[acat]

Well I got the Stellar labs deep-fringe antenna (30-2476) and mounted it on the roof, and have tried it at two different orientations (about 160 and 140degrees or so). In order to do this I had to dismount the 8-bay bowtie. I thought I would put it back inside at the spot in the corner next to the TV where I got good reception for channel 9, which is close to the spot in the earlier photo I posted.

Well the Stellar Labs did virtually nothing. Got a signal that was better at 140 degrees instead of 160, the actual position of the station, but the signal level (~30) was too low for a reliable picture.

However, back inside with the 8-bay I have a pretty good signal (54 level, 98% quality). This is with the 8-bay just leaning against the wall, tilted slightly down. Any movement up, rotated, slid right etc., either reduces or zeroes out the signal. So I am right back where I started! I thought "doing it right" (up on the roof, proper orientation etc., could only make things better!)

To make matters worse, so far I cannot get channel 24 (PBS) with the Stellar Labs antenna on the roof which I could with the smaller RCA751, but perhaps rotating will help. It may also be that this more directional antenna is more selective and has little or no gain in the UHF, so it's just a wind vane at this point.

My conclusion so far is that diffraction over the hills has produced "hot" and "cold" spots and I just lucked out the first time. No joy following the traditional path. Much effort and expense for little gain (pardon the pun)

Anyway at a loss as to what to do except leave the antenna in a corner where it will no doubt raise serious objections. There is both an attic above and a large closet nearby, so I might experiment with those options.

Pretty humbling experience.