[stvcmty]

MTrooper, thank you for the very detailed first post. It is very helpful to know exactly what channels you want, how many devices you have want to attach, your desired aesthetic constraints, and what your wiring situation is.

Your situation is slightly challenging because only 2 of the channels you want come from the same direction. Fortunately the UHF spread is only 30 degrees and you have strong VHF that is almost in the opposite direction of your weak VHF.

For your VHF stations (CBS on RF9 and ABC on RF 13), I would point an antenna craft Y5-7-13 at 217 degrees true to get RF13, the weaker VHF station. RF9 is very strong and has a predicted LOS path, so it should come in off the back of the Y5-7-13. I would not try to do that in an attic, and the Y5-7-13 is only 5’ long so it will be less aesthetically challenged than a 10’ yagi. I suggest the Y5-7-13 over the Y10-7-13 because the back-lobe on the Y5-7-13 should be stronger than on a 10’ VHF yagi and neither the station on RF9 or RF13 look like they have particularly challenging NM’s. [Should reception on RF13 be less than optimal, a Y10-7-13 can be added to the Y5-7-13. In that case, the 5’ VHF yagi should be pointed at 14 degrees true for CBS, the 10’ yagi should be pointed at 217 degrees true for ABC, and a channel 10 jointenna (available from the channel master online store) can be used to merge both VHF yagi’s into a single VHF feed.]

The dB8e should work for your UHF situation. Point both panels at 344 degrees true for NBC on RF50. Fox should be strong enough to come in. If fox does not come in, the dB8e gives you the flexibility to split the aim of the panels. However, before doing that, I would slowly rotate the dB8e to aim at a point between NBC and Fox to see if there is a sweet spot.

Alternatively, a channel master 4228 may work for you. If the 4228 is aimed north, it should get Fox on RF32, NBC on RF50, and have enough VHF performance to get CBS on RF9. It may even have enough RF performance to get ABC on RF13. (The reason the 4228 does so well on VHF is related the long reflector elements; they will probably do equally well with RF from the front as from the back). If the 4228 was able to get Fox, NBC, and CBS from the north but unable to get ABC from the south west, a channel 9 jointenna could be used to add a VHF yagi aimed for ABC.

I have mixed feelings about your situation and a preamp. The low signal strength of WPBN TV along with the number of splits you need makes me think you may need a preamp. Since your situation seems to call for separate VHF and UHF antennas, the RCA TVPRAMP1R or the antenna craft 10G221 would be good since they offer the option to use separate VHF and UHF inputs. The antenna craft may have less noise on VHF stations, but given the price difference, I think the RCA TVPRAMP1R is the better choice. I would hold off buying a preamp to see how NBC on RF50 came in with whatever antenna(s) you get. If you need 7+ splits, that starts to get into distribution amplifier territory, either with an active 8-way splitter or a distribution amp feeding a 8 or 16 way splitter. Sometimes a preamp and a distribution amplifier is called for, but most times more than one amp is asking for trouble. You wanting MOCA networking on your TV coax also adds an additional wrinkle to things because all splits need to be extreme broadband. I think a step by step build is called for rather than buying everything at once.

I suggest first you get (a) antenna(s) and make sure you can get good signal for your 4 stations at the terminals of the antenna(s). Then the appropriate filtering/preamplification, (UVSJ, Channel 9 jointenna, dual input preamp) can be worked out. Then the best way to do all your splits with MOCA can be worked out, once we know what is feeding it.