Trying to get OTA in Redwood City (hills), CA

[rmd]

Site report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d243d4c217eab3

I live in a valley among hills. The valley opens to the East, so I can get a few stations line of sight at 81-84 degrees. I can get all of the "green" stations (KICU to KQEH) with an indoor Mohu Leaf or old Radio Shack saucer antenna aimed out the window. That takes care of ABC and PBS. No luck with KTVU (Fox) in yellow even though it is also line of sight.

KNTV (NBC) lies north at 328 degrees, in San Francisco, and is the only high VHF station I'm interested in -- on channel 12. KPIX (CBS) is at 332 degrees. Those are 2Edge stations. It's a well-forested area in the surrounding hills.

I tried taking my simple antennas outdoors and pointing them at 330 degrees without any luck, including a simple 27 inch rabbit ear dipole for channel 12.

I would cut the cord if I could get reception down to KPIX on that list. If I could also get KKPX and KBCW that would be a bonus. Those are also in the North cluster.

Is there an outdoor antenna that will work for all of these channels? I thought of getting an eight bay bowtie antenna that can be aimed in two directions. Do I need a separate antenna to get VHF station 12? If so, would it be better to get a dedicated single station antenna tuned to that frequency rather than a general hi-VHF antenna?

[timgr]

If you have a VHF high station that you are particularly interested in (ie KNTV), you can buy a VHF antenna (Antennacraft Y10713 usually rcommended) and point it directly at the station you want. Then mix it with your 8-bay UHF (DB8e?) antenna signal using a UVSJ or preamp and have a single lead-in. I'd guess you'd get the green VHF stations with the Y10713, even though they are off-axis. Both antennas can be mounted on the same mast, with about 4' separation between.