I performed a test involving the Winegard HD7696P (which I obtained a week ago) compared to an existing duo of the Antennas Direct 91XG and C5.
Here's the TV Fool plot for my location to give you the essential context for this shootout performed in my attic on 27 NOV 2010 between 15:00-16:00 on a day with no tropo to skew the measurements.
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=81a3ba3ab771ef
I removed the existing 91XG/C5 combo (feeding a CM-7777 in separate V/U mode) and, after optimizing the location, put the HD7696 into place (feeding the CM-7777 in combined mode). Here are the Sencore SLM-1456 readings with the HD7696P:
I then took the HD7696 down and replaced it with the 91XG/C5 combo (into the CM-7777 switched back to separate U/V). Here are the Sencore readings with the AntennasDirect 91XG/C5 pair:
As much as possible, I wanted to give the HD7696P a fair test (by tweaking the location with the Sencore before performing the readings shown here).
The expectation was that the HD7696P would fare a bit worse than the 91XG. Aside from RF-14 where it bested the 91XG, all other power readings were down, especially as the frequencies went higher (see RF-50 and RF-51 in particular).
Most surprising to me was that the smallish C5 beat the HD7696P on the VHF side. The published gain for the C5 is around ~7 dBi whereas the larger Winegard shows a high of 10.9 dB. The RF-9 difference was rather astounding since that's where the HD7696P shows peak gain. I'm at a loss (no pun intended) to explain why the 15-element VHF side of the HD7696P didn't at least match the little C5 loop antenna.
To be fair, both the HD7696P and the 91XG/C5 combo provided more than adequate signals for "real world" viewing (as shown by the BER column). My interest was to compare the raw power level (dBVm) between the two configurations.
Here's the TV Fool plot for my location to give you the essential context for this shootout performed in my attic on 27 NOV 2010 between 15:00-16:00 on a day with no tropo to skew the measurements.
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=81a3ba3ab771ef
I removed the existing 91XG/C5 combo (feeding a CM-7777 in separate V/U mode) and, after optimizing the location, put the HD7696 into place (feeding the CM-7777 in combined mode). Here are the Sencore SLM-1456 readings with the HD7696P:
Code:
+----+--------+-----+-----+------+
! CH.! TYPE !LEVEL! MER ! BER !
! ! !POWER! CCN ! !
! ! !dBmV ! dB ! !
+----+--------+-----+-----+------+
! 8 !8VSB ! 6.9! 34.0! <10-9!
! 9 !8VSB !- .4! 33.2! <10-9!
! 11 !8VSB ! 11.0!>36.0! <10-9!
! 14 !8VSB ! 18.1! 33.6!4x10-7!
! 18 !8VSB ! 12.9!>36.0! <10-9!
! 19 !8VSB ! 16.0!>36.0! <10-9!
! 23 !8VSB ! 10.6! 32.7! <10-9!
! 25 !8VSB !- 2.4! 35.1! <10-9!
! 27 !8VSB !- 7.3! 34.0! <10-9!
! 29 !8VSB !- 1.8! 31.9! <10-9!
! 30 !8VSB ! 15.6!>36.0! <10-9!
! 31 !8VSB !- 9.0! 35.9!1x10-6!
! 32 !8VSB ! 7.4!>36.0! <10-9!
! 34 !8VSB !- 9.0!>36.0! <10-9!
! 35 !8vsB ! 9.2!>36.0! <10-9!
! 36 !8VSB ! 11.4!>36.0! <10-9!
! 38 !8VSB !-12.0! 35.0!1x10-9!
! 39 !8VSB ! 14.7! 34.8! <10-9!
! 40 !8VSB ! 13.0! 34.6! <10-9!
! 41 !8VSB ! 13.1! 34.9! <10-9!
! 42 !8VSB ! 10.6!>36.0! <10-9!
! 43 !8VSB ! 5.6!>36.0! <10-9!
! 44 !8VSB ! 3.2!>36.0! <10-9!
! 45 !8VSB ! 7.1!>36.0! <10-9!
! 46 !8VSB ! 2.4!>36.0! <10-9!
! 48 !8VSB ! 7.1!>36.0! <10-9!
! 50 !8VSB !-12.4!>36.0! <10-9!
! 51 !8VSB !-12.1! 33.3!1x10-7!
+----+--------+-----+-----+------+
Code:
+----+--------+-----+-----+------+
! CH.! TYPE !LEVEL! MER ! BER !
! ! !POWER! CCN ! !
! ! !dBmV ! dB ! !
+----+--------+-----+-----+------+
! 8 !8VSB ! 13.2!>36.0! <10-9!
! 9 !8VSB ! 7.6! 35.0! <10-9!
! 11 !8VSB ! 14.7!>36.0! <10-9!
! 14 !8VSB ! 17.0! 33.6!4x10-8!
! 18 !8VSB ! 13.7!>36.0! <10-9!
! 19 !8VSB ! 18.6!>36.0! <10-9!
! 23 !8VSB ! 10.6! 32.2! <10-9!
! 25 !8VSB !- 1.4! 32.3! <10-9!
! 27 !8VSB !- 3.2! 31.8! <10-9!
! 29 !8VSB !- 1.2! 30.7! <10-9!
! 30 !8VSB ! 20.5!>36.0! <10-9!
! 31 !8VSB !- 5.8!>36.0!2x10-7!
! 32 !8VSB ! 13.3!>36.0! <10-9!
! 34 !8VSB !- 1.4!>36.0! <10-9!
! 35 !8VSB ! 16.4!>36.0! <10-9!
! 36 !8VSB ! 14.3!>36.0! <10-9!
! 38 !8VSB !- 3.6! 35.3!2x10-9!
! 39 !8VSB ! 24.0! 34.9! <10-9!
! 40 !8VSB ! 20.6! 34.4! <10-9!
! 41 !8VSB ! 21.1! 35.7! <10-9!
! 42 !8VSB ! 16.7!>36.0! <10-9!
! 43 !8VSB ! 12.1!>36.0! <10-9!
! 44 !8VSB ! 8.1!>36.0! <10-9!
! 45 !8VSB ! 13.8!>36.0! <10-9!
! 46 !8VSB ! 8.1!>36.0! <10-9!
! 48 !8VSB ! 17.9!>36.0! <10-9!
! 50 !8VSB !- 5.3!>36.0! <10-9!
! 51 !8VSB !- 8.0! 34.5! <10-9!
+----+--------+-----+-----+------+
The expectation was that the HD7696P would fare a bit worse than the 91XG. Aside from RF-14 where it bested the 91XG, all other power readings were down, especially as the frequencies went higher (see RF-50 and RF-51 in particular).
Most surprising to me was that the smallish C5 beat the HD7696P on the VHF side. The published gain for the C5 is around ~7 dBi whereas the larger Winegard shows a high of 10.9 dB. The RF-9 difference was rather astounding since that's where the HD7696P shows peak gain. I'm at a loss (no pun intended) to explain why the 15-element VHF side of the HD7696P didn't at least match the little C5 loop antenna.
To be fair, both the HD7696P and the 91XG/C5 combo provided more than adequate signals for "real world" viewing (as shown by the BER column). My interest was to compare the raw power level (dBVm) between the two configurations.