Bobross

EscapeVelocity

I recommend the AntennaCraft G1483 "4 Bay" Hoverman.



If you would like to spend some extra dough, you might try the AntennaCraft G1483 "8 Bay" Vertical Stacked Hoverman. This might give you a bit more margin to dropout and get you deeper into the yellow.

Or, better yet, you could just get 2 of the 4 Bay styles, one for each TV, no splitter....and short cable runs.

Point these at about 30 degrees, and they should pick up many of the UHF stations off the backside, bcause of its low F/B of 6dB at Channel 50.

Either way, I recommend an preamplifier for the stations in yellow and perhaps even into red...to be more stable/reliable. But you could probably make do without it.

These antennas are extremely lightweight.

Summit Source is the only known vendor that still has these oldies but goldies. They are a well respected retailer, that I have dealt with on half a dozen occassions. I had a problem one time, and they remedied the problem to my satisfaction, no problem.

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EscapeVelocity

The forward gain of this antenna is about 12 dBd from Channel 14 to 51.

It also offers some positive gain on VHF High in relation to a dipole cut to channel....which should give you plenty for Fox at channle 13.....though PBS at 9 and CW at 11 down in the yellow may be iffy...but probably good to go with an amplifier.

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Don_M

You're right to be somewhat concerned about the HD-7698's directionality, but its high gain isn't really needed here as long as the antenna is to be installed above the roof (as indicated by the 25-foot height in the report). I'd recommend pointing an HD-7696P at about 34 degrees (true azimuth) to split the difference between KCPQ Fox 13.1, your strongest station, and the group of stations at 52-56 degrees true. The antenna would then be pointed almost directly at your MyNet, ABC, NBC, PBS (9.1) and CW affiliates, plus CBS affiliate KIRO's main transmitter on channel 39.

KIRO's nearby channel 34 signal is a translator, and its channel 39 signal should be strong enough that you can ignore this off-direction signal. The PBS and CW affiliates on VHF channels 9 and 11 are a bit too weak for any UHF-only antenna to work reliably at that distance.

Try the antenna by itself, but be aware that with two TVs and those signal strengths, an antenna pre-amplifier might be necessary for dropout-free reception across all channels, regardless of antenna choice. Adding a pre-amp later is a brief, straightforward task. A Winegard HDP-269 would provide plenty of gain to do the job well should that become necessary.

EscapeVelocity

Bob, you there?

Not very chatty are you?

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Bobross

Thanks so far . Your responses are a bit different from each other . EscapeVelocity that antenna is a bit different from what I have been looking at so I have to do some reading on that. I am glad it dosent sound like I will have too many problems. I am willing to get an amp, just thought if I would add it later if the setup was close. I just didn't want to get too deep into this without some guidance from you .
Don are the milage ratings on these antennas close. I am worried the 7696P is right at the edge rated at 60-40 miles. The stations at 56 degrees are not important at all to me. I should have said that earlier.

EscapeVelocity

I do recommend an amp, the Winegard 269 is good, along with the 4 or 8 bay Hoverman. That should get you nearly everything in Green and Yellow.

Or you could go with the Winegard 269 and Wingard 7694p, and aim like where Don said....which would get you everything at 0 to 50 degrees in Green and Yellow, and probably the stuff at 190 in Green off the backside.

Either way.

Don's is the more conventional wisdom....His advice rock solid and generally very thorough. He has a deep and vast knowledge of OTA.

I like to throw alternatives around....especially smaller profile antennas. But I do believe you would be happy with the Hoverman/269 combo...and it might just be superior of the 2 recs...however the only way to determine that is to try them both out!

The AntennaCraft HBU-** series VHF-High/UHF combo antennas are an alternative to the Winegard 76**p series....and are less expensive....but the general understanding is that they are not as well built/long lasting.

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Don_M

Mileage claims can be safely ignored. Winegard is well known for its extremely conservative distance estimates. I've seen posts from people claiming the "little guy" of the bunch, the 7694, is capable of pulling signals in from 60 miles. That's attainable for those with line of sight to desired transmitters who are willing to mount the antenna high above the roof, since it is a good antenna. Many of the signals you want aren't in your line of sight, so you do need more gain than that.

Don_M

There's nothing wrong at all EV's G1483 suggestion. It's a terrific antenna design: A long time ago, I used a Radio Shack clone of the G1483 to pull two UHF signals of ~ -87 dBm (aka +4 noise margin) from 60 miles out AND 2-edge diffraction AND mounted only about 8 feet above the ground AND aimed through a forest of leafy trees in the northeast -- and got somewhat snowy but watchable analog signals without an amplifier. I'm pretty sure it would need to be teamed up with a high-band VHF antenna on a UVSJ combiner to pull in channels 9 and 11 in this scenario, though. A G1483 combined with a Winegard YA-1713 would offer similar gain and somewhat better beamwidth than an HD-7696 by itself. The pesky problem with this two-antenna solution is those steep shipping charges the sole vendor of the G1483 wants...

EscapeVelocity

Yeah, I had the G1483 "4 Bay" on the roof with an amplifier to one TV, and was pulling channel 7 from 45 miles and more importantly -70dBm, reliable and stable....so it has some gain on VHF High. Better gain at upper VHF High.

That is why I think it will pick up 9 and especially 11 (even higher upper VHF) reliable and stable with an amplifier. Plus it will likely pick up most of the channels off the backside (which are all UHF) with its low F/B Ratio (due to just a few reflector elements). So potentially it will get you more stations.

However I just saw where you have 2 channel 42s one in green and one in yellow, which may cause interference with the low F/B Ratio.

So maybe the Conventional Wisdom is the way to go....as the stuff at 190 in yellow doesnt look all that interesting/desireable anyways.

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