Tuning TV using Winegard Antenna

Most private campgrounds as well as some state & national will show the available channels on the campground map or other info they hand to you as you check in.

I usually raise the antenna and leave the amplifier off. Turn the antenna to see if you get a signal from a station and then flip the amplifier on. Turn the antenna to fine tune and then check other channels and fine tune until you get the best signal on all the available channels. I've even lowered the antenna slightly to improve reception in a couple of spots.

If you have a smart phone try Antenna Helper (Free), it reads the phone's GPS, then it connects to the FCC databse, gets the TV stations tower sites around you based on Geo-Cordornates, and lists them Giving an indication as to station, channel (display) channel (Frequency) direction and miles.

tap the map icon and it shows a map, centered on your location, with lines to all the stations,, Line color indicates signal strength.

Best app I've see for the job

I upgraded my setup to the Winegard SensarPro control box and installed an app on my iPhone called Tv Towers. The latter will show on a map where the local tv towers are, the channel number, and the "real number". With knowing the real number, you can use the SensarPro to fine tune the antenna direction for a given channel. In many cases the tv channels share a tower or are co-located so once you fine tune one you get several.

Even then, other conditions such as weather, trees, buildings between you and the tower may affect reception.

JohnG4706 wrote:


Turn TV on, turn on amplifier, raise antenna and rotate. What channel do you start out with? I'm looking for the quickest and most direct way to do this.

Thanks

Did you set the tv to 'antenna' and run a channel scan while on 'antenna' ?

Thanks for this info. I was asked just this past week by a camper what broadcast stations were available locally. I use satellite and had no clue. I couldn't even find any locals that knew since they all use either sat or cable.

I have found that using TV antenna helper useful in finding where to point the antenna.

Then run a scan on the TV and adjust as needed.

Go to http://www.tvfool.com/ to find where the local channels are located. Pick one and aim your antenna in that direction. Many TV's have a signal strength meter to help fine tune your aim.