What do i need to get started TV dxing??

[foxbat426]

obviously an antenna and TV etc.

i have a 40 ft tower would this be high enough to get a good TV antenna up for some good DX. can anyone recommend a good antenna for TV dxing ?(i.e. brand etc etc)

also i'm in florida - is analog TV DX completely dead? could i pick up some cubans, bahamas, canada, caribbean?? are these countries still analog.

can an HD TV antenna be used for analog TV DX?

what type of TV??

i know its alot of questions, maybe some are stupid. i appreciate your time and patience with this newbie.

sincerely, john ki4ucw

[Mike-CT]

i have a 40 ft tower would this be high enough to get a good TV antenna up for some good DX.

40 feet is plenty. Florida is flat.

also i'm in florida - is analog TV DX completely dead? could i pick up some cubans, bahamas, canada, caribbean?? are these countries still analog.

Analog is not dead down there. You have the Caribbean, Central and South America, Mexico and Canada to shoot for. Keep your analog TV! Use it for DXing!

can an HD TV antenna be used for analog TV DX?

Sure. Antennas look for signals. They don't care if the signals are analog or digital. HD antennas were analog antennas until the manufacturers rebranded them.

what type of TV??

That is something I don't know. We know a couple of converter boxes that work better than others for DTV but there's a lack of information on new TVs.

i know its alot of questions, maybe some are stupid. i appreciate your time and patience with this newbie.

You haven't heard stupid until you've heard a few of mine :-) Welcome to the WTFDA Forums!

[Danny]

Welcome John.

I agree with Mike on all points.

Florida is a great location for tropo and Es.

If you become serious about TV DXing, you might eventually want to consider a VHF-only and an UHF-only antenna. They work better than combos. In the meantime, buy the largest antenna you can afford.

[cd637299]

John,

Not meaning to toot my own horn, but as I live in south FL, I should direct you to the "Got Analog TV DX?" column, where there are TV DX images captured by me----most of them from the Florida Keys, but a few from home as well.

As analog shut off this year, if you see the threads I started (w/ photos) in 2009, you will see that in FL, like Mike said, analog TV DX is not dead by any means. (Now....to see Cuba from your spot will require sporadic-E DX, which is mainly in May/June/July----you are too far from Cuba to see it via Tropo as can be accomplished from the Keys.

cd

[Robert Grant]

First off, consider yourself lucky that you are both in Florida and have a TV antenna on a 40' tower. Florida's location in relation to the Atlantic, the Gulf Of Mexico, Central America, The Caribbean, South America, and the more active ionosphere closer to the Equator, make Florida a VHF/UHF DXers dream, but a nightmare for DXers in that most housing in Florida is in restrictive compounds that do not allow antennas.

If you live near the Gulf Coast, spring should bring fantastic Gulf tropo from DTV stations in Louisiana and Texas, and analog stations still transmitting from Northeast México.

The only caveat about "HD" antennas (BTW, all new antennas are sold as "HD" or "digital" antennas, just as all antennas in the 1970's were "color") I would make is that some newer antennas are designed for channels 7 and up (or even 14 and up) only. Where you are, you will definitely want low band VHF (channels 2-6) capability, as sporadic-E skip will bring you analog TV DX from México, Central America, and Northern South America every summer (and, less often, December and January) for several more years, along with less frequent skip DX from the few stations in the US operating in low band VHF digital.

Good DX!

KI4UCW de N8NU 73

[foxbat426]

great info! thanks to all - great forum with welcomes like that!!

one reply was to put up a seperate antenna for both UHF and VHF. can anyone recommend specific brands and models of good antennas. i see alot of dx'ers use winegard antennas and few mentioned radio shack and even a few channel masters. if i buy separate UHF and VHF antennas do i stack them? - is there a proper way to stack them i.e. VHF on top UHF on bottom etc etc.?? thanks again for the warm welcome.

[cd637299]

I was told to always have the UHF on the top. I suppose that is because Tropo DX differs more on height than sporadic-E DX does; IOW, a lower antenna for VHF channels 2-6 will not matter as much as it would for 14-51 (69 if you are still doing analog UHF DX). 7-13 would also fall under the Tropo category, so if you concentrate on Tropo, have the UHF on top.

You are in a decent spot for coastal Tropo. You can get coastal North Carolina easily come March, I'd say.

Don't forget the FM band either.....

cd

[Robert Grant]

Another advantage of UHF on top is structural.

UHF antennas (but not parabolics, of course) tend to be smaller than VHF antennas, and thus have less wind resistance. It makes sense to have less wind resistance at the top, as any object toward the end (top) of the boom would exact greater leverage.

[larrykenney]

I highly recommend the Channel Master 4228 for UHF. It has good gain and has proven to work very well for me. For VHF there are a variety of antennas available from the different manufacturers. I replaced an old Antenna Craft D9000 all band antenna, with an Antenna Craft Y-10-7-13 since there are no low VHF stations in this area and my D9000 was slowly falling apart due to age. It works great for channels 7 to 13, but not for low VHF.

You are so lucky being in Florida for DX. We get no DX here on the west coast. :(

Larry
SF