Bowtie or Yagi through trees?

[goofy256]

Hello Forum Experts,
My question is choosing an antenna for a location with a lot of trees obstructing the view to the transmitters. I checked other answers on this forum, and I think someone said that the 8-bay bowtie configuration had more surface area to pick up signals than the Yagi. Since both types are roughly the same price, could you elaborate on the best choice for a location with trees?

I am in Northern Virginia (Zip 22192, Lat 38.691121 and Lon -77.290447), with excellent reception on all channels, with one exception. The antenna is a Winegard 7080 from 2001, fed into the UHF port on a Channel Master 7777 preamplifier. The RG6 goes to a 900MHZ splitter, then to a television and a computer with Windows Media Center recording television programs through a Hauppage 1800 TV tuner card. The channels that I record are 4.1 on channel 48, and 50.1 on channel 50. The problem is on windy nights, the tuner card does not record the programs, and on the Sony television receiver the two channels appear pixelated and drop out, so I planned to upgrade the UHF antenna.

I plan to put an 8-bay bowtie or a large Yagi on the chimney-mounted mast, run the cable to the UHF port of the CM7777 preamplifier in the attic, and move the Winegard 7080 antenna into the attic to collect the VHF and FM signals. Which style would you recommend, and do you suggest the largest possible antenna?

I have carefully aimed the existing antenna to peak the signal on the two weak channels, and the compass heading with maximum signal level is at 58 degrees, which is 10 degrees away from the compass heading recommended by TVFool.com and Antennaweb.org. Could my antenna be “bent”, or do you think it’s a result of the local terrain?

Thank you!