What would you reccomend?
 

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e6a40fc7eb1f08

Theres many trees around the house. What would you reccomend?

A chainsaw or a really tall tower. ;)

Trees destroy UHF (particularly!) signals before they ever get to the antenna. Unless you can avoid then, reliable reception cannot be assured.

Based only on your plot, you'll probably need a large 7-51 antenna system, a decent preamp, and a rotor unless you narrow down your priorities to something specific that can be focused on.

Your strongest and most plentiful stations are likely to be those that
serve the Grand Rapids market from your South southwest. You need to
determine in what direction are the trees closest to your home and likely
antenna. If that happens to be South southwest, you'll need to either cut
them lower or possibly look at stations from other areas.
I would consider a VHF/UHF antenna on a 10 ft mast to start, aimed at
the direction above. Keep the cable under 50 feet if possible and use
a good RG6. I would consider: http://www.wirejacked.com/Product/98768-
Audiovox-RCA-ANT3036W-Outdoor-Digital-Television-Antenna#
as your best and lowest cost option. If you receive those channels
from the South southwest, only then, you may want to consider a rotor
and possibly some kind of amplification. Before you make a rotor/amp
purchase, I'd think you would want to manually rotate the antenna in
different directions to see what you receive. Additionally, you should
only drive ONE television to start. That gives you some basis to see
what works, what helps and what makes things worse.........
Let us know what you decide to do.....

There is only one low-VHF station in the area, a VHF channel 5 that is 60 miles away that's 1) likely to buried in the ambient noise floor and 2) is a repeat of WGVU out of Grand Rapids which is readily receivable on VHF 11.

No stations in this market will be moving to low-VHF as part of the repack. Low-VHF capability won't be needed unless there is a need for FM radio. Skipping the low-VHF elements when possible makes for an antenna that's a lot narrower, easier to install, and is less likely to withstand storm and large bird damage.

While you mentioned the fact that only RF 5, at 60 miles and of little
consequence would be possible with the antenna I recommended,
you forgot to mention that the antenna would perform very, very well
on RF 7,8,9, 12 and 13, which could be the most likely channels to
receive under the circumstances. It would also be quite easy to shorten
the longest elements to make the antenna even better with hi-vhf.
That would effectively reduce, if not stop, the possibility of storm and
bird damage........ At the price, no other antenna even comes
close

Would it not be far easier to just get an antenna that does fit the circumstances well in the first place than to have to mess around with modifying an antenna that was a poor fit in the first place?

I thought of the Winegard 7698p, which would fit the bill. They are rugged
and expensive. The Winegard 8200 also came to mind. Heck, I'd even
consider a clearstream if they made an antenna that would fit the circumstances. Unfortunately, there are really few good choices in this
situation.... Perhaps running a 4 Bay UHF antenna with a VHF Hi antenna
separated at least 5 feet on the mast could work. I know you'd want
to run a combiner but I'd prefer separate RG6/AB switch to maximize the signals. The most important factor is how close are the trees to the
house and how tall are they?

I'd try a 4 bay with the reflector removed, aimed at 195 true and a separate VHF aimed at 0 degrees, combine with a combiner, (or a pre-amp with separate VHF/UHF inputs).

With the reflector removed and the approximate 60 degree beam width you'd have a good shot at getting most of the major networks between the northern and southern towers.

But,,,, the trees are the big unknown. You may be able to find a sweet spot to put the antenna, maybe not.

Thanks for the advice guys. I figured with the trees it may take awhile to find a sweet spot. We do have a rather high chimney that may come in handy. I'm hoping to keep it simple if possible and avoid combiners and multiple antennas.
Not trying to cheap out but what do you think of these popular antennas on Amazon:
ViewTV Outdoor Amplified Antenna
RCA Compact Outdoor Yagi HDTV Antenna

Those Winegard's look like good options, would the 8200 be any better than the 7698p?

The 8200 would have exactly the same concern as the initially mentioned RCA. The 7698 is its derivative model that eliminated the low-VHF elements and would be the "correct" choice of those two Winegards for your location.

Of the two antennas linked to from Amazon, the first is generally regarded as "junk". The second is probably not enough horsepower for your situation. You could always give it a shot (add a preamp) and see how it does.