Help selecting Antenna

[Ansuz]

Looking to install a rooftop antenna. We live on a ranch style house, not sure if we should install it on the chimney or not. We have 2 digital tv's now, looking to have a total of 4 in 4 sep. rooms. We'd be running cable to the basement to a splitter. Also want to know about the benefits/downfalls of using a programmable rotator. Right now we're using an indoor wall mounted antenna, and we get frequent drop outs that seem to coincide with the 18 wheeler's driving by on the inner-state highway that's a stone's throw away.

Our TV Fool signal analysis is:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3da3625a607ddc8f

Thanks for any help! :)

[mtownsend]

I assume your main interest is in the "green" zone channels on your list.

If so, all of those channels are very close, very strong, and come from only one direction, with the exception of WPXJ.

A good antenna for you would be the Antennacraft HBU-22. Do NOT use any kind of amps in your setup. Your strongest channels are too strong for most amps to handle, so they would end up getting overloaded. Since your signals are so strong, you don't an amp anyway.

If you install an antenna on your chimney (which is an excellent place to have an antenna, by the way), then your signals should be strong enough so that you don't need an antenna rotator. Even if you don't point your antenna directly at WPXJ, there should be enough signal strength to get in through the "back" or "side" of the antenna. Most programmable antenna rotators work just fine, but I don't think you need one, so you can keep your antenna setup simple.

Having the antenna out in the open on the roof will make it less sensitive to "multipath effects" like trucks driving by. Although dropouts are still possible, the likelihood of them happening should be greatly reduced.