TheBigE

hey kids, I have been researching the various antenni for a bit now and THINK I have come down to some rational "1st tries" for an antenna...yet I know that only install and test will tell the truth.
But I have a few final questions first - mostly sanity check to make sure I have not wandered down the multi...I mean wrong path.

1) Is it true that directional antennas act cumulatively...meaning IF I could get by with a small directional that, at minimum, there would generally be no harm in installing a large directional?

2) I am 18 miles clear sight to Mount Wilson, CA transmit towers which are at 5000 feet. I currently get decent NTSC with indoor rabbit ears on my upstairs bedroom (except channel 2 requires some fussing to get CLEAR pic with the same ears).
Now given the fairly short distance and the NTSC success with no effort I ASSUME I should be OK for the Hi-Def. So I am gonna go with either a Winegard PR8800 or ChannelMaster 4221 - both 8-bay screens. From the specs this seems like a bit of overkill - but at $25 I sort of don't care (unless it doesn't work of course).
IS this overkill and maybe I should go with a 4-bay?

3) Given this type of BAY/screen antenna, which measures about 4 feet tall x 2 feet wide, is it considered acceptable to mount these sideways? This would reduce my over-the-roof exposure to the street (again, don't REALLY care, but it would be nice)

4) There are some local channels that broadcast from a different direction that I would like to get. If I were to install another directional antenna, would it need to be installed away from the main or could they be next to each other?
How about combining their signals? Is this done much the same way as multi-dish feed, using the equivalent of a multiswitch?

thanks again

Evan

kevinw

How about a rotor instead of 2 antennas?