Antenna strength question.

[AndrewP]

I am not an expert in this field, but read a lot about combining antennas and have some experience at my place. Combining will work at not only when signals are coming from different directions (more then 120 degrees) but also when signals are not strong enough to cause multipath problems. It works very well in my situation when I combine Chicago (70 miles) and Milwaukee (20 miles) with two antennas (130 degrees separation).  To help my cause I even selected cheap, weak Menards antenna for Milwaukee stations, so that it will not be able to peak up something coming from Chicago.
In your case because of the short distanse to towers it will not work.
What you can try is to use indoor directional antenna and direct it in the middle of major directions, slightly closer to WITI (because of lower signals from ch 18, 24, 10).
I lived before in Shorewood and remember that it was not possible to find a sweet spot where you can watch all channels. I consider myself lucky now.
What you can do is to use AB switch and use two different indoor antennas.
I know it will not help with Tivo but at least you will not rotate antennas every time you switch programs. You can find remote controlled AB switches (try it first with cheap mechanical one first).

[kjnorman]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Well we watched a few shows tonight with good success:

Lost - no problems.

Commander-In-Chief - One very slight picture breakup (about 1 second), and lost sound for about 3 seconds (though I think this one was ABC and not us).

Everyone hates Chris - no problems.

I suppecting the the occasional breakup that we do get is actually caused by us moving around in the living room in front of the antenna.  Hopefully when I move it up to the attic this will go away.  In its current position we seem to be getting a mostly reliable signal (88 to 95 on all channels), but the bowtie is ugly and I do not want it in the living room so it has to disappear upstairs.

I'll let you know how it goes.

I would be interested in knowing what other members in the WFB/Shorewood area use on their HD Tivos to solve this multi-direction problem.

Kerry

[kjnorman]

Well over the weekend I played with my antennas.  I discovered that the coax lead in the living room going to the HDTivo was not that great and so I made up a new one using quality RG6QS.  I also put in 12db of antenuation that combined with the splitters in the coax gives me a total 21db attenuation to the HDTivo.

I was able to pick up all stations apart from NBC with the rooftop antenna.  Signal was in the range of 70 to 92 for most channels.  Still not perfect but better than before.  However without NBC the rooftop antenna is still a no go.  I'm guessing that its aim is off and it would be okay it it was realigned.  Still I am not going up on the roof at the moment - my wife will not let me.

So I am still using my $5 RS bowtie on top of the TV.  I found the a few degrees of rotation and a couple of inches can be critical to the success of station reception.  As it is I have found a sweet spot between the two transmitter locations and I  currently have rock solid 88 to 95 of all channels now.  

Kerry

[StarvingForHDTV]

As it is I have found a sweet spot between the two transmitter locations and I  currently have rock solid 88 to 95 of all channels now.  

Kerry

Good to hear.  Enjoy your new toy!