On Jul 2, 10:49 am, szilagyic wrote:
Hello:

I have been trying to find the answer to my question on the front-
to-
back ratio on UHF antennas, and so far have been unsuccessful.

I think I understand what the front-to-back ratio is, but the specs
on
my Winegard PR-8800 (8 bay bowtie) show negative front-to-back
ratios
(-9 dB @ ch 14; -17 dB @ ch 32; -11 dB @ ch 50; -9 dB @ ch 69).
The
"dB over reference dipole" is: 10.7 dB @ ch 14; 12 dB @ ch 32; 11
dB @
ch 50; 12.5 dB @ ch 69. How can the front-to-back ratio be
negative,
and is this good or bad? I am assuming this could be bad in my
case
as I would like the signal at the back of the antenna to be
minimal.

I am currently trying to improve our HDTV reception. I currently
have
the PR-8800 antenna in our attic hooked to a Radio Shack 30 dB mast
amp. This antenna works very well overall. But from time to time,
on
a couple channels the HD signal strength will drop all the way
down,
enough to drop the signal or cause break-up. I've been considering
a
Winegard HD9095P or PR9032 to use in conjunction with the PR-8800
since they have a higher gain than the PR-8800, then rotate the
PR-8800 the other way to receive some different stations.

I really appreciate the help and feedback on this!!

Thanks,
--
Chris

30 dB is quite a bit of gain on top of a decent gain antenna. If
you're _far_ from the stations OR they're still running reduced power
it can be justified but as a point of reference, I use a Winegard
squareshooter (4-5 dB gain), no amplifier split 4 ways with 100' of
RG-6 35 miles from the LA transmitters. SIgnal strength reported as
80% on the HDTV Wonders. I wonder if perhaps you're almost overloading
either the preamp or the front-end of the TV.

As Bert mentioned, the negative front-to-back number just referencing
the front gain of the antenna.

Again, I wouldn't use so 'much' preamp unless I was 50+ miles from the
nearest station.

GG