Help with Antenna selection

[cjhofer]

I'd like to get rid of my satellite and install an antenna, but I'd like some help choosing the right one. I live in a flat open rural area in SD. Zip is 57319. Antenna will be outside on top of my house approx 25' high. Any suggestions?
Thanks.
Chad

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapp ... 70d7da04e5

[Cutthecable]

Hi cj

Welcome and congratulations on wanting to become a cable cord cutter.

Based on your TVFool details you will have a little bit of a challenge as you are clearly in the deep fringe range with your nearest stations over 40 miles away. First you will need a VHF/UHF combined deep fringe antenna pointing East at 80 degrees magnetic. From this direction you will pick up NBC, CBS, ABC, CW and hopefully FOX and maybe PBS but that could be a long shot. Of note is that CBS and Fox are all on the VHF-hi band. I would suggest for the antenna something like a Winegard HD7697 http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=HD7697P&d=Winegard-HD7697-High-Definition-VHFUHF-Series-TV-Antenna-(HD7697P)&c=TV%20Antennas&sku= and I would also recommend a high gain mast head preamplifier like the Wingard AP-8275 http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-AP-8275-Preamplifier-Noise-Antennas/dp/B001DFVJ4W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1297300678&sr=8-2 feeding into RG6 coaxial cable.



Good luck.


Cutthecable
http://www.tvictory.com

[tigerbangs]

I strongly disagree with the choice of the Winegard AP-8275 in this situation, as the combination of the high-strength signals available and the use of a high-gain antenna will cause the AP-8275 to overload, causing some blackouts on some of the stronger channels. Instead, use an AntennaCraft 10G221 or a Winegard HDP-269 preamplifier, both of which have high overload thresholds, and won't overload in this situation.