Antenna Upgrades

[fierohink]

Here is my TVFOOL

I currently run a homemade bowtie like THIS inside my living room and do okay. I'm getting everything in yellow with minimal pixelation. Sometimes I can get the Balto channels if I reaim.

I would like to upgrade to an outdoor antenna in the attic. I have a 100 year old house with some a steep pitched roof and would rather not go up there. I know there will be signal loss putting an antenna in the attic, but I can't imagine it is much worse than my current setup. Plus using an off the shelf unit will allow mounting to a rotor and getting all my channels. Currently the TV is on the second floor so if I attic mount the antenna I would have ~20' of coax.

Is a preamp neccesary at my distance and cable run?

Is attic mounting that horrible?

If I upgrade to something like a Winegard HD7697P will I see an improvement? antennaweb recommended the Winegard HD7698P, but I don't think I have the room for rotation.

[fierohink]

Here is some more info about my situation:

Currently running a DTV converter: Venturer STB 7766G


I sit on top of a hill so there is no problem with forest interference. I need to know if the antenna I was suggested will be better than my home built unit. And if so, will it be noticably improved to justify the cost?

Thanks.