wildcats - Try antennaweb.com to determine what channels are available to you on VHF and UHF, what distances and bearings to the towers, etc. That will help you choose and install the right equipment. At 10-15 miles you shouldn't have much trouble receiving them all with even a low-cost antenna unless you have terrain or obstruction issues, i.e., is it a "clear shot " from your location to the towers? Even then some more sophisticated equipment will generally solve the problem.
Regarding getting the HD locals from D* (or E* for that matter) - you will most likely get a superior HD picture quality from the over-the-air solution given all the signal compression the sat providers are forced to use at this time. (See the various posts and links re: "HD-Lite".) That may improve in the future - time will tell! So if you have an inexpensive solution to receiving the OTA HD locals , I would advise you to do it that way! If you look at other posts on this topic (OTA vs LiL) you'll find that those who can receive both generally prefer the quality of the OTA versions....
