Antenna Pointer App

Thank you CamperPaul for the FCC site.
Can someone tell me how we receive the signals from different local stations? i.e. Are they line of sight or reflected off the atmosphere?
I have an umbrella type that is omnidirectional and want one that I can point at a particular station (unidirectional).
Here is what I have now -------it telescopes up and forms an umbrella.
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1: VIZO has models of TV without a signal meter (NOTE: You can upgrade your Antenna system by installation of the Winegard Sensar Pro to power your mast head amplifier.. That unit has a built in signal searcher/meter, Very nice, other features too.. Well worth the "C" note less change).

Free Antenna Helper (Droid) uses the FCC data base.. And your phone's GPS.

Open app, if it does not auto-locate press LOCATE
once you get a location it should say "Downloading from FCC" if it does not tap DOWNLOAD

Now choose how you want it displayed.. I normally use MAP, but I may use LIST if I need to do a channel translation.. Example ( will do it now)

It just located (Automatically) NOTE: I did have to press "Go back" since it opened to Map, I used it once already this power on and did not properly close it.
It says I have 4 strong 4 moderate 1 weak and 5 very weak

Choosing VIEW ON A LIST,, I find that Channel 62-1 broadcasts in the UHF band on RV channel 45 (45 is the one I'd select on the Sensar Pro to peak this station) and that channel 4 uses RF channel 36. This info again is useful for the Sensar Pro.

View on a map shows me a map with radiating lines.. The lines are color coded (the first screen above explains the colors) most of the red lines parallel I-85 South (South west) from where Im parked,, Most of the Green lines fan out the opposite way.. I pointed Green.

If I move and Zoom the map I can find the precise channel info tower location and station name for the vector.

K Charles wrote:
I thought all TV's had a signal meter, you just turn the antenna until you have the best signal. Why do you need an app for that?

Not all TV's have a signal meter. Many others are very slow updating the info to screen.

K Charles wrote:
I thought all TV's had a signal meter, you just turn the antenna until you have the best signal. Why do you need an app for that?

That's not how it works

We use Satellite AR for directing our DirecTV satellite and it works well for us.

trnfla wrote:
--snip-- looking at the antenna how do you know which way is the front?

If you are using a "Batwing" with the "Wingman", the front has the short "director" elements.

I think they are asking the same question I have. which is which way should the antenna point towards the transmitter sites? I mean, looking at the antenna how do you know which way is the front?

For OTA TV stations, I use:

The Official FCC Website.

It uses data from the FCC data base showing th actual locations of the TV transmitters.

It also uses terrain data from the USGS to calculate the expected signal level at your location.

I frequently choose a campsite based on the info from that FCC site.

Try it; the interface will knock your socks off!

I haven't used any App (dumb phone)

But I have used the website for AntennaPoint.com

On website you just enter address where you are and it will show which compass direction to aim antenna head, distance to transponder towers, channel numbers, call numbers etc.

There are three that I know of:

www.tvfool.com

www.antennapointer.com

TV ANTENNA HELPER - This is a free smart phone app and is very simple to use. It will lock in on your GPS location and provide you a list and or a map showing where the closest over the air stations are located, the channel numbers, affiliation, and distance.