Antenna and amp recommendations

[Bobbj]

Hello,

I am currently looking for antenna and amplifier suggestions to get Pittsburgh stations (kdka, wpxi) that are 50-55 miles away. I will be doing an attic mount as I do not have roof access. I’m considering getting a Winegard hd8200 or 91XG and thought about pairing it with a channel master 7777 amp since I am surrounded by trees and building but don’t want it to be overkill. Any suggestions are appreciated.

My tvfool results are attached as well. Thanks

 

[comfortably_numb]

Hello,

I am currently looking for antenna and amplifier suggestions to get Pittsburgh stations (kdka, wpxi) that are 50-55 miles away. I will be doing an attic mount as I do not have roof access. I’m considering getting a Winegard hd8200 or 91XG and thought about pairing it with a channel master 7777 amp since I am surrounded by trees and building but don’t want it to be overkill. Any suggestions are appreciated.

My tvfool results are attached as well. Thanks

The CM-7777HD is a great preamp; that's the one I use. The stations you mentioned don't even appear in your TV fool graph, though, so I think it might be a lost cause.

 

[harshness]

The 91XG is not going to be your friend as your best chance of any reception is a low-end high-VHF frequency. At some point in the next year, your ABC (WTAE) and NBC (WPXI) will be changing frequencies due to to the repack.

You have too many edges and too little signal to get reliable reception and you can't make something out of nothing by amplifying it. You may occasionally get sufficient signal, but it will be a roll of the dice. The spread in directions that the signals are coming from makes things even more difficult as the required antenna will be very directional.

 

[Jim5506]

Clymer is down in a valley, so unless you are more than 150 ft above the valley floor, you aren't getting signal from KDKA or WPXI, especially with an attic install.

 

[Bobbj]

Thank you everyone for responding and you are very correct Jim, I am down in a valley which is probably making it so tough to get any signal.

On another note, I do get WTAE which isn't very close and a few other stations. I guess Ill be happy I have those ones for now!

 

[Jim5506]

WTAE is a little more down the valley from you than are WPXI and KDKA. It is LOS above the valley floor (150ft.) while the other two are still 1 and 2 edge.

 

[Wireless Engineer]

You need a HDStacker antenna and a Winegard preamp