TV channels & antenna towers in Fairbank, Iowa

Fairbank is a small community of about 1,120 people in Iowa. Within 70 miles of the town center we count 17 licensed TV transmitters: 9 full-power, 5 low-power and 3 translators. Based on each transmitter's power, antenna height and distance, 9 are likely to arrive at fair strength or better, and 6 at good or strong strength.

4 of them are within 25 miles of Fairbank, 4 sit 25 to 45 miles away and 9 are more than 45 miles out. Three of the 6 network stations in range are licensed to Cedar Rapids, so most of the network channels you will find here come from Cedar Rapids's stations.

For the networks, the best local options are CBS on channel 3 (KIMT), NBC on channel 7 (KWWL), Fox on channel 2.2 (KGAN), CW on channel 9.3 (KCRG-TV) and ION on channel 48 (KPXR-TV). No ABC affiliate is listed within 70 miles; the nearest one in our data is KAAL in Austin, MN, 73 miles to the north. 3 full-power stations in range have no network listed in our data; these are typically public television, religious, shopping or independent stations.

Point your antenna SSE, at about 152°. The main network towers for Fairbank sit in that direction, so a single directional antenna can pick them all up.

Three network stations, KCRG-TV, KGAN and KPXR-TV, transmit from the same tower site about 24 miles southeast of Fairbank (157° SSE). That one direction covers every station on the site.

Of the 5 full-power and Class A network signals that reach Fairbank at fair strength or better, 60% arrive from the southeast; the rest are spread across two other directions.

All of the main network towers are within their radio horizon as seen from Fairbank, so signals arrive fairly directly and a well-placed antenna should hold them steadily.

The farthest main network tower for Fairbank is KGAN (Fox), 24 miles away with a good estimated signal. That is why we suggest an indoor antenna here.

KIMT (CBS), 67 miles northwest, is the exception: the nearest listed affiliate of its network is far enough away to need an outdoor antenna. Some local stations in our data carry no network tag, so check the other stations table below before buying a bigger antenna just for that one.

An amplifier only helps here if you run a long cable (over about 50 feet) or split the antenna to several TVs. Otherwise better placement does more. See the amplifier guide.

With 9 stations at fair strength or better, Fairbank ranks 178th of 285 places in Iowa: fewer than the typical Iowa town (11). Its nearest major network tower is 19 miles away, against a state median of 34 miles.

13% of Iowa's cities and towns get the same recommendation: an indoor antenna. The nearest larger city is Waterloo, 18 miles away.