antenna suggestion?

[directorcoop]

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapp ... 26b5a1feaf

My parent's live in NW Indiana and get their tv from Chicago. When I was growing up, they also had an additional antenna that pointed towards South Bend, IN so they could also receive those channels. I'm trying to help them get a similar set up. There are several people that live in the house, so there are 4 televisions total and usually 3 on at any given time. Therefore, I know they wouldn't want to rotate the antenna which would mess up the other tv's viewing. Their current tv antenna that is old was destroyed in a recent storm. So, we are starting over. I was looking at the Winegard 8200P and HD7698P but am limited on my knowledge and can be persuaded to another option.

The antenna my family had when I was growing up was a single antenna that looks similar to the all-in-one UHF/VHF antennas they still make today. In addition, the antenna that was facing South Bend and picked up those channels looked like a smaller version of the AntennasDirect DB8. There is an old pre-amp on the roof and there is some sort of power supply in the basement that also divides the signal. Please give suggestions for antenna(s) and preamp.

Respectfully,
Matt

[tigerbangs]

Chicago won't be very hard to get, as all of the stations come from ths same direction, and are have moderate signal strength in your area. Since the digital transition, however, the South Bend stations will require more extraordinary measures to get, since they are weaker than the Chicago stations, and alre almost 20 miles further away than Chicago, albeit in a different direction. My question to you is this: How important are the South Bend stations to your family? Would they be willing to settle for just the Chicago stations? Adding a separate antenna for South Bend is going to add considerable expense, and may not provide reliable reception of all the SB stations for you? I believe that you are on the right track with a Winegard HD-7698P aimed a Chicago, along with a preamp like the Channel Master Titan 7777 or the Winegard AP-8275.

[directorcoop]

Thank you for your quick response. Would there be any benefit to me purchasing the Winegard HD8200 over the WinegardHD7698P?

As for the South Bend question, I'm not sure how important it is to my family. My father always talks about how he'd like to have it again, but I do not think he understands how the change to digital made things much more difficult and more expensive to receive those channels...especially when 20 years ago he was simply able to just add an extra antenna to easily receive them.

[tigerbangs]

There is nothing of consequence on channels 2-6 in your area any longer, so the HD8200 wouldn't be any advantage to you at all.

[skrame]

I hope it's OK that I piggyback on this thread, since my question is related.

I also live in NW Indiana. (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapp ... ad15637c55) I'm a few days away from canceling DirecTV and using an antenna instead. I went to Antennaweb.org and saw I needed violet (Large Directional Antenna). After looking around online I was about to buy a Terk HDTVo Amplified HDTV Antenna (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009W ... PDKIKX0DER) for $75. Then I came across this thread recommending the Winegard HD7698P, which is $55 more. Will the former be sufficient, or should I pop for the extra money? The reason we're dropping satellite and getting the antenna is to save money, but I don't want to get a horrible antenna.

Thanks to any NWI users or other experts who can help.

[tigerbangs]

Thust me, the Terk HDTVo is not much of an antenna, and it depends too much on it''s preamplifier to give you enough signal. I would stay away from it. The HDTVo is a suburban antenna, which is made for fairly close-in reception, and your situation calls for the most powerful antenna that you can get.