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HD TV Antenas?

3K views 18 replies 13 participants last post by  Minnewaska 
#1 ·
Looking at "marine" antennas and I see prices and specs somewhat all over the place ranging from about $80 to $300. I just want to be able to get a few TV channels as a liveaboard... I was using a standard home use style flat antenna, not great and it's toast. Any suggestions...

I was thinking of purchasing this one

Shakespeare 3004 SeaWatch Omni-Directional HDTV Antenna
 
#4 ·
OTA TV is HD. Most signals are 720p or 1080i.

That Shakespeare 3004 looks too small to me to useful other than high signal areas. I tried one like that (different mfr.) and it was useless. Worse than a set of rabbit ears. Without some firsthand reviews, I would go with one of the "saucer" style ones. I use an older one (pre digital HDTV) and it still works well. The newer ones are probably better for UHF where most of the new stations are.

If you are in a slip, you can get away with an inexpensive directional antenna. But at anchor, they don't work well as the boat swings. Need an omni-directional antenna.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I also have one of those flat HD antennas, an "outdoor" one that I only break out every once and a while though. It works OK inside or laid outside on deck, but can be frustrating at times. (When HD signals are spotty the picture freezes up instead of just getting fuzzy like back in the day) One evening whilst anchored, I couldn't get reception for a game I was trying to watch. Having the courage, genius, and rage that only several Kraken 'N Cokes can give, I attached the 50ft coaxial cable I use for cable TV at the marina, cut a hole in it, attached the main halyard to it, and hoisted it 40 ft in the air. It worked pretty damn good then.
 
#9 ·
We have another version of the Seawatch Antenna mounted at our masthead. It seems to work very well even when we are in relatively out of the way places (in southwest Florida) albeit with fewer channels. While visiting St. Pete we had upwards of 30 channels or more and so did not bother with hooking up the cable. The built in amplifier seems to make quite a difference although one must run 12v to the device as well as the signal cable.

FWIW...
 
#10 ·
The built in amplifier seems to make quite a difference although one must run 12v to the device as well as the signal cable.
An amp at the antenna is a great performance enhancement. Some antennas have a power injector that lets you run the 12 VDC up the coax.
 
#11 ·
Everything broadcast OTA went digital ten(?) years ago, AND the frequencies being used changed at the same time. So an "analog" antenna was cut for the old set of frequencies, and a "digital" antenna is really only different in that it is tuned for a different set of frequencies.

Antennas don't know or care about "analog" and "digital", just frequency.

IIRC the new deal is that every licensee is given so much bandwidth in the new frequencies. They have a choice of broadcasting 1HD plus 3 "low definition" signals, which show up as four channels, or 1HD+2 "medium definition", etc. That gives them fewer channels to sell--but higher quality. So all OTA signals don't have to be HD, and all of them aren't HD, but typically the larger stations all have their primary channel on HD.

If you're picking an antenna for the boonies, the problem is that digital is an "all or none" deal. Either you get enough signal for a picture, or you don't. The only two ways you can improve your odds are by getting a TV with a better and more sensitive receiver (good luck trying to find that out) and an antenna with a higher "db" rating for gain. A cheap antenna might claim to have a 20db gain signal, a better one 35db. (Offhand, I don't know the numbers.) If an antenna is rated in "miles", that's just puffery, nonsense.
Then there are active amplifers and amplified antennas, but that's another whole layer of complications that really shouldn't be necessary, unless you're really straining in the boonies.
 
#12 ·
connect the TV to the rigging. this creates a massive antenna array and I have gotten close to 100 channels by connecting a coax jumper with an alligator clip to one of my chain plates. The boat was in Galveston Bay and I received stations from Corpus Christi to Austin to Baton Rouge. Incredible reception for the cost of a piece of coax and an alligator clip connected to the coax core. do not connect the shield.
 
#13 ·
I have had excellent results connecting the antenna lead to an available chain plate. This turns the mast and all that stainless steel rigging into a giant antenna. I received over 100 channels some of which were over 200 miles away. the boat was in Galveston bay and I picked up HD channels from Corpus Christi to Austin to Baton Rouge. All for the cost of a piece of coax and an alligator clip connected to the coax core. leave the shield open circuited. Disconnect during lightning storms. works better than any HDTV antenna I have ever used. good luck.
 
#14 ·
curtis-
There are mixed blessings in using a "random wire" as an antenna. Long wires can work very well, the problems being that they are not tuned to the right frequency, so they also can bring in higher noise levels that the tv may not cope well with. And even worse, they may carry enough of a static charge to blow out the input circuit in the tv, even if there is no lightning strike. If there is a strike..not good to have a direct path into the tv and electrical system.
But for the price of an alligator clip, absolutely worth a try.
 
#15 ·
all the rigging was grounded to the lead keel for lightning protection. the digital signals overcame the noise levels. all I can say is it worked wonderfully. I was just dinking around after a day of working on the boat. I decided to spend the night on the boat and get more work done the next day. I had lousy TV reception and decided to try something different. There was a chain plate just above the table where the TV was and since I was doing electrical work on the boat I grabbed a piece of wire and connected the converter box to the chain plate and WOW. I used solid 14ga wire and a pair of vice grips. Later I used coax and a battery charger clip. word spread around the docks pretty quickly due to consumption of sundowners. It was not an isolated incident. ;)
 
#16 ·
curtis742,

You are right, reception antennas are just inscrutable. You can find good ones are in the oddest places. As a kid in the early 60's I put up a 100' wire from my bedroom to a pine tree in the backyard for my AM 'Rocket Radio' only later to find that the little metal bit on the telephone that stops your finger when you turn the dial was much, much better. I had a wire that ran from my bedroom under the door and out to the phone in the hall. I listened at night to rock and roll music from clear channel stations up and down the US east coast and some beyond the Mississippi from North Carolina.

Bill Murdoch
AK4PO
 
#17 ·
Marine Over The Air TV Antennas

We have the Glomex amplified antennae
From the Chester River where you are we get over 30 stations including all Baltimore and D.C. HD major ones in addition to a few Eastern shore stations. From the Sassafras we get Baltimore and Philly stations.

Our radar is on a pole on the aft and the Glomex sits on a hoop on the radar pole on top of the radar done.

The amplifier makes a HUGE difference in obtaining the digital signal
 
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