Has anyone tried those new flat white material RCA antenna that are selling at Wallymart :-\? Any reports on them?
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DTV HD antennas
- Thread starter FRM-Yankey
- Start date
Unless you are a few miles form transmitter and you have pretty unobstructed view of it, you need more than this for reliability. Digital is a tricky beast. You need a baseline of signal before you get stability. That means at least 35% signal as a start and more like 40-60% for the signal to stay constant. Look into something more reliable if the conditions I mention are not met.
FRM-Yankey said:
I'm guessing you're talking about this antenna. This link to Amazon has 75+ reviews to give you a better idea.
Yes this is it, thanks for the lead on Amazon Walter. Looks like a lot of positive results...dhett said:
FRM-Yankey said:
And of those 75 reviews, thankfully the first says it best:
"Let me start by saying you need to take all these reviews with a grain of salt, as each circumstance is unique - and may or may not apply to your situation. There are SO many variables, you just never know whether a product will work for you. "
Digital TV pick up all depends on where you live and the terrain. No one antenna may be the solution for all. So you can try it, but don't think that because there are 75 positive reviews, it is going to be positive for you too. I know in my area, this antenna would be useless. Might work in yours.
This map will help you. Green it will help with. If you see stations in yellow , this antenna might not do much for you. It would more than likely be useless for brown stations. And red no way
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/
"Let me start by saying you need to take all these reviews with a grain of salt, as each circumstance is unique - and may or may not apply to your situation. There are SO many variables, you just never know whether a product will work for you. "
Digital TV pick up all depends on where you live and the terrain. No one antenna may be the solution for all. So you can try it, but don't think that because there are 75 positive reviews, it is going to be positive for you too. I know in my area, this antenna would be useless. Might work in yours.
This map will help you. Green it will help with. If you see stations in yellow , this antenna might not do much for you. It would more than likely be useless for brown stations. And red no way
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/
N
necrat123
Guest
The thing that gets me about these new fancy schmancy antennas are, RF hasn't changed in years. The old tried and true antenna designs still work the best. These new wafer antennas, I don't care how good they say they work, are horrible with VHF. And in New England, you NEED a VHF/UHF antenna no matter what market you are in!
I have this antenna , its UHF only, but works well for the two loval VHFs I have, its a set top UHF dual bow tie panel antenna. Solid solid performer. I can receive most UHF DTV from boston with it in my kitchen. The design for it is from the 60's! Any old school RF guy will tell you (and I am NOT one of those!), you can't go wrong with the time-tested antenna designs.
I have this antenna , its UHF only, but works well for the two loval VHFs I have, its a set top UHF dual bow tie panel antenna. Solid solid performer. I can receive most UHF DTV from boston with it in my kitchen. The design for it is from the 60's! Any old school RF guy will tell you (and I am NOT one of those!), you can't go wrong with the time-tested antenna designs.
There's one thing I've learned over 40+ years of watching the "snow bands" (though now there is no such thing as "snow" in the digital age). No antenna setup is the "end all" for perfect reception, especially when it comes to DTV. Digital is not so forgiving as analog was. You either have it, or you don't. There is no "in between". Currently, I am using a fringe model Radio Shack UHF antenna with a balun, an 18 db. Archer VHF/UHF RF amp located between the receiver and 30' of RG/6 coax cable, and using an "Armstrong" rotor. With this set up, with no other equipment, I get the following DTV stations with pretty good regularity at my home QTH in Whitman, MA. (Your mileage may vary 
)
WGBH-DT 2.1, 2.2 (RF 19)
WBZ-DT 4.1 (RF 30)
WCVB-DT 5.1 (RF 20)
WLNE-DT 6.1 (RF 49)
WHDH-DT 7.1, 7.2 (RF 42)
WJAR-DT 10.1, 10.2 (RF 51)
WPRI-DT 12.1 (RF 13)
WFXT- DT 25.1 (RF 31)
WUNI-DT 27.1, 27.2 (RF 29)
WLWC-DT 28.1 (RF 22)
WSBE-DT 36.1, 36.2 (RF 17, weak)
WSBK-DT 38.1 (RF 39)
WGBX-DT 44.1, 44.2, 44.3, 44.4 (RF 43)
WWDP-DT 46.1 (RF 10)
WYDN-DT 48.1 (RF 47, weak)
WLVI-DT 56.1 (RF 41)
WMFP-DT 62.1, 62.2 (RF 18)
WNAC-DT 64.1 (RF 12)
WUTF-DT 66.1 (RF 23)
WBPX-DT 68.1, 68.2, 68.3, 68.4 (RF 32)
Taking into account that my antenna was strictly cut for UHF, the VHF's come through almost full bar. I'm over 25 miles from most transmitters. If you already have an antenna on the roof, use it. An 18 db. VHF/UHF amp will do the job in most suburban areas. My antenna is only 20 feet above the ground. I'm sure there will be some padding in the signals due to the foliage coming out this spring. No set up is perfect. But, be creative with your antenna set ups. You never know what you'll be able to come up with!
73,
-Pete (K1XRB)
)WGBH-DT 2.1, 2.2 (RF 19)
WBZ-DT 4.1 (RF 30)
WCVB-DT 5.1 (RF 20)
WLNE-DT 6.1 (RF 49)
WHDH-DT 7.1, 7.2 (RF 42)
WJAR-DT 10.1, 10.2 (RF 51)
WPRI-DT 12.1 (RF 13)
WFXT- DT 25.1 (RF 31)
WUNI-DT 27.1, 27.2 (RF 29)
WLWC-DT 28.1 (RF 22)
WSBE-DT 36.1, 36.2 (RF 17, weak)
WSBK-DT 38.1 (RF 39)
WGBX-DT 44.1, 44.2, 44.3, 44.4 (RF 43)
WWDP-DT 46.1 (RF 10)
WYDN-DT 48.1 (RF 47, weak)
WLVI-DT 56.1 (RF 41)
WMFP-DT 62.1, 62.2 (RF 18)
WNAC-DT 64.1 (RF 12)
WUTF-DT 66.1 (RF 23)
WBPX-DT 68.1, 68.2, 68.3, 68.4 (RF 32)
Taking into account that my antenna was strictly cut for UHF, the VHF's come through almost full bar. I'm over 25 miles from most transmitters. If you already have an antenna on the roof, use it. An 18 db. VHF/UHF amp will do the job in most suburban areas. My antenna is only 20 feet above the ground. I'm sure there will be some padding in the signals due to the foliage coming out this spring. No set up is perfect. But, be creative with your antenna set ups. You never know what you'll be able to come up with!
73,
-Pete (K1XRB)
That is great advice on your antenna setup. I'm getting pretty much the same stations you're getting in Pawtucket, RI, with the exception that I get WPXQ-TV 69 (RF 17), do not get WWDP-TV46 (RF 10), and infrequent weak reception from WYDN-TV 48 (RF 47). Also, the DT RF for WSBE-TV 36 is 21, not 17.
ansky212 said:
Now go back and read what I wrote and what others said. To sum it up, digital is a tricky beast. In many ways reception can be worse than analog. Digital not only needs a good path but it needs a baseline of signal to be consistent. The FCC map is based on field testing and terrain and does not take into account, your car, the street, the houses around you, the trees, and all the other things that cause signal issues and effectively wipe out what should be a good signal. As others show, what one guy gets, another does not. That is what digital can be. Just cause you are supposed to get a signal does not mean you will .
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