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Looks like the WLOS towers for Greenville are roughly 15 miles and 30 miles from Greenville's Main Street. Ironically, it seems they have two towers where NBC for example just has one at 22 miles away:
Antennas can send out a highly directional signal depending on how you design them, so the folks having problems might be in a dead spot either from east-west or just from being too low behind a ridge or so.
I certainly wouldn't conclude that "most people" or "everyone in Greenville" can't get their signal simply from a few people complaining on a forum however. As I stated earlier, I could not get the channel, and with a small investment in time and money, was able to then acquire the signal and I live in Greenville County. If you wish WLOS to improve the signal coverage in your area, why not simply contact them about it. I doubt they read this forum.
I found a answer to my problem. I have ordered and received a 8 bay UHF antenna and a deep fringe VHf antenna from MCM electronics. I have bought from them before and always received quality parts. So my plan was to put the 8 bay UHF and the VHF high antenna up and combine them to be able to view my always hidden 13 along with other channels. I received them Thursday and assembled the VHF antenna. Just for giggles I leaned it against the fence behind my garage and hooked it to the tv in the garage. Low and behold all my channels were there including the elusive 13 WLOS. So today I said to myself I am going to put this antenna up first on my existing mast [after taking the HUB55 off] and see how it works. If anyone needs a 8 bay UHF and a combiner let me know because not only to I get 13, I get the full upstate market and 3 and 46 from charlotte when slit between four TV's. Awesome antenna and not to big. I do run A channel Master 7778 mid range preamp with it. Stellar Labs Deep Fringe Directional Antenna VHF-Hi HDTV 174 - 230MHz | 30-2476 (302476) | Stellar Labs
And yes I know it is VHF high, but no problem picking UHF even charlotte UHF from here.
I found a answer to my problem. I have ordered and received a 8 bay UHF antenna and a deep fringe VHf antenna from MCM electronics. I have bought from them before and always received quality parts. So my plan was to put the 8 bay UHF and the VHF high antenna up and combine them to be able to view my always hidden 13 along with other channels. I received them Thursday and assembled the VHF antenna. Just for giggles I leaned it against the fence behind my garage and hooked it to the tv in the garage. Low and behold all my channels were there including the elusive 13 WLOS. So today I said to myself I am going to put this antenna up first on my existing mast [after taking the HUB55 off] and see how it works. If anyone needs a 8 bay UHF and a combiner let me know because not only to I get 13, I get the full upstate market and 3 and 46 from charlotte when slit between four TV's. Awesome antenna and not to big. I do run A channel Master 7778 mid range preamp with it. Stellar Labs Deep Fringe Directional Antenna VHF-Hi HDTV 174 - 230MHz | 30-2476 (302476) | Stellar Labs
And yes I know it is VHF high, but no problem picking UHF even charlotte UHF from here.
Great news. I have recommended MCM for their Stellar Labs antennas before. They are well made, reasonably priced, and very good, basic antenna designs. Not the gimmicky variety that is designed to be discreet but may not perform well. And cheaper than Channel Master or Antennas Direct.
You may want to reconsider and add the 8-bay antenna pointed towards Charlotte. It will be more reliable for the UHF channels WBTV-3 and WJZY-46, and you should also get WCNC-36 and WMYT-55. And it will more likely pull in WSOC Channel 9 and possibly WCCB-18 at night. To get Charlotte reliably with the High VHF antenna, it should be pointed towards Charlotte, and that is no guarantee because ideally you need UHF. But that could cause problems for WLOS-13 and the Upstate channels. So that's why I say it would be more reliable to add the dedicated UHF antenna for Charlotte. It is just good luck you get 3 and 46 with the VHF antenna, but WBTV does have a very strong signal.
But having a good, dedicated High VHF antenna does prove the point that WLOS can be reliably received in the Upstate with the proper antenna and a medium gain amplifier. It is not as big a problem as some have claimed because they are using the wrong antenna, too much amplifier, or a weak, gimmicky indoor flat antenna that just is not designed to work. There are certain fundamental laws of physics at work here.
It still just surprises me the Antennacraft HUB55 could not pull it off. It is over nine feet long with plenty of VHF high elements. Anyway the Stellar Labs works great and is a lot smaller. The 8 bay will go up eventually and point to Charlotte, with a combiner for the best of both worlds. I am also ordering another VHF high from MCM and am going to flip it vertically to try as a scanner antenna.
The Antennacraft HBU55 is a good High VHF/UHF antenna that was made for Radioshack. But it requires a matching transformer type balun to connect the coax cable to the antenna, and this can often cause an impedance mismatch. Especially with weak or marginal signals subject to interference. Had the same problem with an HBU33. That Stellar Labs antenna has a better designed built in balun which allows you to connect the coax directly to the antenna and seems to avoid phasing problems or cancelling out certain signals such as WLOS. To put it another way, the high gain of the HBU55 allowed very strong signals from WSPA and WYFF to overpower and wipe out the weaker WLOS signal due to the connection imbalance at the balun. Simply put the Stellar Labs antenna is smaller, more compact, and actually performs better with a more secure and balanced connection at the balun. And very reasonably priced.
Probably a good idea to add the 8 bay antenna for Charlotte for more consistent and reliable reception. Be sure and use the Stellar Labs signal combiner which is designed to separate the UHF from the VHF to avoid interference. But very important, the combiner will pass DC power on the UHF side if needed, but it seems like you may combine both antennas before the preamp so that may not be an issue. The power pass can be switched on or off. And that Channel Master 7778 is a good, moderate gain preamp about 16db with a low noise figure about 2.7. Be sure and recsan for channels, because you should also get 36 and 55 from Charlotte, and sometimes Channel 9 and Channel 18 at night. Channel 3-WBTV is the strongest.
And when you order from MCM use several of the source codes on the home page for further discounts.
Correction: Let me contradict what I just said. Normally the UHF/VHF signal combiner is used to combine separate UHF and VHF antennas. However, in your case, the Stellar Labs VHF antenna is also receiving WYFF and WHNS among others, which actually broadcast on UHF. So if you use the UVSJ combiner, it wil block WYFF and WHNS from being received. And the UHF antenna will be pointed toward Charlotte, so it may cause WYFF and the Upstate channels to pixelate or dropout. So you may need to use a good, regular splitter in reverse to combine the 2 antennas instead of the UHF/VHF combiner. By good splitter I recommend Channel Plus or an Ideal satellite splitter from Lowe's or Home Depot. The satellite splitters are slightly more expensive but are better designed with isolation among the ports, so those are best suited as a reverse splitter for combining antennas. And they also have DC power pass.
You can try the UHF/VHF signal combiner and see if there is a problem with the 8 bay antenna receiving the Upstate channels while pointed towards Charlotte. If there is pixelation or dropouts, then try an Ideal satellite splitter in reverse from Lowe's or Home Depot. But there still may be a risk of interference from the 2 antennas. At that point, there are several other options or variations that can be tried to eliminate the interference from 2 different antennas which may cause the signals to be out of phase. It can become trial and error to achieve balanced reception of all signals. But there are actual mathematical calculations that can be determined based upon the laws of physics. Then you may need to add various attenuators or filters, and the use of a signal strength meter. But hopefully it should be a lot less complicated than that.
One easy option using your 8 bay, the VHF antenna, and the UHF/VHF combiner. The 8 bay is designed with both sides able to rotate and point different directions. So you will then have 2 separate 4 bay antennas with balanced phasing of signals. Point one side of the 8 bay towards Charlotte, and the other side towards Caesar's Head for the Upstate channels. Connect the one cable from that antenna to the UHF side of the signal combiner. Then connect the VHF antenna to the VHF side, which will pull in WLOS, WSPA, and SCETV.
And to avoid problems or confusion, be aware that WYFF now broadcasts on UHF digital channel 36 rather than their old analog VHF channel 4, so the UHF antenna is now best suited for reliable reception. Same with WBTV, which now broadcasts on UHF digital channel 23 rather than their old analog VHF channel 3.
And one other tip, if the antennas are outside, you may want to run a copper wire to a grounding block to avoid damage from lightning strikes.
Wanted to watch the oscars tonight and thought why not try and see if I scanned for channels tonight if ABC would pick up. And sure enough, ABC picked up just like it was always here. I'm using an amplified leaf antenna that's hanging off my mantel.
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