newbie [Archive]

mtownsend

19-May-2011, 8:31 PM

It depends on what channels you want/need.

1) Allentown only

You could get the top four stations in your list reliably. They all broadcast from Allentown. Since these signals are reasonably strong and all come from one location, you can get them with a modest medium-size rooftop antenna like a Winegard HD7695P.

BTW, W07DC-D is a translator station for WNEP, which is an ABC affiliate.

The next few stations down the list broadcast from Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre. You can probably receive some of these stations fine, but it will require a larger antenna and a good pre-amp.

2) Allentown and Philadelphia

If you can live without the Wilkes-Barre stations (since they are in a different direction), then I'd suggest using an Antennas Direct 91XG for UHF, an AntennaCraft Y5-7-13 for high-VHF, and a Winegard AP-2870 mast-mounted pre-amp. The antennas can be aimed in-between the Allentown and Philadelphia stations to pick them up simultaneously (they are almost in the same direction). The high gain of the 91XG will help pull in the Philadelphia stations. The lower gain of the Y5-7-13 is good enough for the Allentown stations, and I don't think it's worth it to go after any of the more distant VHF stations.

WPVI (Philadelphia, channel 6, ABC) is on low-VHF. However, if you can pick up W07DC-D, then you already have an ABC station, and you can save yourself the trouble of trying to pull in WPVI with a different antenna setup.

The other VHF stations from Philadelphia are very weak, so you probably wouldn't be able to pick them up reliably even if you up-sized your VHF antenna choice.

3) Allentown, Philadelphia, Wilkes-Barre and others

If the Wilkes-Barre stations (WBRE and WYOU) are important to you, then we're talking about a more complex setup because these stations lie in a different direction. If you are interested in this, then please let us know and we can get into the various options available.