[akron05]

I have stations directly northwest of me and a few directly east. My wife can't operate my complicated set up as it is, and having to use a rotor really bites. For digital OTA (not analog) could I get away with wiring two antennas together and avoid the rotor? Perhaps if they're directional enough that the "off the back" signals on the opposite antenna aren't strong enough? Here are my antennaweb results:

* yellow - uhf WDLI-DT 39.1 TBN CANTON OH 330° 14.7 39
* yellow - uhf WEAO-DT 50.1 PBS AKRON OH 329° 17.5 50
* yellow - uhf WOAC-DT 47.1 SAH CANTON OH 24° 16.0 47
* yellow - uhf WVPX-DT 59 i AKRON OH TBD 333° 14.9 59
* yellow - uhf WKBN-DT 27.1 CBS YOUNGSTOWN OH 81° 42.2 41
* green - uhf WJW-DT 8.1 FOX CLEVELAND OH 343° 36.3 31
* red - uhf WNEO-DT 46.1 PBS ALLIANCE OH 94° 26.7 46
* red - vhf WKYC-DT 3.1 NBC CLEVELAND OH 346° 37.2 2
* blue - uhf WQHS-DT 61.1 UNI Cleveland OH 345° 37.2 34
* blue - uhf WBNX-DT 55.1 CW AKRON OH 345° 37.2 30
* blue - uhf WEWS-DT 5.1 ABC CLEVELAND OH 343° 37.0 15
* violet - vhf WOIO-DT 19.1 CBS SHAKER HEIGHTS OH 345° 37.4 10
* violet - uhf WUAB-DT 43.1 MNT LORAIN OH 343° 37.3 28

I know in practice I can also get WFMJ in Youngstown as well but antennaweb doesn't show it. That tower is at the same spot as WKBN.

 

[Jim5506]

It might be more practical to have two antennas with separate cabling to a switch that then runs to your tuner.

"If you tune a channel and it does not come up, flip the switch" might be the simplest way to accomplish your goals. There are RF switches that operate via remote also.

 

[akron05]

It's just that we would like seamless surfing.

 

[Tower Guy]

I have stations directly northwest of me and a few directly east. My wife can't operate my complicated set up as it is, and having to use a rotor really bites. For digital OTA (not analog) could I get away with wiring two antennas together and avoid the rotor? Perhaps if they're directional enough that the "off the back" signals on the opposite antenna aren't strong enough? Here are my antennaweb results:

I know in practice I can also get WFMJ in Youngstown as well but antennaweb doesn't show it. That tower is at the same spot as WKBN.

You won't know for sure unless you try it. To connect them, use a splitter backwards. The Youngstown digital stations are all UHF so the second antenna can be UHF only (Channel Master 4228). If the combination of the two antennas causes multipath, you'll have some problems, if not, you're all set. The weakest stations may get lost due to the loss in the combiners. If you need a preamp, use the model that is hardest to overload, the Winegard HDP-269.

If the combination doesn't work, a filtering/combining network would be needed. Here's how: Amplify the Youngstown UHF antenna and split it three ways, use Channel Master Jointennas tuned to channel 20, 41, and 46 to add the signal to the antenna aimed at Cleveland. If the Cleveland stations show any problems, you may also need to add a seperate preamp on the Cleveland antenna before the Jointennas.