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I am having trouble with my antenna reception, and I am hoping that someone on this board can help. Last spring I installed a Winegard Sensar GS-2200 with the wingman upgrade on my roof (The antenna is about 10' above ground level). I connected it to a 100' RG-6 cable which I ran into my attic where it was connected to a 50' RG-6 cable through a coupler. I dropped the 50' cable down into my den. At the wall plate, I had a 25' RG-6 cable which ran to a Winegard PS-1503 amplifier. From there a 6' RG-59 cable went to my 52" W series Sony.

We have three local ATSC channels: 12 (PBS), 28 (Fox), and 50 (CBS). I know that this installation has too long of a distance of cable, but after I was done, the Sony reported signals of 98 for both PBS and Fox and 93 for CBS. I also got good picture on our low power NTSC repeaters for NBC and ABC.

Last week I installed an ExpressVu with a 24" dish on my roof. From both the dish and Winegard antenna, I have 6' RG-59 cables running to a diplexer. The 100' RG-6 cable which used to connect to the antenna now connects to the diplexer. Inside, I have a 8" RG-59 cable which connects a diplexer to the wall jack. The 25' RG-6 cable which I mentioned earlier now runs from the diplexer to the amplifier. A 10' RG-59 cable runs from the diplexer to the ExpressVu receiver.

I get great signal on my ExpressVu, but I have destroyed my OTA reception. My Sony now reports signals of 43 for PBS, 21 for Fox, and 0 for CBS. My NTSC NBC and ABC repeaters no longer have any kind of watchable picture. I have setup rabbit ears next to my TV because they now get a stronger signal than my rooftop antenna. I replaced both diplexers and the RG-59 that runs from the antenna to the outdoor diplexer. I also tried bypassing my amplifier thinking that ExpressVu had introduced noise, which it was amplifying. None of that made any difference, so earlier today, I broke out my signal meter.

I took a ton of readings. All numbers are in dbz. I connected my meter directly to my antenna and received readings of 41.9 for PBS, 42.0 for Fox, and 37.7 for CBS. I then connected my meter to the outdoor diplexer but disconnected ExpressVu from it. I got readings of 43.0 for PBS, 39.6 for Fox, and 37.2 for CBS. I re-connected ExpressVu to the diplexer and took more readings. This time I got 43.0 for PBS, 39.7 for Fox, and 37.6 for CBS.

I went inside and took readings. These are with both EVu and the antenna connected to the diplexer outside. With the meter connected to the indoor diplexer, I received readings of 41.5 for PBS, 38.5 for Fox, and 37.6 for CBS. I then connected the meter directly to the wall jack and received readings of 40.8 for PBS, 38.4 for Fox, and 37.2 for CBS.

Numbers in dbz don't mean much to me other than I know the higher the better. I have also included below coverage maps for all three of my ATSC stations which also mark the location of my house. It's kind of hard to see on the PBS map as it's partially hidden by the text box.

One last thing. I hired someone to take down a tree limb which was over my antenna and ExpressVu dish. They did the work the same day that I installed ExpressVu and the diplexers. I am now wondering if the limb hit my antenna when it came down. I got up on a ladder and looked at the antenna pretty closely. It doesn't look to be damaged in any way, the mount for it is still vertical, and it is still locked facing the same direction.

I am at a loss as to what the problem is or what to do from here. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!