[circeseye]

7 hours ago, Donut417 said:

 

 

1) We have cell towers around our area and I know they can cause interfrence. Where is the best place to put the LTE filter? 

2) Does it matter how long the grounding wires are? I mean they are going to be a decent length. 

3) Do you know a good place to get short lengths of outdoor coax? Due to how were running the coax and where the antenna is being installed I wont need much. Also wheres a good place to get outdoor connectors? Want to keep water out. 

not sure on lte filters. (first ive heard of them)

yea ground is ground

home depot, lowes...have coax, you'll have to buy and put on your own connectors. also the less connectors the better. if you can get away with one solid run the better it is. the more splitters and extenders you use can possibly have an effect.

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, Billbill said:

Put an antenna in the attic and skip paying for installation.  

Cant we dont have attic access. Well we do but we are too fat to fit thru the hole. 

[Donut417]

3 hours ago, circeseye said:

not sure on lte filters. (first ive heard of them)

yea ground is ground

home depot, lowes...have coax, you'll have to buy and put on your own connectors. also the less connectors the better. if you can get away with one solid run the better it is. the more splitters and extenders you use can possibly have an effect.

Well I know Im going to have at least 6 connectors. 2, from the antenna to the grounding block, 2, from the grounding block to the wallplate and 2 more that go from the wall plate to the HD homerun. Im just worried about getting UV resistant coax, to make sure it holds up. Because the back of the house get decent sun and I have no way really to hide the cabling. 

 

Also I have the tools to put on compression fittings. I have both RG59 and RG6 connectors but Ill need to buy some outdoor rated ones. 

[Donut417]

Good news. Found what I think we need. Looks like the whole job will be just above $200, which is less than what I thought. 

[Donut417]

Does any one know of any small perferably plastic enclosures that would work for putting the grounding block in? Its more of a making it look nice thing, dont really want to have a metal grounding block just hanging there, plus it woud help protect the connections from the elements. The idea is to have this to mount on the back of the house and put the grounding block in to it. 

[circeseye]

7 hours ago, Donut417 said:

Does any one know of any small perferably plastic enclosures that would work for putting the grounding block in? Its more of a making it look nice thing, dont really want to have a metal grounding block just hanging there, plus it woud help protect the connections from the elements. The idea is to have this to mount on the back of the house and put the grounding block in to it. 

https://www.amazon.com/outdoor-cable-box/s?k=outdoor+cable+box

[JZStudios]

On 5/21/2020 at 11:24 AM, PlayCrackTheSky said:

Let me know how much coax you need.  I can cut some to length (with a little extra length) and send it to you.  

Will it be Brand New?

[artuc]

On 5/22/2020 at 6:15 AM, Donut417 said:

lso I have the tools to put on compression fittings. I have both RG59 and RG6 connectors but Ill need to buy some outdoor rated ones. 

They should already be outdoor rated?

 

Use RG6 Quad cable, unless there is some other standard or preference where you are.

 

For your connection to waterproof them use self fusing tape, do 2 layers then go over that with 2 layers of electrical tape. Do a 50% overlap, stretch tension the fusing tape as you apply it.

[Intergalacticbits]

On 5/21/2020 at 6:12 PM, Donut417 said:

Cant we dont have attic access. Well we do but we are too fat to fit thru the hole. 

  That is so freaking funny.

 

I had a similar thing. My one bedroom window is small. When I was a teenager I could dive through it like a fish onto the joining roof below. Now I live here alone and am an adult. The last time I tried to get through it I got stuck half in and half out lol. After that I decided to buy an extra fire extinguisher and make sure all the smoke detectors worked well upstairs.

 

If there was ever a fire and I tried to get out that way.  I'd end up looking like a smoked sausage sticking half out the window. 

 

 

[Intergalacticbits]

Sorry I got distracted.  Some places forbid putting grounding blocks in boxes outside. You might want to check about that where you live.

 

Yeah I bought a lot of that kind of stuff down at Lowes years ago, including a 250ft. roll of quality RG6 cable. It's a good place for that kind of stuff.

I think you can buy some types of connectors that have rubber on them.

If it were me I'd check online first, lots of good websites for that stuff I think.

 

Also depending on your antenna it might be that your just not in range of many of the channels anymore.

I have an old traditional super long range (150 mile) antenna and when the switch to digital happened. I did lose a third or so of channels because of new range limits but I still had almost all the more local important channels. I think because my antenna had big UHF coverage on it.

 

You might just need a signal booster on it.

Go online there are so many website experts on this stuff.

 

Hope that is a little helpful.

 

[Donut417]

10 hours ago, Intergalacticbits said:

Some places forbid putting grounding blocks in boxes outside.

Well considering Comcast does it when installing service. Id say its legal.

 

10 hours ago, Intergalacticbits said:

Also depending on your antenna it might be that your just not in range of many of the channels anymore.

I have an old traditional super long range (150 mile) antenna and when the switch to digital happened. I

The channels are 30 miles away at most. The antenna I currently have is rated for 60 Miles and has worked up til the FCC repack. Now many of the channels have come back. My guessing is they were running on 50% power until the FCC gave the go ahead. Also, past 100 miles an antenna is worthless as the curvature of the Earth causes issues. 

 

10 hours ago, Intergalacticbits said:

You might just need a signal booster on it.

Current antenna has an amplifier already. The issue is we have thicker walls and aluminum siding. Both don't work well for TV signals.