Hello Guitarfish,
We've seen quite a few TVfool plots out of the bay area. Some are really challenging, a few are really good. Yours is somewhere in the middle.
Your desire for a small antenna might not be the the best choice to receive the signals you want reliably from the Sutro and Mt. Diablo. You have 1-edge conditions which means your signals are not line of sight. 1-edge and the 2-edge conditions make signals go around the object and can make them unpredictable. They may shift and vary in signal signal strength during the day compared to a line of sight signal. Thus, you need a more robust antenna application to offset these harsher conditions.
A positive is that you have moderate trending to weak signals. The should mostly be doable from magnetic 297 and 300.
You do have a mix of signals that are high-VHF (channels 7-13; KGO, KNTV) and UHF (14 and above; most others).
I am a believer that it's best to have a robust antenna in these situations instead of one that "might" work and yields reception albeit with dropouts. Thus, for the best chance of satisfactory reception I recommend an
Antennas Direct DB8 for UHF reception pointed to magnetic 299
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=OBO-DB8&ss=9480 in addition to a
Antenna Craft Y5-7-13 for high-VHF reception.
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=Y5-7-13&ss=9510.
I further suggest an
Antennas Direct EU385CF-1s signal combiner.
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...u=853748001705 This solution would combine the DB8 and Y5-7-13 into one coax coming into the home. Input DB8 coax into UHF input and Y5-7-13 coax into VHF combiner input.
Run coax into home as normal.
Unless coax runs are over 100' I would not install a preamp. This reception set up is pretty strong and should provide good signal into the home.
I've been happy with my Eagle Aspen signal splitter.
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...Splitters&sku= This product also allows power passing should you decide to test a preamp.
This is likely not the small application you wanted, those antennas are best up to 25 miles out from the transmitters with line of sight to them. Neither criteria you meet. So, you have to install a stronger system for the reception you seek.
The end result though will be an excellent chance at stable drop out free reception of Diablo and Sutro.
Cheers.