50-70 miles, NM of 20 or less. Need assistance choosing antenna. Please help.

[smibarines]

Just dropped cable and making the switch to OTA. Southeast of DC, due south of Annapolis and Baltimore, Northeast of Richmond and west of the Eastern shore of Maryland. Most of the stations we want are out of DC but those out Annapolis and Baltimore would be nice to have as well.

Here is my signal analysis:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d0b86898c82e385

Installation will be on the ridge of the roof of our 2 story wood frame, asphalt shingle single family home utlizing a 3 foot tripod mount and 5 foot mast - approximately 35 feet from ground elevation.

Surrounded by trees after the first 100 feet or so but looking at a topo map, it appears the location is one of the highest elevations for at least 7 miles but even at that, it is relatively flat.

Cable run will be approximately 45-50 feet of RG-6 or RG-11, depending on recommendation. Pretty much a straight run from antenna to the splitter and distributed to 2 sets.

Would like to recieve the maximum amount of channels, at least down into the lower pink/upper grey section, utilizing the smallest antenna possible.

If I aim antenna bearing 335, would the antenna give enough leaway to pull in stations 5 degrees in either direction?

Your help and recommendations are greatly appreciated.

[Tower Guy]

If I aim antenna bearing 335, would the antenna give enough leaway to pull in stations 5 degrees in either direction?


Yes, 5 degrees of aiming error won't matter much.

Your antenna choices are:

One antenna: Winegard HD7698P with AP8700 or 7777 preamp. Add a rotator for Baltimore and Richmond. This is fine for 1 TV set and no DVR.

Two antennas: a HD7698P fixed at Washington for normal viewing, a second HD7698P on a rotator for Baltimore and Richmond, two preamps and an A/B switch. This is better for multiple TV sets.

Slightly better performance can be had with the UHF only XG91 plus a Y10-7-13 VHF antenna. In this case the 7777 preamp can add the antennas together.

[coco]

Would like to recieve the maximum amount of channels, at least down into the lower pink/upper grey section, utilizing the smallest antenna possible.

I have had this antenna for almost 2 years now with very good results.Helpers on this site do not like to recommend this antenna because it has little"specifications".The winegard HD7698P is a very good antenna ,but it is over 14 feet long. The stacker from Denny's is less than 6 feet long, and is manufactured by Winegard to Denny's specifications

http://store03.prostores.com/servlet/dennysantennaservicestore/the-132/HD-Stacker-Antenna-VHF-fdsh-UHF-fdsh-FM-fdsh-digital-fdsh-HD/Detail

Here is my TV Fool report
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3db7c8610a10029f
I have the Stacker along with a Winegard AP8700 preamp.and a rotor running 4 TVs
I can catch all of the channels on my report down to WLPB channel25 which has a NM -3.7 reliably day in day out If you look at my report and click on WAFB you will see that its effective ERP is only 5.570 Kw.
The stacker has a money back guarantee.

http://www.dennysantennaservice.com/TV_antenna_help_center.html

[Electron]

Antenna rotors Are Not channel surfing friendly , wait for the antenna to rotate. This following recommendation is based on the tvfool radar report for 02-06-2012. And is for the current plus Pending Applications Included , Digital Channels. For reception of groups of digital tv stations to the north and north west , the digital tv channels in the yellow reception zone of the radar map down to at least , WFDC-DT 15 Univision. Install a Winegard HD7696P antenna with a Winegard AP8700 preamp aimed at about 345 degree magnetic compass. Here is how to aim antennas . http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html. Here are places to buy antennas and etc. , http://www.winegarddirect.com , http://www.solidsignal.com , http://www.amazon.com. Here are Strong and Sturdy antenna mounts , http://www.ronard.com/909911.html , http://www.ronard.com/34424560.html , http://www.ronard.com/ychim.html , http://www.ronard.com.

[smibarines]

My TV Fool signal analysis only lists xx.1 channels. Why is this? One of the channels I need is xx.3. Does this mean that I may not get that channel?

[No static at all]

If the main xx.1 channel is received, then you will get all the related sub channels as well. For instance, if 7.1 is received, then you will also get 7.2 & 7.3.