Antenna questions

[madrodger]

I live in West Los Angeles, ZIP 90045. I'm getting inconsistent reception with indoor antennae and am about to invest in an outdoor antenna but had a couple of questions. I'm in a two story house and have three TVs, one upstairs and two downstairs. One of the downstairs sets is in the southwest corner of the house putting it as far as can be from Mt. Wilson where all the signals come from. The recommended Antenna Labs GeoSelector recommended a Winegard HD7698P for my area. Can I run three TVs off this antenna? Do I need an amplifier? Are there limits to how far I can run a cable from the antenna to the TV? There are no major buildings in my area but there are power/phone poles on the back edge of my property, between me and the transmitter, and a transformer on the pole directly behind the house. Will the power lines and / or transformer affect my reception? How high should I mount my antenna? I assume coax is the cable of choice. The best place to mount the antenna would be on a pole attached to the utility service pole (where power, phone, etc. come into the house). Is this a good or bad choice?

Thanks all for now.

Thanks,

Rodger

[tigerbangs]

First of all, you don't need an antenna as big as the HD-7698P: you can use a much smaller and less expensive antenna to accomplish what you need to do. I would use the smaller and less conspicuous Winegard HD-7696P mounted on your roof: be careful about mounting on utility poles, as the risk for gtting electrocuted is VERY high, especially if you don't know what you are doing! If you plan to use 3 TV sets, I suggest that you use a distribution mplifier like a Channel Master CM 3414 4-way amp to divide and amplify the signal. Use all high-quality RG-6u cable when running cable from the antenna and from the amplifier to the TV sets. Aim the antenna using a compass at 33 degrees, and you will find that your TV reception will be exceptional.

http://www.winegard.com
http://manuals.solidsignal.com/AntInstallGuide.pdf