by TomV » Fri Mar 30, 2012 8:54 am
Another thread about ch 7 VHF having issues was answered by a Winegard responder. He suggested that a harmonic of an FM station might be overwhelming ch7. Since ch 7 should have a solid signal level at your site it would take a hefty harmonic to do that. The FM signal would be in the 88.5 MHz region.
I looked at FM Fool for the FM stations at 07757 and found 3 with harmonics that would be in the band for ch 7 . Ch 7 is between 174 and 180 MHz. The FM stations with harmonics in this region would be between 87 and 90 MHz. You have 88.9 (strong), 89.3 (10 db weaker) and 88.1 down another 7 dB from 89.3). FM Fool also shows that the FM stations are coming from the south, whereas ch 7 is from the north. This should reduce the power of the FM since your antenna is directional. You may be getting some reflection of the signals that would bypass the directionality of the antenna.
Considering the signal strength at you site, you could try rotating the antenna a bit (30 degrees) and see if that helps with ch 7.
A distribution amp with an FM trap, or just an FM trap itself, could show if the FM stations are culprits.