I am having trouble pulling in all the HD channels available with a Terk TV55 powered antenna and a panasonic over the air HD receiver. Seems very directional, but never really strong. Any suggestions?

Yes, return the Terk and get a decent UHF antenna, and mount it high in the attic. There is a website that can tell you which direction and how far each station is, and the gain you should buy. Someone who know it will follow this post.

Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?

Fry? Fry? Fry?

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

uhf in the attic?

Terk= Over Priced and over rated with little results.

Check out old style UHF or UHF/VHF antennas on Channel Masters web site.

Dave

www.antennaweb.org this is the site that can tell you directionality. We have limited luck with the Stealth by Channel master in attics and if you are getting directional results then try a rotor.

Yeah, UHF in the attic works just fine.....

http://www.titantv.com is another good site for recomendations on antennas and channel availability

i can't believe uhf would work in the attic--how far from the source are you?

We have used Channel Master bowtie antennas in many attics and have had signal levels of 90+ from as far as 50 miles. This is in the Los Angeles area. ABC's signal seems to be always lower, 60-70, but still works OK.

Greater Chicagoland Area.... ANywhere from inthe City (3-5 miles out) to far burbs... 30-50 miles.

CBS is our weak link... ANd thats a VHF HD Broadcast..... ABC, NBC, WGN, PBS.. all good signal strength even at 50 mils or so.

We use ant in the attic all the time, you do lose a certain percentage of signal so just make sure you put in a decent size one, we use wynguard seperate uhf and vhf so we can dial in better. (can finally pick up local on sat now, but need ant for HD)

CB1

Avad follow what everyone says uhf bowtie in the attic. Yes Glaro uhf in the attic is the way to go. My company was the shiznit some years ago at this. We were always able to deliver better than cable quality picture on almost all channels. Depending on surrounding terrain. Like everything else experience helps. Take up a good meter with you to measure levels for best pointing.

UHF "May" work fine in an attic... depending on location.

But there are points worth considering.

1. Typical composite shingles reduce signal strength approx. 4dB when dry, 6dB when wet. That is a lot of unnecessary loss.

2. Properly aiming a large UHF antenna is generally difficult in an attic. Murphys law dictates roof supports will always be in the way of max. signal.

3. In the attic, the antenna is closer to all the electrical noise and other trash generated by the equipment in the house. The house wiring makes an excellent antenna to beam that "junk" to your attic mounted antenna.

If you are close to transmitters and can get by with it, do it.

If you are anything approaching a fringe condition, Well, The TV signal is up there in the air.... best to put the antenna where the best signal is... up there in the air with it.

What happens when it ices outside and it bends the ant, you replace it, and guess what happens next? Anmother ice storm. Advantages and disadvantages!
CB1

Splitting hairs Warren? I think we all know outside is better.. But due to some covenents their not allowed. Here in the south most high end homes we do could have another home just in the attic. So room is not an issue. Hell if you can only manage 4db of gain off the channel your getting your gonna have to amp up anyway to get the signal to your distribution panel...

Add tornados to that list,roof was fine ant was toast.
Just drove through a tornado struck neighborhood and saw a twisted ant on a still intact house. No BS happened about a hour and a half ago.

CB1