Fan in San Diego Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Maybe so. Yup.....Its pretty much a sh*t shack as seen in the background here. Too busy planting today to get back to this activity today but I will get back to it. Some beautiful storms today BTW. Much appreciate ALL the replies of ALL you derelicts. And..YES, I will report back when I get this thing sorted out. Many thanks. jb That's a nice looking barn IMHO. I'm building one now but it has to be made of steel now in San Diego county. Too many wild fires to build a wooden barn. What are you planting? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybee Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 That's a nice looking barn IMHO. I'm building one now but it has to be made of steel now in San Diego county. Too many wild fires to build a wooden barn. What are you planting? Thanks. I like those steel buildings. They look good and seem pretty reasonable ($$) for what they are. Good luck with yours, sir. Planting?...nothing major. I have a couple of veggie gardens I like to fiddle with. Last years onion crop !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in San Diego Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Thanks. I like those steel buildings. They look good and seem pretty reasonable ($$) for what they are. Good luck with yours, sir. Planting?...nothing major. I have a couple of veggie gardens I like to fiddle with. Last years onion crop !! Nice crop, I'll post some pictures after I get my grapes planted in a few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 Damn Jaybee. I already told you I was jealous and then you had to post pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted June 2, 2013 Share Posted June 2, 2013 When I first moved to Central NY in the 70's, the antenna route was the only way to go. I purchased the largest antenna I could get, and the Rochester signal was still intermittent. There are times you will get some skip and the signal will be better but it never seemed to happen during Bills games. My parents are still on antennas, north of Syracuse. From time to time when I still lived there, back when it was analog, we'd see what other areas we could pick up, usually just Rochester or Utica. But the most interesting one, and conditions must have been perfect for this skip, we picked up Channel 4 out of south Florida. It wasn't a perfect signal, but it was good enough that if you wanted to watch, you could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybee Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 Damn Jaybee. I already told you I was jealous and then you had to post pics! LOL !! I hung the antenna in the barn as high as I could put it...where it still had room for rotation. Still no channel 8. Again...I get every stinkin channel I'm supposed to get thru the air...except for the one that broadcasts Bills games. I can get the channel 8 signal with the antenna outdoors as tested...and previously mentioned. Like I said also...I know the antenna will get destroyed in short order in the 1st wind storm if I mount it outdoors. Been thru it a time or two already. So....It is time for plan B. I've done a little studying on antenna theory. I am going to try my luck at making a VHF antenna. Out of coat hangers perhaps, or maybe even copper tubing. The cost will be under a 12 pack of Genesee and I can mount it up high and not worry about it getting ruined by the wind. If it does (and hopefully I'll get a signal) I can just make another one but I think hangers will hold up well regardless of conditions. I'm on it !! LOL ! jb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybee Posted June 2, 2013 Author Share Posted June 2, 2013 My parents are still on antennas, north of Syracuse. From time to time when I still lived there, back when it was analog, we'd see what other areas we could pick up, usually just Rochester or Utica. But the most interesting one, and conditions must have been perfect for this skip, we picked up Channel 4 out of south Florida. It wasn't a perfect signal, but it was good enough that if you wanted to watch, you could. Right on Jack. I never got south Florida (from here in Rochester) but I got a BUNCH of channels back in analog times with a high end roof antenna. It was cool as hell because when a Bills game didnt sell out I could latch onto the signal out of Syracuse......with a 90% success rate. Also....I got Toronto as clear as a bell and they always had different games on than our local channels here. Even the Buffalo channels (occasionally) had different 4:00pm games. Sometimes better match-ups than the Rochester channel games. Those also came in perfect as well as the Quebec channels. Quebec channels were french speaking....so I never paid much attention to those. They call all of this a high tech endeavor but low tech worked a lot better for me !! jb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 (edited) How about a temporary mount? Just keep the mount and mast outdoors and attach the antenna just for the Bills games. Or even a completely portable one. I built one for a satellite dish that works great. Edited June 3, 2013 by CodeMonkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 How about a temporary mount? Just keep the mount and mast outdoors and attach the antenna just for the Bills games. Or even a completely portable one. I built one for a satellite dish that works great. That's not code compliant in Oklahoma. (too early?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybee Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 How about a temporary mount? Just keep the mount and mast outdoors and attach the antenna just for the Bills games. Or even a completely portable one. I built one for a satellite dish that works great. Very good idea, Monkey. My son suggested the same thing and if push comes to shove its certainly a workable solution. I was hoping to not have to do this....but I will if it means watching my boys play some football. Thanks. Neat little mobile unit you've got there btw. Nice work fer sher. jb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Maybe so. Yup.....Its pretty much a sh*t shack as seen in the background here. Too busy planting today to get back to this activity today but I will get back to it. Some beautiful storms today BTW. Much appreciate ALL the replies of ALL you derelicts. And..YES, I will report back when I get this thing sorted out. Many thanks. jb Cripes and you are worried... Got all the room in the world. Just put the thing on top of the roof... Maybe "cloak" it into a weathvane or something. Heck, just let it degrade and change it out when that happens... (You) stll saving money OTA. Very good idea, Monkey. My son suggested the same thing and if push comes to shove its certainly a workable solution. I was hoping to not have to do this....but I will if it means watching my boys play some football. Thanks. Neat little mobile unit you've got there btw. Nice work fer sher. jb Still... Try the cloaking route and disguise it in a weather vane or something? Are you more worried about aesthetics or degradation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigK14094 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 (edited) We really should discuss the root cause of the reception probem. I live in Niagara County, substantially north of the transmitters for the Buffalo area, which are all south of the city. In fact, we lost the ability to get any (digital) out of the air signals when the mandatory conversion to digital signals was implemented. So, we need to blame the FCC and the federal government in general for this problem. I my case, I bought, tried out, and returned 6 different antenna's, allegedly supposed to bring in digital, none worked and many were intermittant during questionable weather where electrostatic effects wiped out the digital signal. Folks, this was big government at its worst....they are forcing us to go to satellite TV or cable...consider us OTA (out of the Air) folks to be throwbacks and hicks. I now have directv, and it works fine almost all the time. Anyhow, just making the point here, not surprised to hear this war story from central NY....same all over. Many people got hosed by the digital conversion....that was the intent!. Its all about the money folks. The media industry lobbied the FCC to get into your pocketbook!!! They could have mandated higher power levels for digital, but then there would not have been all those new customers for cable and satellite! And, finally, you should be aware that the same lobby is now pushing to ELIMINATE OTA service, as it is a technology whose time is past! (yeh, it is about the money folks) Edited June 3, 2013 by bigK14094 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeMonkey Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 That's not code compliant in Oklahoma. Probably not code compliant anywhere, but it works Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in San Diego Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Very good idea, Monkey. My son suggested the same thing and if push comes to shove its certainly a workable solution. I was hoping to not have to do this....but I will if it means watching my boys play some football. Thanks. Neat little mobile unit you've got there btw. Nice work fer sher. jb Have you called the station for Channel 8 and talked to them about your problem? They may have a solution ready to go, you cant be the first person to have this problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanC883 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Maybe you could build a copula on top of the barn to enclose the antenna from the wind? Another Bills fan in Pgh. Nice. ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybee Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Have you called the station for Channel 8 and talked to them about your problem? They may have a solution ready to go, you cant be the first person to have this problem. I have not. Good idea though. I have a feeling I know what their answer will be: (buy a roof antenna cheap skate LOL !). Certainly cant hurt to give that a try though. I hate like hell to do it but looking at some of the more recent designs of high gain antennas it looks like there are few that will hold up in wind storms. I may even consider buying one. I'm pretty sure mounted over the top of the barn I'll get channel 8. The one I have looks like this: (Photo from google, not my set up) Its a very good antenna but I would not recommend one of these because they are flimsy and fall apart the 1st wind storm you have. I suppose maybe I could try to re-enforce the elements? They are very cheap and flimsy. Not certain which way I'll go here. I've got time thats why I'm doing it now. Dont want to wait till game day week 1...when we destroy the Patriots ! I'll get that darn signal one way or another by golly !! LOL ! Again many thanks for all your input eveybody. jb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greybeard Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 I have not. Good idea though. I have a feeling I know what their answer will be: (buy a roof antenna cheap skate LOL !). Certainly cant hurt to give that a try though. I hate like hell to do it but looking at some of the more recent designs of high gain antennas it looks like there are few that will hold up in wind storms. I may even consider buying one. I'm pretty sure mounted over the top of the barn I'll get channel 8. The one I have looks like this: (Photo from google, not my set up) Its a very good antenna but I would not recommend one of these because they are flimsy and fall apart the 1st wind storm you have. I suppose maybe I could try to re-enforce the elements? They are very cheap and flimsy. Not certain which way I'll go here. I've got time thats why I'm doing it now. Dont want to wait till game day week 1...when we destroy the Patriots ! I'll get that darn signal one way or another by golly !! LOL ! Again many thanks for all your input eveybody. jb Looks like the one I had. Very directional. Note that it is mounted to a rotor which I think is a really good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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