I trust the math... However, TVF says:
Quote:
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Please understand that this is a simulation and can only be treated as a rough approximation. Reception at your location is affected by many factors such as multipath, antenna gain, receiver sensitivity, buildings, and trees - which are not taken into account. Your mileage may vary.
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I botched the math in my first post... making things look worse than they really are. The bottom line is, catch a usable signal with the right antenna mounted at the necessary height, then try to do the least damage to that hard won signal... amplify only when necessary, using the right amplifier. A Winegard YA-1713 mounted as high as is practical, aimed at 2° Mag. should see WKRC. If you need amplification to overcome distribution losses, an Antennacraft 10G201 has the desirable qualities of overload resistance, low noise and an FM trap.
Mixing WKRC into your existing system could be done with a channel 12 Jointenna, if you can find one.
Warren Electronics may still stock some. Otherwise, an A/B switch may be the best option.
Your description of your situation in your OP is consistent with the predictions in your TVF report. Your existing antenna performance confirms the quality of the TVF predictions, but gives little insight regarding possible reception of WKRC. Rather than trying to infer gain from your reception, I think it is more accurate to look at the antenna. For VHF, it's obviously a dipole, which is going to have a nominal gain of 0 dB and a F/B ratio of 0 dB. It's not as obvious how the UHF section is configured, and the documentation offers no meaningful numbers, just an polar plot lacking any scale in the gain axis. (Mileage claims are the invention of the marketing department, not the engineering department, YMWV.) The specifications for your amplifier are quite clear, no inferring required.