Hello everyone! Thanks for your attention.

I live in north of Toronto. I have a fish bone like antenna installed on wall at the same height as my second floor window. I use RG6 cable going to basement. There are 5 branches after a splitter but I actually use only one of them. The branches go to every level of my house. I have stable reception of ABC and CBS generally. But most of the time NBC reception is weak or failed. FOX and MYTV are even worse.

My question is how to improve reception? Shall I change the direction of antenna or use something like signal amplifier? Or should I change antenna?

you say u use only one of the branches. Does it mean you are just connecting directly 1 line to the antenna or is it still going unnecessarilly through the splitter? if so remove the splitter if you do not need it.

fish bone antenna installed on wall?. are the elements of the antenna paralell to the floor or to the wall? if the later then rotate the antenna and install it so its elements are paralell to the floor . if possible install it outside , 3m away from any structure. aim the antenna towards the transmitters locations and then trial and error is ur friend.

We need mor info about your set up and I am sure someone else will help u further.

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the reply!

All the branches are connected to splitter. But I am using only one TV for now. The elements are parallel to the ground.

Before adding the splitter, the only joint was a grounding block. I found the reception was about the same as now.

The perceived reception could be about the same , but the electronically-measured one is not. Use the grounding block or a barrel connector (female to female F-81) instead since you only have 1 TV for now. My next advice , try installing the antenna outside.

If you are receiving the weak CBS, suggest you install a pre-amp at antenna, raises the signal for the TV input tuner or digital box. If you leave the 5 way splitter in, you must install the power inserter after the splitter on the antenna side. Worth a try

I have used and very happy with one from Antra: (http://www.partsforhdtv.com) which did not overload pointing straight through the CN Tower to Buffalo

HDTV Antenna Low Noise High Gain Pre-Amplifier Model: AT-PAU18
CAD $32.09

SPECIFICATIONS

Frequency Range UHF CH14-69/470-806MHz
Gain 28dB
Noise Figure 2.0dB
Power Supply 12VDC/100mA

I tried replacing the splitter with a F-connector. After re-searching channels NBC, FOX and MYTV are back, though NBC is still not stable. I don't want to install the antenna outside which needs a mast in my case. Thanks.

Thank you very much! But this question might be silly: NBC is channel 2.1 in my TV. This amplifier is good for CH14-69. Can I use it?

Yes you can use it, NBC is shown as virtual channel 2-1 to 2-3 but actually is transmitting on the UHF frequency channel 33. See the map on this forum, gives lots of info.

Most USA channels will be UHF, due to mobile (cellular) frequency usage demands in the future, I think eventually all TV channels will be UHF, will take time.