Antenna confusion
 

Help,
I am trying to get away from those pestky cable bills that keep creeping up. Currently, I have installed a Clearstream2 in the attic with 50' cable and able to get 10 channels (2 are intermittant). My goal is to be able to get as many channels, as far and as clear as possible.
Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.
1. What antenna should I get? Is the C4 or C5 better? Roof top or attic?
2. Separate VHF, UHF and merge signal?
3. Omni, multi-directional or directional?
3. Motorized antenna with remote control?
4. Amplifier? Which one?
5. Line amp? The farthest TV is 50' away with splitters
6. Some TVs are old analogs, others will be HDTVs. What is the best configuration to connect to the converter box?

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...ec125a79506e37

The first time I tried to post, I got an error. So, if this is a dupplicate, it's my bad.
Thanks
tnle

Reception
 

Your reception situation is Easy. Install a Winegard HD7696P antenna above the roof and aim the HD7696P antenna at about 193 degree magnetic compass. Here is how to aim antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html. Here are some antenna mounts , http://www.ronard.com/909911.html , http://www.ronard.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html , http://www.ronard.comychim.html. I recommend all new RG-6 coax on the outside. And replace any other coax that might be bad with new RG-6. If only one tv is connected then the coax from the HD7696P antenna goes to the one tv , No splitters , if 2 tv's are connected then use 1 two way splitter. If 3 tv's are connected then use 1 three way splitter. Do Not string splitters one after the other , every time a split takes place the signal is reduced. . How many tv's are/will be connected?? Here are some places to buy antennas and etc. , http://www.winegarddirect.com , http://www.solidsignal.com , http://www.amazon.com. . How many tv's are/will be connected??

1a) Can you clarify your goals a bit more please? (#2 below)

1b) Outside in the clear, free of the attenuation and reflection caused by the attic/roof construction materials.

2) I need to be sure I understand you goals. Do you want to hunt for DX signals or just make the Austin signals reliable? Is there a specific station from a city other than Austin that you are hoping to receive? Is KAKW of particular interest to you?

3-1) No to the omni given your stated goals. Multi directional - unlikely. Which directional or combinations of UHF & VHF depend on your answers to #2

3-2) Definitely not a LAVA. Possibly a respectable quality rotator, depending on #2. (If you are feeding more than one set, a rotator will often be a source of frustration for viewers who don't have control of which way the antenna is aimed.)

4 & 5) One amplifier can be too many. Two amplifiers are too many. Possibly a high input preamp, depending on your answers to #2 and how many total tuners are going to be connected.

6) Not 100% sure of your question so... Home run cabling is the preferred arrangement. The antenna down-lead runs to a convenient location in the building where the splitter is located and, if needed, the power supply for the preamp can be located also. From there all tuners are fed via individual coax runs. (Or another possible answer) If your analog sets have S-video inputs you'll get slightly better video quality if you use a STB with S-video output.

Antenna confusion
 

Thank you for the helpful replies.
Now re-reading my post I just realized that it was unclear. Let me clarify.

HDTV #3
|
Splitter
|
Coby |
annalogTV ---- Splitter ---- Splitter ----- Splitter --- Converter ---- Antenna
#2 | 15' | 40' | 30'
| | |
HDTV HDTV annalog TV
#1 #2 #1
Right now there are only antenna + converter + 2 annalog TVs. All HDTVs are in planning stage. It is embarrassing to say that I am still in the caveman era for not owning any hdtv yet.

I realize having multiple serial splitters is not good but having multiple parallel coaxes in the living room is not aesthetic either. Is there a solution?

Do I have to bypass the converter box for the HDTVs? If that is the case, I have to run 1 line thru the converter for annalog #2 and the other line bypassing converter for HDTV #1 and #2. Or I just have to forgo annalog #2 when installing the HDTVs.

My goal is to get good quality Austin channels. Secondly, as many closeby channels as I can get (just in case on Sunday all of them decide to air sports or other unappealing programs). I don't really have to get KAKW.

Thank you for bring out the frustration of rotator. We don't have too many people, so, hopefully this will not pose a big problem. But I definitely put more thoughts into it. In my situation, hot having the rotator would not giving up so much, don't you think?

I understand attic antenna has interference (specially mine has radiant barrier - roof decking has aluminum foil to reflect most of TX hot sun rays) but roof-top antenna would take a beating from weather elements, high wind & hails. If I hoist it up 10' above the chimney, my concern is it will attract lighting. Any comments on this?

How can I tell if my coax is RG-6 or not?

Thank you again.
tnle