Need an antenna. Can't roof mount.

[Rogue]

Hi All,
I have a situation similar, but not exactly like the posts I have read. I currently receive all the off air channels I want with a cheap circle and rabbit ears. The problem is the percentage is in the 50-70% range (fluctuating).

One Television is a Sony SXRD KDS-50A2000 (with only the unamplified circle, rabbit ears removed, connected to a DirecTV converter box and an HD-DVR HR23). This TV recieves about 70% on all channels, excet 5-1 (NBC) which does not come in.

The other TV is a Panasonic 42-PX14N hooked to DirecTV HR-23. Off air the cheap amplified rabbit ears I was talking about get all channels (NBC, PBS, CBS, ABC, FOX, CW), but with only 50-70%. All stations come in with a little repostioning at the 50-70% sometimes 80% level.

I would love to increase the reception level of both TVs as DirecTV still says they have no plans to add the local HD market anytime soon. So, I figure why not do the right thing now and get the quality off air signal? I have a cable RJ-6 and Sattelite RJ-6 run to each room. However, on the Sony both lines are used by the DVR.

My problem is this. I can't have a Roof mounted antenna (CCR's). I live on a rather steep hill in a mountainous area overlooking the valley from which all the stations broadcast. However the TV fool profile only lists antennas quite a distance away. Does this system list "repeaters"? I appear to be pretty much in the middle of the antennas to the south and north. I am on a western slope, paralleling the valley below. My question is, since rabbit ears do an OK job is there a "better" indoor antenna that can improve the reception? Would a quality amp do the job? Is there an attic mounted antenna that works well? Is omnidirctional better? Are 2 antennas necessary (not because of two TVs) because of the North South split?
Is wall mounte the best option for my circumstance?

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapp ... 1bf189fa23

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[tigerbangs]

First of all, Federal law says that you CAN mount an antenna on your roof: A homeowner's associations cannot prevent you from installing an external TV antenna to view local TV stations.
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html

Secondly, NBC is on a low-band channel 33 miles from your house (channel 5), and you will never see it WITHOUT an outdoor antenna. Your local TV transmitters are scattered in 3 different directions, and no indoor antenna will be able to pull them all equally well.

You have a couple of options: use a multiple-antenna array to aim at the various transmiters, or use a boadband VHF-UHF antenna mounted on a rotator and aim the antenna at the various stations in your market. That is a less convenient method, especially if you are running multiple TV sets from one antenna system. An omni-directional antenna is not a good option, either, because those antennas are prone to multipath interference and have no low-band VHF performance, which means that you will STILL not see NBC reliably with such an antenna.

Before I make specific recommendations, have a look at the following articles, and decide which way you would like to proceeed.
http://www.kyes.com/antenna/myantenna/myantenna.html
http://manuals.solidsignal.com/AntInstallGuide.pdf