For the past two months I was quite happy with my setup, thanks to all of the help that I received on this forum. I was getting just over thirty channels with very few dropouts, and the Channel Master DVR+ was quite adequate. Plus, I have not had to pay Dish Network a single dime for the past two months. Upon returning from a week long trip, I found that the antennas had succumbed to a rather mean storm, and the high winds toppled the antennas to the ground. So I need to rebuild the system and it seems that this would be a good time to make any necessary changes.
Here is what I had -
Antennas Direct DB8e - This appears to have survived the fall with no damage.
Antenna Craft Y10-7-13 - This is a total wreck, needs to be replaced.
Antenna Craft 10G221 Preamp
Channel Master DVR+ Recorder
One four way splitter, but only feeding two televisions, possible future expansion.
Solid Signal house brand cheapie chimney mount <http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=SKY6027> - Clearly this needs to be replaced.
Antennas mounted at about 20 feet.
I have two basic questions, I am thinking about getting the Ronard 3324 Heavy Duty Chimney Mount. This unit is clearly stronger than the one that failed, though I would be too nervous to use the same 10 foot mast with it, so I would lose about five feet in height. I'm open to all options when it comes to mounting the antennas, one of which is to mount it on or adjacent to my storage shed which would mean about 160 feet or so of coax. By mounting it there, I can probably get less interference from the many trees in our yard. I've even been offered a free 30 foot tower, though installation sounds like a lot of work and/or expense. I could also keep it on the house and use a tripod, though I like the idea of a chimney mount so as not to drill holes in the roof.
Regardless of how I mount everything, it seems to me that a rotor would be a good idea. I have stations in opposite directions, but have both of the DB8e's panels aimed in the same direction. Without doing that I had problems maintaining strong signals from the transmitters in the 64˚ to 80˚ direction, those are the stations that are most important to us. Are there downsides to using a rotor? If I were to use one, which brand and models should I be looking at?
Here are three new reports that I ran today.
20 Feet -
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d243343b606c3f
30 Feet -
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d243e77338d1c4
40 Feet -
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d243f730e132ff