Awhile ago I purchased an RCA 20/30(?) dB-boosting antenna but found out rather quickly that when the antenna was "active", my reception was worse...regardless of adjustments I made to the knobs. One or two channels came in fine, but overall I got no new channels and reception to local channels was too inconsistent. It's been "passive" ever since. It's plugged directly into the TV. The VCR-set up got me nothing either. I live in Dayton,OH right between Cincinnati and Columbus. I should have gotten at least another PBS or UPN station! I do live within a mile of a television station but am not convinced that is the culprit. I can't afford cable and would welcome another channel or two, but I'd rather not waste another $40-50 by buying a new/different/higher dB model only to have the same results. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated...
freak
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Using an amp will cause you to have too high signal level on your local channels and that will cause problems. You are a little too far from Cincinnati and Columbus to go without an amp to have a chance of anything there. Don't bother with UPN. They'll be gone in the Fall. They and WB are becoming CW and they are not sure who is going to carry that network. Some CBS stations will though.
Assuming your problem was not receiving your local channels, but rather picking up out of town stations, what you really need is height. As in many, many feet up in the air. A real tower, with high gain antennas---one pointed towards Columbus and one aimed towards Cincy. A booster, no matter how powerful, cannot produce a signal where no signal exists in the first place.