UHF / VHF antenna for downtown Houston

Outdoor

RCA ANT751 aka EZ HD Best VHF gain of these, good UHF gain of 5-6db. Smallish. Made in USA.

Digitenna Suburban, Metro, possibly City Shorter than the RCA but just as wide, similar gain on UHF. Not as good on VHF as the RCA, but better than the Channel Master below. City model is the exception....with lowest gain on both UHF and VHF but super small. Made in USA.

Channel Master 2016 Simple dipoles for VHF, best UHF gain of these 3.

Indoor

Godar Model 1 Made in USA Log periodic elements for UHF, adjustable 360 telescoping rabbit ear dipoles for VHF.

Terk HDTVi 6db gain on UHF with its log periodic elements, plus slightly limited adjustability telescoping articulating Rabbit Ears. Propensity to tip over, but well built.
Philips SDV2750 Pretty good antenna. Seperate VHF and UHF adjustable amplifier gain settings.

Radio Shack 1874 Budget Unamplified Rabbit Ear and Loop (This may be all you need and its the best of its kind.)

All these have Rabbit Ears for VHF reception....reduce the telescoping elements down to between 12" and 18" per side using the fattest sections and put them out horizontally. This will tune them for the VHF Hi signal transmissions.


DIY

mclapp 4 bay with VHF Hi dipoles added to feedpoint

PS if you have tall buildings around you, multipath may be a problem...in which case.

The RCA ANT751

Digitenna Suburban

Channel Master (but not on VHF Hi)

Terk HDTVi (but not on VHF) You can also get the Terk HDTVa which adds an amplifier, though it might help if you have trouble with VHF Hi which are on the lower strength but still strong signals that you have, but I would try the unamped HDTVi first.

These stand out with tighter beamwidths, generally speaking.

Hope that helps.

Oops, one more.

Terk HDTVo. Same great log periodic UHF elements as teh HDTVi/HDTVa but with circular folded dipoles for VHF. Outdoor.

Sounds like a good plan.

Good Luck!

You can shorten the telescoping VHF dipole (Rabbit Ears) to 13" to 18" each side, and fold them out horizontally in line with the loop, then "aim" the loop and dipoles perpendicular to the tower farm.....that might help VHF. Also get it elevated (find a sweet spot) and away from larges masses of metal or electronics.

But I think the RCA ANT751 will be good for you. Yes mount it right on the J Pole. How long is the cable run from the Satelite Dish position to your TV? Any splitters on it? What is the condition and quality of the coax?

Thanks for the update.

I dont anticipate problems, with that simple setup.

The extra gain is being killed by the extra cable. You could just as well amp the RS 1874 RE & Loop.

Good amps are the Winegard 269, Motorola BDA S1 (and S2 for 2 outputs).

Using these with the RS 1874 will produce better results than just getting an amplified RE and Loop.

You could also try the Philips SDV2750 (at walmart).