Residential TV Antenna Towers

Besides the distance, the landscape is also a governing factor in deciding the position and height of the antenna. In areas surrounded by mountains and trees, the residential television antenna should be located at a height where there is proper reception of signal. However, with the advent of HDTV, the use of residential TV antennas is not limited to places which do not fall in the line of sight of the TV station. For the reception of high definition picture quality, people have started fixing TV antennas even in places which have a good signal coverage.

The residential TV antenna towers that are available in the market can be broadly classified in two categories; bracketed towers and self supported towers. Let us try to understand these two types of residential antenna towers in a little more detail.

Bracketed Towers: The bracketed tower antennas are the most commonly used antennas for residential purposes. These antenna towers need a solid structure to mount the bracket. For mounting these antenna towers you do not require a concrete base. They have a tubular shape and stakes are required to mount the tower. Using bracketed towers, you can mount an antenna up to a height of 20 meters. However, the height of the antenna tower cannot exceed beyond 20 meters from the bracket. The popularity of bracketed antenna towers is mainly because of their low cost. They are much cheaper as compared to the self supported towers. The greatest disadvantage that these towers suffer from is, that they are not self supporting. The strength of the tower depends on the structure that supports it. There are records of a number of accidents that have occurred due to the crashing of bracketed tower antennas.

Self Supported Towers: The self supported tower antennas may be costly, but they rule a pretty good share of market because of the stability they provide, as compared to their bracketed counterparts. They do not need support. Infact, the strength of a self supported tower antenna is directly proportional to the strength of the base it is standing on. Since they do not require any support; they can be placed anywhere. This is one of the greatest advantages for setting up a self supported antenna tower for residential purposes. However, unlike the bracketed tower antennas, they require concrete for the base, they stand on. The only disadvantage of self supported antenna towers is that they are very expensive.

Most people complain about poor reception of signal during rainy seasons. The waves received by your antenna are generally not affected during the rainy season. The reason behind this may be the clogging of water in your antenna structure. Always prefer an open channel design for your antenna because it does not allow the clogging of water.

When installing antennas for residential purposes, safety is the most important factor that should be taken into consideration. Get the antenna tower installed by professionals. When setting up a bracketed tower, analyze if the base of the supporting structure is strong enough. If you are setting up a self supported antenna tower, check the base of the antenna tower itself. Any irregularity in the base, in both the cases, can cause serious mishaps.