# OTA HD LOCALS--NEWBIE ??? HELP!



## frazie17 (Feb 7, 2006)

I live in Grand Rapids, MI...I obviously don't get HD locals over the Dish. I have all the proper equip. (100, 211, HD tv)...
Can someone please tell me the type of antenna I should get and where to hook it up (receiver or tv) and then how to download those channels. Sorry for so many question. THANKS!


green - vhf WZZM 13 ABC GRAND RAPIDS MI 302° 26.5 13 
* red - uhf WZZM-DT 13.1 ABC GRAND RAPIDS MI 302° 26.5 39 
red - uhf WZPX 43 i BATTLE CREEK MI 153° 36.8 43 
* red - uhf WZPX-DT 43.1 i BATTLE CREEK MI 153° 36.8 44 
blue - vhf WWMT 3 CBS KALAMAZOO MI 193° 35.0 3 
* blue - vhf WWMT-DT 3.1 CBS KALAMAZOO MI 193° 35.0 2 
blue - uhf WLLA 64 REL KALAMAZOO MI 187° 39.0 64 
blue - uhf WOTV 41 ABC BATTLE CREEK MI 187° 39.0 41 
blue - uhf WTLJ 54 IND MUSKEGON MI 247° 26.2 54 
blue - vhf WOOD 8 NBC GRAND RAPIDS MI 191° 31.1 8 
* blue - vhf WOOD-DT 8.1 NBC GRAND RAPIDS MI 191° 31.1 7 
blue - uhf WXMI 17 FOX GRAND RAPIDS MI 193° 31.2 17 
* blue - uhf WXMI-DT 17.1 FOX GRAND RAPIDS MI 193° 31.2 19 
blue - uhf WGVU 35 PBS GRAND RAPIDS MI 247° 25.8 35


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## frazie17 (Feb 7, 2006)

OOOOPPSSS...I meant Dish 1000 not 100...

Also...here is the list of digital channels I want to get.


red - uhf WZZM-DT 13.1 ABC GRAND RAPIDS MI 302° 26.5 39 
blue - vhf WWMT-DT 3.1 CBS KALAMAZOO MI 193° 35.0 2 
blue - vhf WOOD-DT 8.1 NBC GRAND RAPIDS MI 191° 31.1 7 
blue - uhf WXMI-DT 17.1 FOX GRAND RAPIDS MI 193° 31.2 19


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## Ken Green (Oct 6, 2005)

Frazie,
Will you be doing a roof-mount? KIM, there is no cut-and-dry process to terrestrial reception. Sometimes, it is just plug n play, and others can have multipathing issues, line-of-site issues, etc.

Send me your zip code, so I can look it up myself...you copied list is a bit confusing.

After the antenna is installed and aimed, you would connect it to the OTA input on the back of your 211. Then, go into the 211 menu, find the locals page, and scan the locals into the 211. The channels the 211 finds will then show up in the program guide.


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## JM Anthony (Nov 16, 2003)

Couple of other thoughts. First, check into our sister site, AVSForum.com and look in the section for local OTA and see if you can find a thread for your area. If so, you're likely to find folks in your neck of the woods who've gone down the path before you. Second, find a good high-end A/V store and ask one of their sales staff for their recommendations. They probably have an antenna installer who does their high end work and if you can give him/her a shout and see what their advice is.

Good luck!!

John


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## frazie17 (Feb 7, 2006)

I bought an indoor antenna last night....I was able to pull in the ABC and Fox HD locals..both on UHF. But nothing for NBC & CBS...both VHF. Any suggestions???
I live in the zip code 49341.


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## koralis (Aug 10, 2005)

frazie17 said:


> I bought an indoor antenna last night....I was able to pull in the ABC and Fox HD locals..both on UHF. But nothing for NBC & CBS...both VHF. Any suggestions???
> I live in the zip code 49341.


Well, you need a VHF antenna, obviously. Many of the indoor antennas these days are UHF only because most HD broadcasts use the UHF band exclusively (no VHF where I live, for example.)

I'd suggest taking that particular antenna back and getting one that can do VHF. Apparently the distance is ok, you just need the right band. An outdoor antenna would extend your range and give you a bit better storm-proofing of the signal than the indoor one.


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## Ken Green (Oct 6, 2005)

frazie17 said:


> I bought an indoor antenna last night....I was able to pull in the ABC and Fox HD locals..both on UHF. But nothing for NBC & CBS...both VHF. Any suggestions???
> I live in the zip code 49341.


Your NBC and CBS digitals are on the VHF 7 and 2 frequency respectively.
The FOX, ABC and NBC come from Grand Rapids. The CBS from Kalamazoo.
The NBC and CBS VHF's are about the same distance and compass headings as the ABC and FOX UHF, but VHF is more difficult to receive that the higher frequency UHF.
You many need a medium distance outside, or attic VHF antenna to receive them.
Before you invest too much money or time, you may want to contact both the NBC and CBS stations, to inquire if they are planning on remaining with their VHF assignments, of if they plan to switch to UHF prior to 2009.


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## BNUMM (Dec 24, 2006)

frazie17 said:


> I bought an indoor antenna last night....I was able to pull in the ABC and Fox HD locals..both on UHF. But nothing for NBC & CBS...both VHF. Any suggestions???
> I live in the zip code 49341.


You will need a good outdoor antenna to get CBS from Kalamazoo. I live 25 miles from Kalamazoo and I am using a VHF/UHF fringe antenna (Winegard with a preamp) but this could cause problems on some of your closer stations. It works fine for me because CBS is the closest station and all of the others are farther away. Are you sure about the distance to NBC (channel 8)? You will also need the VHF for PBS. Channel 35 is 11 and 52 is 5.


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## tegage (Sep 3, 2005)

frazie17 said:


> OOOOPPSSS...I meant Dish 1000 not 100...
> 
> Also...here is the list of digital channels I want to get.
> 
> ...


I live in Grand Rapids (Cascade) and have picked up HD locals via a roof top antenna for a long time. You will have a hard time picking up WZZM because of their broadcast location, but WOTV (41.1) should work just fine (WOTV, WMMT, WOOD and WXMI broadcast from the same location). The signal strentgh for WOTV is great, but they broadcast on channel 2 which is a difficult station to receive without pixelation. I upgraded to a Wingard 7080P and the station is very watchable, but does pixelate occasionally. See this post for more information on that: 
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=49918

The other two stations should work just fine. WGVU, our local PBS station, will not work either because, like WZZM, they broadcast from a different location. With the 7080P I often pick up WGVK (52.1) from Kalamazoo.


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