I've done a lot of reading over the past several days.

Right now I have it working pretty well WITHOUT using any bandpass filters/jointenna devices, however, I just barely have channel 32 (68%), and changes in atmospheric conditions will probably make it go away. I get another channel in the high-60%s that comes in perfectly clear, but for some reason, I get macro blocking for a few seconds every couple of minutes on 32, even though the signal remains at 68% +/- 2.

How did I do this, you ask? After reading about multiple antennas having to be in phase, and that the way a balun/matching transformer is connected can affect this, I simply reversed the connectors on one of my matching transformers and saw a gain of 10% signal accross the board.

However, there are a few things I'm going to do to get it working a little better.

First I'm going to replace the Radio Shack amplifier with a CM 7777 preamp.

Next, I'm going to use a CM 0585-2 jointenna tuned to let only channel 32 pass on one of my UHF antennas. I will use the jointenna to join my "all channels" UHF antenna with my "channel 32" UHF antenna. I will use my existing Radio Shack UHF antenna and a CM 4228 to do this, but I'm not yet sure which will be the "channel 32" antenna and which will be the "all UHF" antenna. The output of the jointenna will be connected to the UHF seperate input on the CM 7777.

Per conversation with Channel Master yesterday, when using the 7777 in seperate mode, the inputs are filtered to pass only their designated signal type, UHF or VHF.

Becuase of this, I can connect the combination VHF/UHF antenna to the VHF seperate input on the 7777, and the 7777 will only pass the VHF signal from it.

I've attached a diagram outlining my plan. I ordered the 7777 preamp and 0585-2 jointenna from Warren Electronics yesterday, and was told to expect them in two weeks due to it being a custom order.

I'm going to see if I can find a 4228 locally, since shipping on one from Warren Electronics is over $17. According to the message I got from Channel Master yesterday, Lowes sells CM products, so hopefully one of my local stores will have one.

Here's the diagram:

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I currently have my indoor antenna, a Terk HDTVa, aimed at 157 degrees, which gets most of my stations in zip code 78244. Here's a screencap of my antennaweb results:

I get all of the channels I want with these results:

4-1 WOAI-D: 100%
5-1 KENS-D: 98%
9-1 KLRN-D: 73%
12-1 KSAT-D: 85%
29-1 KABB-H: 81%
35-1 KRRT-H: 65%
2-1 KBEJ-D: Cannot Lock (may not be broadcasting yet)

The unlisted channels are channels I do not care to receive.

Anyway, my Dish VIP-622 does not work well with anything less than a 70% signal, so I can't really watch 35-1

So, I was thinking about springing for an outdoor antenna - just for 35 - and then realized it would be easier to than originally planned. See, when Dish came and upgraded my system last week, they consolidated the previously 2-cable feed into the house into a single cable using some splitter/combiners. So now I have a nice piece of RG6 running from the prime location for an antenna (pointing at channel 35) right to where my receiver is.. so all I'd have to do is mount, connect, and point the antenna.

I was looking at this antenna: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103088 It's a 40" 17-element UHF only antenna, and it's only $25. I can point it at 280 degrees and see how it works. If it's not strong enough I'll add a preamp.

Now, the big question, am I asking for trouble by having an amplified VHF/UHF antenna that's on about 12' of cable and pointed at 157 degrees and an unamplifed UHF antenna on about 40' of cable pointed at 280 degrees? I know HD won't "ghost" like analog, but if it's getting 2 identical signals a fraction of a second apart, will it be able to lock on to just one of them? My concern is with the stations I get really strong signals for... 4, 5, and 12. I seem to be able to get them no matter which way I point my indoor antenna, so it may be that the outdoor antenna will pick them up as well, even though it's not pointing towards them. Am I asking for truoble?

Of course, it's possible that the outdoor antenna, even pointed at 280 degrees, may be all I need and I can get rid of the indoor antenna all together (though I'll need a VHF antenna to get 9).

I do not want to use a rotor, becuase - if I set up a timer on my VIP-622, it may not be pointing in the right direction when the timer fires. I need a solution that does not require any interaction on my part - with the antenna anyway.

After some more research, I've found a few possible solutions, inlcuding ordering a custom bandpass filter that will only pass the one channel (32) I want. Prices start at $30 and they take 2 weeks to fill an order, I may also need an opposite filter for the other antenna (block only 32 and let everything else pass) which will cost another $30. So that's $60 worth of filters and $25 for an antenna.

An other option is to get a really good hi-gain multidirectional antenna, like this one: http://www.antennasdirect.com/DB8_HD_Antenna.html and use it as my sole antenna. It will probably simpler to mount, and it's price is not much more than my "maybe" solution above. I could even use a set of rabbit ears with a matching transformer mounted to the antenna to get the one VHF station I want, without having to use a seperate full-size VHF antenna.

The neat thing about that UHF antenna is that it's multidirectiona - or, from what I've read, more like bi-directional, in that it receives as well on either end of a 180 degree axis. Given this, and its high gain, I [i]should[i] be abel to tune in my UHF stations in the 150 degree neighborhood with one side of the antenna and the 280 degree station with the other side by facing the antenna at 125/305 degrees or so, and the VHF antenna at 170/350 degrees (to get 9, and later 2 when it starts transmitting). This solution would run me about $120 without a preamp, and about $170 with.

A similair, radio-shack based solution would run about $96 without preamp and $155 with preamp but might not be as reliable becuase it requires using 2 of the http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103088 antennas and the VHF rabbit ears. In this case the antennas would be mounted very close togher, one pointing at 155 and the other at 280. I have read several posts around the web that this works reliablely, without ghosting/HD drop-off

Anyway, I think I may just let this go and wait for Dish to prvide HD locals in San Antonio. I only watch one show on the WB (smallville) which will probably be in reruns soon, and by the time the new season starts that station wont be WB anymore (don't know who's getting the CW) So, it's probably not worth the trouble. I can still watch the WB in SD.

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