Chicago Area Signal Issues

[iwinyouwin]

I live in the Chicago area (60527) and installed a HD7698P HDTV High Band VHF Antenna with an AP-8700 U/V Pre amp in front of a quad splitter installed in an attic about 20ft above ground. I have a Tivo unit on one line that is on a 50ft cable that can measure signal strength. Most of the time signal strength is excellent and picture quality looks really nice. However, there are times when i have widely fluctuating signal strength or no signal at all. Some times all channels are affected but other times channel 2 CBS holds the best signal and Channel 5 NBC is the most likely for total signal loss. This can happen on perfect days and for a short period of time when nothing else within the house has changed or been turned on or off. This may force me to go back to cable and i hate that thought. I am not sure what to try now, i even bought a radio shack FM filter and an interference filter in desperation but they have had no effect. I know it is not ideal to have an attic antenna but that is why i bought the pre amp. It is fall TV premier time and i am losing critical parts of shows - Help!

[TomV]

You have a large number of strong signals in your area. I would try removing the preamp and see if things improve. You could be on the cusp of overloading the preamp and on certain days the RF propagation might be better and thus causing an overload. You could also rotate the antenna away from ideal (reducing signal into the preamp) and check out the performance. You should have enough signal coming in that your reception will still be good.