Antenna Advice for 2 Different Directions

[bcsmith79]

I live in Southwest Michigan and receive channels from South Bend, IN fairly well with a homemade attic antenna (http://uhfhdtvantenna.blogspot.com/) and amplifier.

TVFool report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3da362ee3f0ffbac

However, I am a Detroit Lions fan (I blame my dad and grandfather) and most Sundays either the Bears or Colts games are televised in South Bend. Is it possible to receive WXMI-DT and WWMT from my location in addition to my current South Bend channels (WSBT, WNDU, etc.) even though they are 100 degrees apart?

If so, what additional (or new) equipment would you recommend?

Thanks!

[Tigerbangs]

According to your TVool.com report, you should be seeing all the Chicago stations, as well as South Bend, and, yes, with the right antenna , you should see WWMT with the right antenna. I suspect that your home-made antenna isn't gong to do much for you on VHF, and WWMT is on VHF channel 8. If this was my system, I would use a Winegard HD-7697P mounted on your roof along with a good rotator like a Channel Master 9521a or an AntennaCraft TDP-2.. I would also use a high-input preamplifier like a Winegard HDP-269, which will cover your coax line losses and will power up to 4 TV sets from the antenna if you want to add them. You should see all the Chicago stations, South Bend, and the Grand Rapids stations if you use the rotator to turn the antenna.

I have a feeling that you will be amazed at what you've been missing.

[bcsmith79]

Thanks for the response Tigerbangs!

One follow-up question: Is there any possibility to receive these stations (specifically WXMI-DT and WWMT, the Chicago stations would just be a bonus) with a purchased antenna system mounted in the attic of our 2 story house or is the really only option a roof-top mounted system?

[Tigerbangs]

I'm afraid that an attic installation won't be an option for you if you want Grand Rapids: it's just too far away, and you won't be able to rotate the antenna inside the attic because the of the size of the antenna. You will really need a roof-mounted antenna system if you have any hope of the out-of-town stations.