So I'm working this in steps. More progress tonight. Antenna is further up the tower.
I'm a little squeamish about heights, but it's getting easier to climb the tower each time I go up. I'll have to go a few more times before all is said and done.
It's about 10 feet taller than before. I was able to watch the signal strength during some weather (before raising it further to the pictured height). wdaf and kctv cut out in rain, and stayed out until after the tree leaves were dry (antenna was not clear of the trees in the front yard).
Currently, the antenna is nearly above the tops of the nearest trees. The absolute peak of the tower would be almost level with the tops.
Still no preamp installed. It came in the mail the other day, but I want to watch my signal for a few days first, with a single tuner installed.
Signal strength on this DB8e (unamplified, connected to single device) is equal, to slightly better than the old antenna on the top (preamped, distribution amped, and connected to whole house (3 tvs, 3 dvrs).
How close can it get to the top antenna before they affect each other? Ultimately, once the DB8e proves reliable, it will get connected to all the tv's in the house, and I will experiment with turning the top antenna east and seeing what comes in. Does the direction they are pointed have any connection to how close they can be?