How did I connect the twinlead to the coax? I used two cones and
twisted them. Center to one lead, outside to the other lead. This was
meant to be a temporary solution (two years ago.)

At any rate I have one more question, if I go twinlead all the way from
the antenna to the TV (almost to the TV, I'll have to switch over just
before cable runs up the wall behind my tv) should I be concerned with
grounding? As I explained before, coax is well grounded just before
entering crawlspace. Will I need to do the same for twinlead?

On 9 Feb 2006 10:57:54 -0800, "jg" wrote:

Twinlead has less signal loss than coax so it's
preferred in reception areas where signal
strengths are low.

Should I be worried about this? Currently the twinlead only runs from
the top of the antenna to where it enters my house. About 40 ft. Then
I have coax in my crawl space for another 80 feet or so. 30 ft of
which is just coiled and wasted. Reception for local (Sacramento)
stations is pretty good. Reception for San Francisco stations is too
grainy to watch at times. My zip code is 95682. (So I should not
expect too much from San Francisco.)

If need be I can replace the existing twinlead with new twinlead.
Should I look into this?

jg

You can't expect good reception by mixing the two kinds of cable.
Use one or the other. Coax is preferred. You get less ghosts with
coax, and most likely better signal. Depending on your directions, an
antenna rotor may benefit you. That way you can point it toward
SanFrancisco or your local towers.

BTW: Coax is easier to install. You dont need all those standoffs and
stuff.

The website you are referring to is located at:
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx - but be careful using this
site. With your zip code, you might get the idea that your local
stations and the San Francisco stations are in the same direction. NOT
SO. They list so many channels in that same GENERAL direction that you
really can't decipher from that website which direction the signal is
coming from.

The Sacramento and San Francisco stations are NOT located in the exact
same direction. That is why you need a highly directional antenna with
a very narrow beamwidth. You can separate the locals from the Bay Area
stations. You can "pick up" the San Francisco stations when the
antenna is pointed towards the Sacramento towers, but you can get a
STRONGER signal when turning the antenna towards Mt. Sutro (San
Francisco towers), and at the same time, REDUCE the local signals, thus
giving you a stronger signal with less interference. To help clear up
the confusion between coax and twin lead -- First, twin lead must be
installed properly - not touching any metal to say the least, as it
should be a few inches from any metal. It's not good to install twin
lead between walls, etc. As far as loss goes, coax is consistant
regardless of the weather. Twin lead losses can be greater than coax
during wet or damp weather. To have low loss, twin lead must be dry.
Also, twin lead is more suseptible to breakage during high winds. You
want the SAME lead in all the way from the antenna to the television.
Don't mix twin lead with coax. You might get excellent reception of
the local channels, but it can make a big difference on distant
reception. IF your antenna is high gain on UHF, has good directional
characterics, you should easily get channel 19 from Modesto UNLESS
there is a mountain near you blocking signals from that direction.
However, channel 14 in San Francisco is also Univision. I have picked
up weak signals from channel 14 even here in Fresno. I can tell you
this - When living in Fair Oaks, I had the largest Channel Master
UHF/VHF antenna available, installed on a 40-ft mast with rotor and I
could NOT get any signal on channel 14. But my neighor had a cheap,
small antenna mounted on the chimney and got a good signal on channel
14. Higher is not always better on UHF. Also, ANY bad balum OR even
twisting wires combining coax to twin line can totally wipe out some
UHF frequencies.

Funny that you mention that. I have a linux box that I've setup with
MythTV. I've also tried Freevo.

jg wrote:
I couldn't tell you what kind of antenna I have if my life depended on
it. It is big and it is very high. At least 40 feet high. If memory
serves correctly, I only have one antenna for both VHF and UHF. (Too
dark to see right now.)

Is the antenna 40-ft high from the ground or roof top? How do you get up
to it? With an antenna that high you want to do it right the first time.
I strongly suggest getting a new antenna with a good UHF front-end and a
rotator to fine tune the aiming. An antenna amplifier would be a good
investment too. I would use coax because it's stronger and more durable
than twinlead. This will minimize the possibility of a broken downlead,
requiring you to go back up to the antenna.
Be very careful with this project. Have a helper close by and look out
for power lines that might come in contact with the antenna and mast.
Good luck.

In that particular area, you have to be very careful using an antenna
amplifier, especially if you are talking about a pre-amp mounted at the
antenna. Only a professional will know which amp will work in that
area. Some of the Sacramento signals are so strong on UHF that the
pre-amp can do more harm than good. Remember, doubling a weak signal
will help, but also doubling that very strong signal can put that
signal all over the dial. I had a pre-amp in a large directional
antenna in Sacramento and had to have it removed. I couldn't get ANY
distant channel as all the locals wiped them out. Using a weak amp
MIGHT help in this case. You CAN NOT improve the signal-to-noise ratio
at the antenna. What you hope to achieve is to keep as much of that
signal as possible. In other words, to reduce the lead losses. But
ALL pre-amps/amps introduce some noise. You can't get a better signal
that what you are getting at the antenna, no matter what you do.

You might check with dealers in your area. But I have an idea that if
you replaced your lead to just ONE coax cable from antenna to tv, you'd
see a major improvement in reception from San Francisco and/or Modesto.

40 ft. from ground. Getting to it is fairly easy. I just get on the
rooftop, take a couple of nuts out and bring the antenna down towards
me. I did it in the past. Thanx for your suggestions.

Here's a link to a picture of my antenna, maybe someone can tell me
what I have. Also, does the fact that the "receivers" are off place
and therefore touching affect the signal? Since I will be up there, I
will straighten them, but odds are they will get crossed again. (I've
aready fixed this in the past.)

http://www.acequality.net/temp/antenna.jpg

In article .com,
jg wrote:
(I had a
link to a site that pinpointed all towers on a map but I have since
lost it. Maybe someone here knows of the site.)

If you want a really detailed list, www.fcc.gov has database search
pages for various services. I can't remember the exact URL, but
go to the FCC site, then the pages for the "Media Bureau" and then
there'll be links to television and other broadcast databases.

When you find the query page, you feed it your latitude and longitude
in Degrees/Minutes/Seconds and feed it a radius distance in miles
(or kilometers?) and it will come back with a list of every TV station
(analog an digital), repeater, and station under construction, with a
distance and degree heading.


Mark Zenier
Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

If you use any tape, (especially outside) all tape isn't the same.Most
of us have seen plastic tape unravel before.Electricians supply stores
sell a good heavy duty old fasioned kind of tape for wrapping electrical
connections and that kind of tape will last many,many years outside and
inside without unravelling and will remain waterproof too.There is a
type of paint on "tape" product available,but I dont remember the brand
name of it.You might want to check with some recreational vehicles
(motorhomes,camping trailers,etc) dealers and see what kind of tv
antennas they sell and also talk to some folks who live in trailer parks
and camping grounds areas about tv antennas.The folks in this news group
offered some very good information too.
cuhulin