Combining Antennas

[BillW]

Hello,
I live in DeKalb, Il 60115. I have an older Winegard UHF/VHF antenna pointed toward chicago (east) 60 miles and an 8 bay UHF antenna pointed toward Rockford (NW) 30 miles. The tower is 30 feet. The Chigao combo antenna is high on the mast. The Rockford UHF bay antenna is mounted below on a leg of the tower. I have the two antennas joined togather with a slitter in reverse. From the splitter into a preamp that has one input. I have a signal strength of no more that 50% on any channel, most are lower. TV has too many drop outs. I read on the internet that with the way I have it hooked up, I am sending half the signal out the other antenna before it gets to the pre amp. I was considering replacing the preamp with an AP-2880. It has a high VHF gain and 2 inputs. Will this solve my problem or is there a better way. Antennas are in very good condition. All cable is new RG6 quad shieled. There is an 8 way spliter in the house, after the transformer. Signal is similar though, if I hook a tv direct from the transformer. I seem to have minimal loss after the splitter. Thanks for any help.

[winegard]

Good morning Bill W -

I believe you spoke with Hans by phone yesterday. Please let me know if we can be of any further assistance!