[Shop-talk] Over the air antenna frustration

[Ronnie Day]

Tim and Pat offered excellent points. Their suggestions about location and
orientation are 100% on point. Especially in rural situations there's no
substitute for a well designed high gain directional antenna placed as high
as pointed at the broadcast site. The world of OTA (Over The Air)
broadcasts has changed tremendously in the fairly recent past. One of the
best tools I've seen for getting an idea of the OTA stations in a given
area is <https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html>. In
addition, take the reception ranges listed with a big dose of salt!

On Sat, Aug 9, 2025 at 8:23 AM Pat Horne <patintexas at icloud.com> wrote:

> Tim, pixilation is caused by weak signal, sunlight has nothing to do with
> it unless the sunlight has degraded your antenna. Is this west-facing
> location facing the TV station? Is it on all stations? How far are you from
> the stations? Try putting the antenna on the wall facing the stations.
>
> I cut the cord several years ago & installed an antenna on the roof. I’m
> about 40 miles to the stations & had trouble with pixilation & complete
> dropout at times. I added an antenna-mounted amplifier & now get very few
> problems, usually first thing in the morning when it is foggy.
>
> Not related to your question, but I have a box that connects my antenna to
> my network & contains 4 tuners. I use a computer to record the shows I want
> to watch, then watch them on my tv whenever I feel like it. This allows me
> to put the antenna on the far end of the house where the reception is
> better.
>
> Peace, Pat
>
> Pat Horne
> We support Habitat for Humanity
>
>
> On Aug 8, 2025, at 10:41 PM, Tim . <tims_datsun_stuff at outlook.com> wrote:
>
> 
> Knowing how large the knowledge base is here I am hoping someone can
> help........
>
> I cut the cable a couple years ago and bought an over the air digital
> antenna. I bought what was the best one recommended by cnet.com at that
> time.
>
> My only window option for mounting said antenna is a west facing window
> that gets full sun all afternoon until sunset.
>
> Can I assume that the constant pixelation is from sun interference? If
> not, why do I get constant pixelation? If so, is there any fix/cure/etc?
>
> I need to fix this before football starts otherwise the boss will be
> upset. (happy wife happy like)
>
> Thanks all
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