Try just the DB4e alone first to see what it will get.
If the heat in the attic is a problem, this might be a solution: If you have an airconditioned room just below the attic, you could put the preamp there. If the coax from the antenna to the preamp is less than 6 ft, the preamp performance will not be seriously compromised. My coax is 9 ft from the antenna to the preamp, and 50 ft to the power inserter and TV; the preamp makes a big difference.
This is what my tvfool report looks like; my ant is at 5ft---last column. The UHF antenna is a CM4221 4-bay bowtie, and the VHF antenna is a folded dipole of 300 ohm twin lead cut for CH13. The channels are in numerical order to make measurements (not shown here) with my signal level meter:
Code:
Real tvfool-zip tvfool-address tvfool-address, 5 ft
CH dBm path dBm path dBm path
7 WTPC -41.9 LOS -74.0 2Edge -81.0 2Edge
9 WSKY -58.1 LOS -88.2 2Edge -95.5 2Edge
11 WGBS -73.8 LOS -98.9 2Edge -114.6 2Edge
13 WVEC -38.6 LOS -71.1 2Edge -78.0 2Edge
16 WHRO -32.4 LOS -62.3 2Edge -72.2 2Edge
17 WKTD -50.0 LOS -87.9 2Edge -95.4 2Edge
20 WUND -93.8 2Edge -117.9 Tropo -124.4 Tropo
22 WRIC -57.9 LOS -87.7 2Edge -94.3 2Edge
25 WTVR -60.4 LOS -90.1 2Edge -96.5 2Edge
26 WRLH -58.5 LOS -88.5 2Edge -95.1 2Edge
29 WVBT -32.7 LOS -69.2 2Edge -77.5 2Edge
31 WAVY -32.8 LOS -66.2 2Edge -75.6 2Edge
33 WTVZ -33.3 LOS -63.4 2Edge -73.2 2Edge
40 WTKR -33.9 LOS -64.4 2Edge -74.0 2Edge
42 WCVE -62.1 LOS -92.6 2Edge -98.7 2Edge
45 WNLO -55.3 LOS -93.4 2Edge -101.7 2Edge
46 WPXV -35.4 LOS -67.0 2Edge -76.4 2Edge
50 WGNT -34.8 LOS -69.6 1Edge -79.3 1Edge
And this is what my SONY KDL22L5000 gave me on that particular day. The SNR should be at least 16 dB for reception:
Code:
Virtual Real Errors SNR Signal Strength Comments
CH CH dB
2.1 20 0 to 6971 13 to 15 58 to 61
3.1 40 0 25 79
4.1 9 0 26 78
6.1 25 0 to 3000 13 to 17 75 Signal from rear of ant
7.1 11 0 to 3000 13 to 15 67 to 68
8.1 22 0 17 to 20 76 Signal from rear of ant
10.1 31 0 25 78
13.1 13 0 28 79
15.1 16 0 25 79
21.1 7 0 31 79
27.1 50 0 25 79
33.1 33 0 23 78
35.1 26 0 18 to 19 76 Signal from rear of ant
43.1 29 0 25 79
45.1 45 0 22 to 23 72
49.1 46 0 25 to 26 78
23.1 42 Not picked up by scan; Signal from rear of ant
more comments later
Notice that some SNR numbers below 15 dB are given by the SONY TV.