Best antenna for out in the country??

[cjlavergne]

I live out in the middle of no-where by jackson mi, and im looking at a getting a new antenna as my old one is about 15 years old. It picks up alot of the stations, but at only about 60% signal and sometimes the signal will go in and out cause you need so much signal with the new HD stuff to show a picture.
The 2 major places with stations are Lansing (50miles away straight north)and Detriot (60miles away straight east) and id like to get both groups of stations. Ive been looking at alot, but the more I read the more confusing they get. Whats the best antenna for a problem like that? My budget is pretty small ($150) so a rotor and pre-amp are kidna outa the question it looks like.

Id also like to split this between 2 tvs. What kinda spliter will I need?

And the coax cable is about 15 years old. Is there any advantage of getting new cable? Has there been any improvements?

Thanks for your help

[tigerbangs]

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[cjlavergne]

Sorry for the bad post. It was late and I didnt want a whole lot of exact information, just a few ideas to get me moving on the right track.

Here are my coordinates
42.218777,-84.195099

I plan on spiting between 2 TV's. MAYBE 3, but i doubt it...it all depends on money.

The antenna now is sitting on the roof (2nd story) and has 1 very thin tree in its way toward Detroit, and has a big pine tree in its way toward Lansing.

And we have the converter box.

It looks like the only big thing i want is to get CW 50 to come in alittle stronger. All my other stations are fine, but in the morning and evenings it 'skips' and goes in and out because service is on the border line. It looks like a pre amp might fix this. am i right? and i can use this same amp to split the signal right?
Our existing antenna is an old big channel master and im thinking that if i just get an amp and/or spliter this MIGHT solve my problem.

If not, what new antenna do you recommend? It looks like it only has to be UHF, as there is only 2 VHF stations around and i dont really care about them.
I was looking at the Antennas Direct DB8 Multidirectional HDTV Antenna. It looks to be one of the most powerful multidirectional antennas that I can find.

Thanks for your help!!

[ProjectSHO89]

The DB8 is a very directional antenna. Haven't figured out why they insist on calling it a "multi-directional" antenna. Aimed at Detroit, it might get your Lansing stations off the back, but it will likely be an experiment.

[cjlavergne]

Really? ive seen it advertised as 100 degree beam width...but then again, thats advertisement......

Im thinking more along the lines of getting toldeo/lansing off the front/back and then MAYBE getting some Detroit stations.
How much power is on the back vs the front? is it the same or do you not get as much range from it?

Also, how do I identity what channel master i have now? there is no model number i can find

[ProjectSHO89]

Post a photo of your CM antenna. Someone should recognize it.

The DB8 has a beam-width of around 20 -35 degrees, depending on frequency. Any reseller (solidsignal, for example) that is claiming 100 degrees BW is flat out wrong. Front/back ratio exceeds 20 dB based on my own testing and independent modeling.