Back before the big digital transition occurred, all the local L.A. broadcasters were saying their "HD" channels were going to be on UHF. Then some months before the switch was to be thrown some had changed their minds and were now going to stick with VHF. A few people i know bought so-called "HD" antennas which were UHF-only in anticipation of the transition and sure enough they didn't pull in any of the VHF channels (KABC, KTTV, KCAL, etc).

I'm 30 miles from the Mt Wilson towers and my old crusty circa 1955 roof antenna hidden in my attic pulls in all the L.A. stations strongly. I had also gotten other friends in the LA area to just leave their existing old rusty roof antennas and everybody gets all the digital channels.

This page shows which L.A. stations are UHF and which are VHF (in the blue banner):

[Link: antennasdirect.com]

Randy,
One of the reasons I like the Winegard GhostKiller is that it performed beautifully in an "attic" near Beverly and Rossmore. I say "attic" because the space was about 16" from ceiling joists to roof joists. It was only possible to use because of the lack of elements above and below the plane of the antenna.

I got the Wineguard 1080 and installed it with direct line of sight to Mt Wilson. The reception is very sharp (1080) and I get about 50 channels...
The antenna coax is connected to a HDHomeRun Connect device and I'm running it all with KODI - it works perfectly. I have about 1950 (16TB) movies on my KODI server, so its the best combo: Live TV w/ movie server.

Thanks Guys !

So I have been living with the antenna setup for a few days now and it seems to be freezing and very pixilated at times. Maybe I need a larger antenna?? It worked very well for a while and then the picture will freeze, then be fine again, etc...

(After installing it, I realize that I have the room to put up a much larger unit if necessary and it wont impede any aesthetics; so If a larger antenna is necessary, then I can go that route)

The Winegard 1080 is a VHF high band antenna. You need either a Winegard 7210 antenna that Ernie mentioned or a Winegard 7694.

These antennas are designed to recieve both VHF and UHF signals. When you use a VHF antenna it will receive UHF signals but those levels will be significantly lower than an antenna designed to receive both VHF and UHF signals.

The 1080 has a 30 mile range, but you're 35 miles from Mt. Wilson.

You should look into a longer range Directional antenna since all the L.A. Station towers are clumped together on Mt. Wilson. In addition to Wineguard, Channel Master has some that should work well for you.

Antenna Selection Guide based on address and zip code:

[Link: channelmaster.com]

Back when i was researching antennas for my step-son in Trabuco Canyon (45 miles from Mt. Wilson) these were the units we were considering (although he ended up not going OTA afterall so i can't report any results):

Channelmaster Stealthtenna CM-3010HD 50 mile range, Directional, UHF/VHF, $29 [Link: channelmaster.com]

Channelmaster Advantage 60 CM-3018 60 mile range, Directional, UHF/VHF $99 [Link: channelmaster.com]

Channelmaster Advantage 100 CM-3020 100 mile range, Directional, UHF/VHF $119 [Link: channelmaster.com]

I'm going to pick up the Wineguard 7694 today and see how it goes...

We have done several OTA installs and we just give Denny's antenna service and use their recommendation. We have some installs in attics, some that needed two antennas facing different directions to get all the channels, etc. I have their small EZ HDTV antenna on my house and it works great. Their recommendations on which stations we should be able to receive have been spot on. Worth a call.
http://dennysantennaservice.com/

How far in advance do you have to book Denny for an antenna install in Los Angeles?

So I picked up a Wineguard 7694P from a store in Torrance and installed it on a tall mast on the roof. It's pointing directly at Mt Wilson with nothing in the way- I have direct line of sight.

But I'm still getting a rough picture with pausing and very pixilated.

I have a 50ft RG6 cable that is simply connected from the antenna.

Any other suggestions? Maybe the RG6 is damaged?

The channels 2.1 thru 18.1 are rough with them pausing and pixelated but the channels above 18 are fine.

It seems it's just the HD channels that the antenna can't pull in.

About a week:-)

Any splitters? Any amplifiers?

With that antenna and if you have LOS to the towers your signal should be booming in even at that distance.

Any Roku or Chromecast sticks installed on the back of the TV?

I have direct line of sight. I have the RG6 going straight into a HDHomeRun Connect box. All this box does is just send the signal onto the home network and it acts like two tuners. The HDHomeRun is then connected to my router so it can pass the signal to the network so my Kodi Media Player can put it up on the tv.

So no splitters or amplification.

Later today after work I am going to put the RG6 straight into the TV as it has a built in tuner and see what the reception is like.

It's likely that your TV has a built-in signal level meter, so note the signal levels of each channel. Mine are all in the 87% to 99% range with my 1950's era attic antenna on my TVs and my Tivos.