We only get over the air tv broadcast at our cabin. I currently have a small RCA plastic  antenna mounted on the side of the house about  6 feet off the ground. We get a total of 10 channels.  Would a better antenna get more channels? If so great, but my main goal is to improve quality. I think the trees on that side of the cabin affect my picture quality. Tried to watch the game in the wind and the rain the other night and it broke up every 10 seconds.
Do I need to get above the trees for good picture? If so, that would be a fairly tall antenna. How far away can I move an antenna? Should I try to get a clear line of sight? Any antenna recommendations?
Thanks for the help.

TV and Cabin do not compute.

Get a winegard brand antenna that suits your needs.  Then get a preamp that goes within a few feet of the antenna.  Preamp boosts the signal so it reaches your tv's.  I put mine in the attic.  Works great.

Winegard or Antennacraft.  And you need a way to aim the antenna at the station... either an antenna rotator or an "armstrong rotator" (manually turning the mast).

http://www.antennacraft.com/

http://www.channelmasterstore.com/Digital_HDTV_Outdoor_TV_Antenna_p/cm-3020.htm

A nice "yagi" type, and generally, the more elements the better.

The higher the better.

Her are some more that will tell you where to point it and how far away the stations are.

http://www.antennapoint.com/
http://www.antennaweb.org/
http://www.solidsignal.com/

Get a chainsaw.

It depends on your location. Please post the location of your Bug Out Location so that we can help you.

To this add some high quality coaxial cable. Get the necessary adapters (75 to 300 ohm).

Low quality or weatherbeaten coaxial cable detracts immensely from your signal.

Lastly, ALTITUDE is your best friend. The higher you get your antenna, the less interference you will get from ground, trees, conservatives*, etc.





*Liberals don't degrade your signal as they have no substance. They degrade your signal via legislative action.

Make your own.

I tried three different commercial antennas, and found I could do much better with a DIY Gray-Hoverman design.
It took me only a couple of hours (working at a very leisurely pace) to build the single-bay design. Link: D.I.Y. over-the-air digital antenna

If you're in a fringe area, do a web search for 'double-bay Gray-Hoverman antenna'. It shouldn't cost more than thirty or forty bucks to put one together.

How far away can it be from the TV with good coax? I can put it behind the house. Maybe 70 feet total. Would that work with an amp. I was reading about tall masts and I don't want guy wires going right into my yard.
Thanks for the help so far.

I bought this thing right here, and it has managed to pull in 18 channels. Antenna on Amazon  ETA: I have it mounted in the attic, and the coax is run down to a junction box where it then splits off to three separate rooms. I am fortunate to have no significant signal degradation with the run, but I also have an RCA pre-amp and whatnot installed so that does help out a bit I am sure.