Quote:
Originally Posted by lets go red
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If we did it this way could we use the ANT-800 in place of the DB8e? (save a little bit of $)
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You could certainly try adding just the Y10713. It would improve your signal strength and quality on real channels 9 & 11. It would also allow you to aim the ANT-800 for best reception of UHF signals with no regard to the VHF signals. If you don't manage to get WCCO to come in reliably with the ANT-800, you can step up to a full size UHF antenna at any time.
There are alternates to the DB8E;
The older Antennas Direct DB8 & 91XG designs
Antennacraft MXU-59 & U8000
Channel Master CM4228
Winegard HD9095
And various others
All but the DB8E are designed to cover up to real CH-69 which is no longer used for TV service. The FCC sold the bandwidth of real channels 52 through 69 to cell phone and other interests. The DB8E is optimized to cover a narrower range of frequencies so it has a slight edge in performance over all the older designs.
If you add only the Y10713 you would also need a preamp such as the RCA TVPRAMP1R. This unit has two inputs, one for UHF and another for VHF. I would set the preamp to use only one input (there are two switches, one to turn on a filter to block FM signals which can cause interference, and the other that selects combined or separate input. when set to 'combined' the input port labeled 'UHF' will accept both UHF and VHF signals.) I would mount the outdoor preamplifier head at the Y10713 location, and the power supply unit in a protected area with access to a power outlet, adjacent to the power outlet that serves the ANT-800 power supply. I would use a passive UHF/VHF combiner to combine the two antenna feeds after they have passed through their power insertion blocks. You can not mix the two power sources on a common down lead.
This install would be more straight forward if you used a passive UHF antenna and a passive H-VHF, because you would only need to power one preamp, the dual input TVPRAMP1R. As a result, only one down lead would be required. In this case the TVPRAMP1R would be set for 'separate' UHF and VHF inputs.