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Originally Posted by rockstar45
With the antenna on my second floor I can pick up WNYT and WMHT which are listed in red and and a faint WRGB signal. I can also pick up a faint WCWN signal if I hang it outside.
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Hello and welcome!
Do you mind clarifying what you mean by a faint WRGB and faint WCWN? With digital signals, you should get a nice clear picture or no picture at all. If you are seeing a "snowy" channel where you can make out some of the picture details, then that is probably an analog station you are looking at (most likely left-over analog translator stations) rather than the main digital broadcasts.
You might be picking up WNYT through their digital translator station W38DL-D. The W38DL-D transmitter is only about 5.4 miles away from you while the main WNYT transmitter is about 45.9 miles away.
W38DL-D broadcasts on physical channel 38 (even though it might show up on your TV as channel 13.1, 13.2, and 13.3). The main WNYT transmitter is broadcasting on physical channel 12. The mapping to the 13.xx channel numbers is a digital TV feature known as virtual channel mapping (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_channel).
Most TVs and set top boxes provide a way to check what real channel number you are watching if you can figure out how to dig through the menus. If you are watching real channel 38, then you know you're actually getting the signal from W38DL-D. If you're watching real channel 12, then you know you're actually getting the signal from WNYT's main transmitter.
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I would like to mount it in the attic pointing through the gable which has vinyl siding covering it. It is in a perfect westward direction. I would mount it on my roof but it is slate and I have too many other obstructions.
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Do you have a chimney? There are chimney and eave mounts available that do not require anything going into your slate roof. An outdoor antenna will get a better signal than an attic antenna, if you can manage it.
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So, what antenna would you recommend? Would an antenna direct DB4/8 work in my situation? What would I do about VHF? I assume I would need a preamp since my rabbit ears has one.
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You are correct that you need a VHF capable antenna for WRGB (ch 6) and WXXA (ch 7). The antenna you choose also needs to be pretty big (all the more reason to install it outside instead of in the attic) because most of your channels are pretty weak (Noise Margin numbers around zero or even a little bit below that).
I would recommend the Winegard HD8200U antenna. It's big, but it's your best chance for getting stations with such low Noise Margin numbers (you might be able to get channels with NM values down to about -10dB).
You will also need a good pre-amp like the Channel Master 7777, Winegard 8700, or Antennacraft 10G202. The pre-amp should be installed close to the antenna (usually on the same mast) so that it can boost the signal power before suffering degradation through the cable.
I think that this big antenna and pre-amp pointed west (compass heading 277º) will give you the maximum number of channels.