Ask Engadget HD: What's the best long-range OTA antenna?
By Darren Murph 
posted Jul 16th 2008 12:00PM
posted Jul 16th 2008 12:00PM
"I'm just on the outskirts of a pretty big city and I'm hoping to get enough stations with just an antenna to avoid paying for cable or satellite TV. I'm looking for an attic or roof-mounted OTA antenna that will pick up stations a good ways out, but obviously the smaller the better (but not at the expense of signal reach). Any suggestions? I don't want to order a huge antenna only to realize the reception is subpar."
So, OTA lovers: what long-range antenna do you rely on to pull in your HD locals (and maybe those of the next closest town)? Where did you get it from? Was installation a real chore? Speak up! (Oh, and look for a short-range version of this question to pop up next week.)
Got a burning question that you'd love to toss out for Engadget HD (or its readers) to take a look at? Tired of Google's blank stares when you ask for real-world experiences? Hit us up at ask at engadgethd dawt com and keep an eye on this space -- your inquiry could be next.
As been previously posted on engadgethd (back in 2006) http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/01/30/ota-hd-demystified/
Enter your address and they tell you what kind of antenna and what sort of reception you'd be able to receive.
http://antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx
The $80 Channel Master 4228 gets rave reviews.
I'm having really good results with this from Radioshack.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2348191&cp=2032057.2032187.2032189.2032205&parentPage=family
I'm about 45-50 miles from the sources and pulling in 90-100% signal strength on all but a few...
Forgot to mention that I have this mounted in my attic...
I've borrowed this from a friend of mine, but I'm getting mixed results. That said - I haven't gone into the attic yet, it's just been sitting on the floor leaning against the bedroom wall in the direction of the broadcast antennas.
I will say it is a decent size. And if I could get it to pick up one more channel I would be happy (planning on crawling into the attic this weekend).
It seems a lot of people like this unit, RS Model: 15-2187, is there any one that has pictures of the inside of the unit?
Since when does outskirts of a major city qualify as long range? Is this 25, 50, 75 miles away? Seems that most often the broadcast towers are on the outskirts to begin with.
I personally live 12 miles from the antenna farm and use a $25.00 75 mile yagi from radio shack that works great. It's also mounted below the roof line and point directly at a tree so it's hardly ideal placement.
Depending how close you are from transmission and how close the towers are together the 4228 is a safe bet or maybe a 4-bay version if you are close enough. If your towers are with in a few degrees of each other I'd try an inexpensive yagi.
I use an older Radio Shack boom antenna in my attic. Similar to the VU-90 XR for $60. It is directional, so make sure to point it in the right direction.
Here's your winner, TERK Slim Profile, don't care what your angle is this thing picks up stations in front and behind, good thing too because I really don't know which way is the front. I had an old big antenna in my attic, and whenever it snowed my FOX station was gone. Hooked this up thinking I might move it out of the attic but it picked up everything so well I just left it in there.
http://www.jr.com/terk/pe/TRK_HDTVS/
Bought mine at JR for the low price. They had fast shipping and product was new.
I have a ridiculously large antenna in my attic. It's one like your parents (ok your grandparents) had on the roof of their house in 1958. This works great but if you need access to your attic on a regular basis I can't recomend using that style (you'll poke your eye out). This thing has a wing span of over 10 feet and is probably 8 feet deep. I wish someone would post a review on this antenna http://www.antennasdirect.com/C2-Clearstream-DTV-antenna.html They make some big claims and the size is something I would consider putting on the roof. Has anybody tried this one yet? http://www.antennasdirect.com/C2-Clearstream-DTV-antenna.html
I'm about 40 miles out and have been very happy with the Wineguard GS2200 (amplified):
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=ANWGS2200
Bought it from SolidSignal too.
And forget antennaweb, it's owned by the cable companies and not very good. Use TVFool.com instead, much more accurate info and includes directional info.
I use that antenna too. Great results in my attic. I did have to put it off the floor in one of the posts to get really good results. The floor (with the insulation) wasn't cutting with it. Very happy now though, and until Directv can start broadcasting the CW in HD, I can at least view it through OTA (which I couldn't before).
LONG RANGE, Not Medium Range Antenna!
The Terk is 50 miles or less!
I have a Winegard HD-9095P, it works great but I am only 40 miles fro my Signal (TV Towers in Dedham) [Boston Area]..
before you buy any antenna, go to: http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/02/17/antennas-direct-unveils-clearstream2-long-range-ota-antenna/. Read about Antennas Direct's newest antenna line.
They offer a "no fault" 90 day gaurantee and a full purchase price refund, if this antenna does not knock your socks off.
Better than antennaweb.org is http://www.tvfool.com/
Look for the version 2 Gray Hoverman designs.
I've got the Philips MANT940 HD Antenna. It's small can be used indoor or outdoor, and I got great results with it. It cost me about $30. I live about 40 miles outside of St. Louis, and I receive all the local digital channels, which adds up to about 15 or so channels.
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-MANT940-Digital-Outdoor-Antenna/dp/B000VL1QF6
I currently have a CM 4228 antenna, but using the tvfool.com website I saw that some of the UHF channels will move to VHF after Feb 2009.
The specs for the 4228 indicate that it is a UHF antenna. Would I have to change my antenna?
It will pull in the highband VHF channels 7-13, which should pretty much cover any switch. I don't think any station will be using the lower bands
I use a Winegard 7082P VHF/UHF antenna. It's tripod-mounted at the peak of my roof where there aren't any trees obstructing its "view". Reception/picture quality is excellent.
Installation was time-consuming. I screwed 2x6s under the roof where the lag screws from the tripod penetrated, since the roof decking was too thin for the lag screws to have adequate engagement.
Grounding of the tripod/mast/downlead must be carefully considered by referring to National Electrical Code. There is A LOT of wrong information about this, not only in forums, but even in the installation guides that some manufacturers publish.
You cannot simply attach the ground wires to a stake in the ground. The ground wires MUST be electrically bonded to the ground system for your house's power outlets. Be sure to reference the electrical code to see the various options for doing this.
Then there's running coax through the attic, to the wiring panel, out to the various rooms and down the walls, and installing outlets.
Also, I might add that antennaweb was way too small on the required antenna size. It appears they assumed the wrong output power for the local PBS broadcast.
How about a smart antenna? http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/04/13/cea-gets-official-with-smart-antennas/ You would need a compatible standalone tuner though.
I'm using the Channel Master CM4228 UHF. Along with a Channel Master 7777 Titan 2 UHF/ VHF Preamplifier. I'm approximately 75 miles from the RDU,NC stations and am getting 70-100% signals on all but one channel. Ii is mounted outside at about 25 ft. Was simple to install and it was purchased from www.solidsignal.com.
How about any luck with indoor rabbit ear type antennas?
I used a ChannelMaster 4228 myself. And it works great. My only beef was I had to drill it apart to put it into my attic. But they have corrected this issue now.
If you want to build your own, the Gray Hoverman mentioned above works the same per square foot as a 4228, and the designs on the net include a version almost twice the size of the 4228. Just notice when you look at the comparison charts they give that they make incorrect comparisons, the Gray Hovermans are each compared against ChannelMasters that are half their size.
In my experience, even for 50 miles away, you don't even need a ChannelMaster 4228, you could use the half-size ChannelMaster 4221 instead.
One note, antenna signal amplifiers don't do what you probably think they do. The problem with picking up channels isn't just signal, it's signal to noise ratio. And no amplifier can improve signal to noise ratio. Thus the only things an amplifier are good for are if you are going to do a lot of signal splitting or if you have a long cable run where more noise would creep in and drown out the signal. In both cases, you must put the amplifier upstream of the split or long cable run. So the best move in this case is a mast-mount amplifier. But you likely don't need anything at all.
If as TVFool mentions above, OTA channels move back down to VHF, the 4228 wouldn't do so well.
Regarding the Gray-Hoverman, I made an antenna based on the Gray-Hoverman design and I get 45 channels (includes STV & HDTV stations) from 30.3 miles from the majority of brodcast towers , due west of Chicago.
My homemade version cost me about $4, using a 4x4, ~10' of 10AWG Romex I had laying around, and 3'x4' of chicken wire fencing for the reflector. About an hour was spent making it and putting it up in my attic.
can you diagram that out, including tv connection...This is something my dad would do if he were still here. A depression survivor....could build anything out scrap. a real talent....me...no talent ...regards...bill
I am using an over-the-counter antenna from Radio Shack, from 10-15 years ago, and it works great to receive Los Angles stations in Anaheim. But, I am using an antenna amplifier at the antenna, and it made the difference. Picks up all of the digital stations.