I built this antenna

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joearno...93845/sizes/l/

by watching a youtube video proclaiming it to be as good or better than most
commercially available set-top units. It does fine - I get as many channels
as a friend's $79 RCA antenna with an amplifier. The problem is that it's
too directional and I'd like more 'reach' for some transmitters that are
about 50 miles away. One channel I want is only fair for analog, but NG for
the digital channels they provide. Would an amplifier help there?
I'm a raw newbie in this area and would sure appreciate any advice or
suggestions. I'd like the satisfaction of doing this myself. Is there such a
thing as paralleling two of them?
TIA
Joe Arnold