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Originally Posted by onlineaddy
The AntennaCraft may be a bit overkill for my situation, which requires just a 30-mile range. It looks awfully big; is it?
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I never put much stock in the mile range specs on antennas. The true range of an antenna depends on the transmitter power and what lies between you and the transmitter (is it clear line-of-sight? is there terrain blockage? tall buildings? trees?).
In your case, most of the transmitters are showing "1Edge" or "2Edge" (single and double edge diffraction) which means the signals are NOT able to reach you directly. You can expect the signal power to fall off differently than normal, so the mileage rating of the antenna does not apply here.
These kinds of antennas can range from a few feet across to over 14 feet long, so some people do get taken aback a bit when they see how large these things are up-close when they assemble them. However, I've also found that once these antennas are installed on the roof and viewed from far away, they no longer seem so disproportionately large. In most cases, after a while, people get used to the antenna's presence and almost forget that it is there (my wife didn't even really notice until I pointed it out to her).
I would first focus on how much antenna you need to get the channels you want. I wouldn't try to go with an under-powered antenna just to reduce the antenna size by 20%. You will have a much better viewing experience if you get an appropriately sized antenna for your situation (and this is where tvfool comes in real handy). After you enjoy a few months of free crystal clear digital TV, the antenna aesthetics may not seem like such a big deal.
When you tell your neighbors how much money you're saving, they will probably want to do the same.
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As for the Winegard, would you recommend the one model down, HD7694P? What about the lesser AntennaCraft models, HBU-22 or HBU-33?
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The next step down would probably still work fine. Less antenna means that you'll have less margin to deal with things like stormy weather, seasonal changes, and other things that might cause your signal to fluctuate. The larger antennas will provide a bigger buffer for these kinds of things, so you're less likely to see things like pixellation or drop-outs.
Also, FYI, the HBU-33 is roughly equivalent to the HD7694P in terms of performance (even though the HD7694P is shorter than the HBU-33). The HBU-22 is even another step down from that and Winegard does not make a version of their antenna that goes down that far.