I'm hoping others will weigh in on this situation also.
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Do you feel the HD7694P has the range for the stations to the northwest (55-57 miles away)? The specs I found online (winegard direct) state the range as 35 miles VHF and 25 miles UHF. I prefer the HD7694P over the others due to it's smaller size.
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The 7694 is the smallest antenna that I would consider... it has the ability to receive through the back side which makes it a good candidate for a one antenna solution in your situation. If your only intention was to ensure reception of the NNW, I would go with a 7696 or 7698 which have more gain and tend to reject signals from the rear a bit more than the 7694. Though I would still expect there to be enough power from the SE to see that group reliably with even the 7698 pointed NW
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Which brings me back to the 8-bay HDB8X, What is your reasoning as to why this is not a good choice?
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I was presuming you would want an antenna with intentional support for H-VHF reception. Panel antennas such as the HDB8X are not engineered to receive any of the VHF band. See Pete Higgins review at Solid Signal
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp...u=700112818417
I have not had my hands on the HDB8X... but I was already skeptical of the gain claims before seeing Pete Higgins review. That leaves me wondering what the real front to back ratio is... If it's "greater than 22 dB" as advertized, you would not expect to receive well through the back side. Of course, that all changes if you aim the adjustable panel differently than the fixed panel.
If you aim any 8-bay panel antenna at the SE group of signals, I would expect you to have plenty of signal power, with no need for any amplification.