Adding HD antenna for locals

[bmcdougald]

I currently have a Dish Network subscription with locals, but I want to stop paying Dish for the locals and add an HD antenna. I live in Cleveland TX (77327), a violet/pink zone in relation to Houston, with a distance of approx. <65mi to the local antenna farm located in Missouri City. The geographical area is very flat with only the occasional obstruction by trees.

Currently I have a 26" Sony Bravia HDTV (purchased July 2008), a 36" Sony WEGA (June 2003 - analog ??), and a couple of lower end analog TV's. I'm going to get an HD converter box for the 36" Wega.

My house is setup with a coax running from the antenna input jack to a central splitter location in the attic and then individual runs from the splitter to almost every room in the house.

Can anyone recommend some good antennas (low profile perferably), preamps, other hardware, etc. that would fit my needs?

Thanks.

[tigerbangs]

At 62 miles from the transmitters over relatively flat land, you are still going to need a deep-fringe antenna and preamplifier to ger reliable reception of the Houston stations. KHOU and KTRK will return to their VHF frequencies in Febuary, and KUHT will be on Channel 8 after the digital transition, so I would suggest a deep-fringe UHF antenna like an AntennasDirect XG-91 plus a VHF yagi like a Winegard YA-1713 for your high-band VHF stations. Connect th two of them to a Channel Master Titan 7777 preamplifier, which allows separate inputs from VHF and UHF antennas. An attic installation is not likely to give you adaquate signal at a distance of 62 miles, so it is recommended that you mount the antenna array outdoors an a height of a minimum of 30' from the ground,
http://www.winegard.com/
http://www.channelmaster.com/
http://www.antennasdirect.com/
http://www.pctinternational.com/channel ... ation.pdf/

[bmcdougald]

I forgot to mention all of the major broadcast channels are in the VHF range: NBC-2, PBS-8, CBS-11, ABC-13.

Other staions are UHF: UPN-20, FOX-26, CW-39, local 51, local 55

[tigerbangs]

There isn't any point in designing a TV antenna system now for analog, as analog has only six months to live: make the investment in digital tuners for the tv sets that don't already have them, and use the design that I suggested for digital reception.

[bmcdougald]

Sorry, I posted my response while you were posting your first.

So, if I'm going to need two separate antennas, can they be installed to the same mast?

[tigerbangs]

They sure can be: have a look at the instruction link I provided to see how its done.

[bmcdougald]

Thanks for your time. The link to the installation guide does not seem to work.