Can you recommend an external television antenna?

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Like lots of people, I'm in the process of pruning my Comcast down to just internet service only.

According to T.V. Fool, I'm within appx. 30 miles of most broadcasts that I care about.

I want to buy a quality, external antenna and it *seems* like the Mohu brand makes some pretty good products?

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thank you,
Ed
 
I use the Clearstream 2V mounted outside: http://a.co/74WXUos

Have been very pleased with its performance (towers are 30-60 miles over undulating terrain) and longevity (still looks brand new after being exposed to environment for years).
 
I can vouch for the inside Mohu Leaf 50 or 60 flexible antenna that looks like a mudflap.

I'm about 40-50 miles west of Atlanta and receive 69 channels with antenna in a bay window facing generally eastward. Slightly less if positioned elsewhere. I am very impressed.
 
Are all your signals from the same direction? Are they all UHF?

If so, Antennas Direct DB4E, or any of the brand name 4 bay antennas. Stay away from the knock-offs - they are built to cover a wider band, and don't work as well on the low UHF channels...
 
If you can mount one outside and high up, that's the way to go. If not, attic mount works pretty well and is easy to setup since your coax may already be up in the attic.
 
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
If you can mount one outside and high up, that's the way to go. If not, attic mount works pretty well and is easy to setup since your coax may already be up in the attic.


I can mount it on my chimney but I have a stupid question...do you mount the antenna so it's as high as possible on the chimney (and the chimney smoke would blow on it) or do you mount it low enough on the chimney so that doesn't happen.

smile.gif


Ed
 
Originally Posted By: Ed_Flecko
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
If you can mount one outside and high up, that's the way to go. If not, attic mount works pretty well and is easy to setup since your coax may already be up in the attic.


I can mount it on my chimney but I have a stupid question...do you mount the antenna so it's as high as possible on the chimney (and the chimney smoke would blow on it) or do you mount it low enough on the chimney so that doesn't happen.

smile.gif


Ed


That would be your call. I would imagine chimney smoke isn't the best thing for an antenna, but having the antenna higher gives you better line of sight for signals.

You could always try it lower first to see what you get, then raise it up temporarily to see if there is any gain, and then compare.
 
Originally Posted By: Ed_Flecko
Originally Posted By: BigD1
Do you have any vhf channels, or is all of them uhf?

If all are uhf, then Channelmaster 4 bay should work good, and it is not as directional as a yagi style antenna.

https://www.amazon.com/Channel-Master-CM...s=ULTRAtenna+60


I'm not sure. Here's my link from t.v. fool - http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3ddfafdf0276eda9

Ed


Lots of fairly strong signals, from various directions. A few VHF stations, too. In your case, the Clearstream 2V might be a good choice, as suggested by Ramblejam...
 
You have ABC on real channel 10 high vhf at 32.3 miles, and a PBS station on real channel 9 high vhf at 30.4 miles. I figure those channels are important, so yes you will need a combination antenna that is capable of high vhf and uhf. I saw two low vhf channels that are 30 to 45 miles distance. Those could be repeats.

If you are mounting outside, there are two things to remember. Bigger and higher is always better. If you ever want to hook up a radio receiver, then an antenna that does vhf low and high, and uhf is ideal, and that's what I have.
 
I used to have a satellite dish on the side of my house. I ended up getting cable so I could connect it to multiple TVS. Then when Charter required cable boxes for all TVs I decided to rent only two of them.

The TV in my den, I seldom watch but wanted to get the local channels. So I connected an antenna to the old coaxial cable.

This was my first antenna.

IMG_20140821_192041876_zpszvtl4s3r.jpg


Then I went to a UHF "hoop" antenna from a set of rabbit ears which worked a bit better (even though digital TV was back to VHF). This worked OK but the problem was the NBC affiliate was on one mountain where ABC,CBS,FOX and PBS were pointed in a different direction. So I'd have to rotate it manually.

Right I have a telescoping single rod antenna that went popped in the back of an old 13" TV which.
 
Winegard and Channelmaster are the two made in USA go to brands. Since some of the "new" HD channels are on high vhf, the old analog 11, 12, and 13, you need an antenna with some elements which work on those VHF channels if you want good all channel reception. The "when in doubt, add confusion" mentality of the regulators means the old Channel 2, which used to be a 6 megacycle wide slot at 54 megacycles - the very BOTTOM of the TV band- is now, in any given market, located on whatever UHF channel the existing channel 2 was reassigned to. Despite what the flobdobbers say, for the same antenna height and radiated power, HD TV doesn't provide the same coverage.
There's no free lunch. Like a searchlight, the better range of an antenna, the narrower the width of the beam and the more accurately the antenna has to be positioned. Often a rotor is needed if you want signals from two different markets. Also, loss in the coax increases with frequency, the best way around this is a preamp right at the antenna.
Business has been good in the low loss coax, high gain antenna, and preamp departments since the FCC "improved" television.
BTW, we never had a Channel 1 in the US or Canada, by the time TV was fully authorized here, after WW2, what would have been Channel 1 was filled with military and commercial two way radio. It was implemented in much of the rest of the world, and since there are times when high 40 megacycle signals where channel 1 would have been can travel great distances there used to be a hobby which involved buying a European set and watching for long haul Channel 1 signals. Australia and New Zealand TV was seen here in the US if the local two way radio systems were quiet. The British islands in the Carib which used Channel 1 were also seen regularly by watchers on the Gulf Coast.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Ed_Flecko
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
If you can mount one outside and high up, that's the way to go. If not, attic mount works pretty well and is easy to setup since your coax may already be up in the attic.


I can mount it on my chimney but I have a stupid question...do you mount the antenna so it's as high as possible on the chimney (and the chimney smoke would blow on it) or do you mount it low enough on the chimney so that doesn't happen.

smile.gif


Ed


Personally, I would do a tripod roof mount.
 
I actually made my own "bowtie" antenna from a piece of 2x4, wire coat hangers, screws, and a balun. The balun being the only thing I needed to buy. Hung that in my attic so there are no weather issues, and it works great. It might be worth a shot. My broadcasters are mostly 10 miles away, but one is 50 miles away and it still works fine.
 
Originally Posted By: BigD1
Originally Posted By: Ed_Flecko
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
If you can mount one outside and high up, that's the way to go. If not, attic mount works pretty well and is easy to setup since your coax may already be up in the attic.


I can mount it on my chimney but I have a stupid question...do you mount the antenna so it's as high as possible on the chimney (and the chimney smoke would blow on it) or do you mount it low enough on the chimney so that doesn't happen.

smile.gif


Ed


Personally, I would do a tripod roof mount.


I have my DB4e mounted on my roof top AC with a 10' pole and rotator, great coverage and pulls in very distant channels
cheers3.gif

https://www.antennasdirect.com/store/DB4e-extended-long-range-outdoor-dtv-antenna.html
 
That DB4e I am sure is a great antenna, but it's just UHF. The OP has two high VHF channels at 30 plus miles, so he is going to need some gain on high VHF. The Antennas Direct 2V is very weak on VHF high with only 3.1 dbi(0.95 db) gain. Channel Master 4228HD would be the better choice because it has 5 db(7.15 dbi) gain on VHF high, and 12 db(14.15 dbi) gain on UHF.

The 4228 would be the antenna I would use if I was not going to use a rotor. I use a rotor here at the house, and a yagi style combination antenna works good for me.
 
Covering up to 30 miles is not a big issue. There are many brands like 1PLUS, View Tv that offers television antennas to cover long range. 1PLUS Outdoor Amplified Antenna is rated no 1 by Topreviewhut. It has a range of 150 miles and this Antenna is fully HD Supported. It also has a 360-degree rotation!

Here are some good options - http://www.topreviewhut.com/best-long-range-tv-antennas-reviews/

You can have a good Antenna under $50. Just browse some models and read real customer reviews.
 
Use them at bay house- replaced LAVA since the rotator was junk and they catch too much wind in thunderstorms and break.
Now have Channel Master CM 3020 and it does well at 80 mile shot - but very picky on direction.
Next step will be to re install a manual rotation device previous owner built (he was a hobby machinist).
Will only need about 20 degree range of movement.
 
Go to www.tvfool.com and www.antennaweb.org . These are good sites for stations in your area. I'm planning to use 2 antennas for my tv. I saw a youtube vid where a guy ran 2 antennas using a splitter in reverse to combine the signals. He aimed each antenna to the stations he wanted and reception was way better than with just one antenna.
 
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