Hi Ernie, thanks so much for responding to my post. My ONLY problem is I can't pick up KNSD NBC San Diego (UHF 630 MHz). This station only broadcasts at 18 kW ERP from a tower located at 153 degrees SSE at about 40 miles. My DIY gapless Gray-Hoverman DOES pick up the other UHF stations (Fox, PBS, Independents) from the same tower just fine. So I know my antenna is aimed properly, and actually works properly. The only problem is picking up NBC-San Diego.
The "set-up" I mentioned was my HDTV "auto set-up" feature. When I run this to set-up my over the air stations, I sometimes get some of the "spotty" stations that are on the fringe. This was mostly LA stations that are 82 miles away. In fact, I was able to get KNBC (LA) a couple of times. By "spotty" I mean that my HDTV tuner grabs the signal during set-up, but when I access the channel, often I get an error message saying "no signal", but other times I get a spotty signal, and even a few times I get a clear picture. My point is, no matter what I try, I have NEVER gotten even a "no signal", let alone spotty signal like this from KNSD NBC San Diego. It's very frustrating because I have gotten as many as 55 stations from both SD and LA using this DIY antenna so I really feel like it has something to do with a weak signal from KNSD NBC San Diego.
I'm not trying to be cheap here by going DIY. I am more than willing to buy a retail antenna and really appreciated the recommendations you provided. I will definitely check them out. The only reason I went DIY first was because I knew my distance to the towers was pretty far, plus my topography surrounding my house was a concern. For example, I had really poor cellphone reception at my house with Verizon. I had to hold my cellphone up in my 2nd story skylight to get good reception. So I didn't want to shell out a bunch of money for a retail antenna, plus going through all the hassel of installing it one my roof, just to find out that I wouldn't get good reception. So that's why I went DIY first, and am actually ecstatic with the results, except for the inability to pick up KNSD NBC San Diego.
My only other question that I didn't see a response from you earlier was concerning any type of amplifier. What's your thoughts on adding an amplifier/pre-amp? Would this offer any benefit? If so, do you have a recommendation?
I'm not worried about tackling the 2 different antenna scenario. I am confident I can solve that once I get the KNSD NBC San Diego issue solved. Thanks again for your help!
