Antenna Assistance in 81501

[redsunrise]

Location
I'm getting ready to install a rooftop antenna in 81501 (Roughly, 39.0699, -108.5514).
The installation will be on the roof of a two-story house.

Possible obstructions include:
--Some nearby tree coverage in the W and NNW directions that is somewhat taller than roof-level.
--A rooftop evaporative cooling unit (I don't imagine this will be an issue.)

Channels
Per AntennaWeb, the available channels in the area are:
--258°(Green & Yellow): CHs 17, 15, 11 (all desired)
--258°(Red): CH 25 (not desired)
--317°(Yellow): CH 2 (desired)
--084°(Green): CH 8 (desired)
--075°(Blue): CH 43 (not desired), CH 27 (desired, but optional), CH 69 (not desired)
Clearly, It's a bit of a strange arrangement in terms of direction.

Equipment
I have at my disposal an Antennas Direct C1C ClearStream Convertible Indoor Outdoor Antenna w/ reflector grid (http://antennasdirect.com/C1-Clearstream-Convertible-DTV-antenna.html). If this works in a setup, great; if it doesn't work, so be it.
Note: For ease of use, any system involving a rotator is not practical.

I appreciate any assistance; thank you in advance.

[ProjectSHO89]

Pop it up there, face the loop at 075 and see what you get. It's going to be a real crap-shoot with the combination of your location, that particular antenna, and no rotor. Keep the cooler out of your line-of-sight.

You have a low-VHF on RF-2 (5.1), and two high-VHFs on RF-7 (8.1)and 12 (11.1). The C1C, being a UHF-mostly" antenna, may or may not get them depending on the physical layout of the coax at the antenna. 8.1 will be the one most likely to give you difficulty. An 8-10" loop of coax extending horizontally past the edge of the reflector (in the same plane as the reflector) will dramatically improve VHF performance on the small ClearStreams.

Your location would actually be better served by a small all-channel combo that is nearly bi-directional. The AntennasDirect V10 is one such antenna.

Let us know how it works.

[tigerbangs]

I have a very different take on your reception situation, but I believe that my solution will prove to be the superior choice:
many of your stations lie in the same direction :Fox, PBS and NBC all lie at 258 degrees: use an AntennaCraft HBU-22 for those stations. You will definitely need a low-band VHF antenna to see CBS at 316 degrees: use a Winegard AY-6260 VHF low-band antenna aimed at 316 degrees for KREX, and combine that antenna with the HBU-22 by using a Pico-Macom HLSJ. You will need a VHF high-band yagi to pick up KJCT at 85 degrees, and i would suggest using a Winegard YA-6713 VHF high-band yagi combined with the output of the HLSJ by using a Channel Master channel 7 JoinTenna. You can mount the antennas on the same mast, buy be sure that they are separated by at least 4'. When you are done, you will find that all of your local stations will come in perfectly. with maximum signal quality on each channel, and the output of the antenna system can be amplified and distributed to as many TV sets as you have available.

http://www.winegard.com/kbase/upload/ya-6713.pdf
http://www.winegard.com/kbase/upload/ya-6260.pdf
http://www.antennacraft.net/pdfs/HBU22_.pdf
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc ... iner-(HLSJ)&c=Signal%20Splitters&sku=
http://manuals.solidsignal.com/AntInstallGuide.pdf

[ProjectSHO89]

Since he already "has the C1C at his disposal", might as well try it as long as he doesn't fall off the roof or the ladder. He didn't ask for a complete recommendation so I didn't give one. He asked for advice as to what he had already available.

As the content of the low-VHF channel is carried as a sub-channel on UHF27, the low-VHF reception may be expendable (as long as he doesn't need HD!).

Face it, at 1.5 miles, even a blind pig or a paperclip should get channel 2. Doesn't mean either is an efficient antenna for that task, but if the signal holds...

Your system consist of three antennas, a specialty device that is getting difficult to find, a mast of at least 10' , and will sacrifice UHF 27 which he listed as desired but optional. While it will perform superbly, it is big, expensive, and complex. There has to be a more elegant solution.

[tigerbangs]

Experience has shown that low-band VHF digital signals are especially hard to get, even at very close range: I would bet that he won't see even a TRACE of channel 2 from that Clearstream. I feel that it is my role as a moderator to provide what I believe it the BEST solution in any situation. The vast majority of people who buy antennas really have no idea what they need, or what the antenna system will actually do for them; I have almost 40 years of antennas system design and installation experience, and I will always try to provide the best solution to a situation, not the make-do solution, which rarely proves satisfactory, anyway.

In this case, the OP was clearly NOT properly informed about his choices, and has already made one big mistake: let's prevent him from making another one. The system that I propose would cost less that $150.00 to buy, will last for years, and will provide perfect digital reception of all is important HDTV digital channels