Antennas Direct DB4 Multi-Directional HDTV Antenna
by Antennas Direct
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List Price: Our Price: $194.95 You Save: $155.04 (44%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Speakers See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Antennas Direct DB4 Multi-Directional HDTV Antenna
Customer Review: Great antenna! I'm impressed!
Summary: 5 Stars
Our 30 year old antenna was on it's last leg and needed replacing. With the switch to digital I figured it was time to get a good antenna that would receive the new digital siginals and not break the bank. The antenna is connected to just one little TV on a dresser where my wife gets ready for work. Something to watch the news and weather while getting ready.
Out of the box the antenna only took a couple of minutes to assemble. I took down the old clunker antenna and used the existing chimney mount for the new antenna mounted on a 10' mast. Hooked up the new cable to the antenna and TV. I did use "antenna point" to locate my local TV towers and a compass to point the antenna toward the towers. All the towers were within a few degrees of each other so I just split the difference. I'm now receiving signals from anywhere between 13 to 95 miles and receiving 30 channels! I'm even receiving one channel that is 75 miles directly behind the direction the antenna is facing. All channels are crystal clear and HD looks as good or better than my main TV that is hooked to AT&T U-Verse fiber optic.
I'm going to order another one to hook up to another little TV in my workshop.
I highly recommend this antenna.
Edited 6-29-2009
I just put up my second DB4 within a week. This one is being used with a small TV in my workshop. What can I say? It is about as good as the first one with 18 channels being pulled in. I was not able to mount it as high therefore I'm not able to receive quite as many channels as the first one but I still get all the major networks plus PBS channels. They are all crystal clear. Now I can watch news and sports while I'm working at the reloading bench.
Customer Review: I socked it to "the man" and I won!
Summary: 5 Stars
The last straw with my, ex, cable company came the day my bill came with an announcement of, yet again, another price increase effective with the next month's bill. But, an increase for THEM wasn't enough, they were going to be down-sizing the stations they had supplied. O.K., I was pissed at both of those bits of information, but, I became ballistic when I found out that one of the stations they were ripping from me was a PBS station. As in PUBLIC BROADCASTING STATION: free television. I had only 3 PBS stations up to then, that I paid for monthly, and they were going to be giving me access to only 2 in future. When I questioned them about taking away my PUBLIC television, they informed me that I could have it back if I paid more each month by moving up a tier in their programming. My verbal response was way unprintable. My physical response: bye-bye cable company, hello new antenna! I am happy with this antenna. I now get 24 hour movie and nostalgia channels I didn't get before, and SEVEN PBS stations. And did I mention that they are FREE? NO more monthly bill for TV viewing. AND the picture is so much better than when I paid for it, and just about every station, of many, is in HD. By word of my mouth, many friends and relatives have opted to go the same route. Hopefully, they, in turn, will get others to ditch an unnecessary monthly burden, and thoroughly enjoy the many benefits of free television. (The backlash of such an exodus may be in play. I read today that the NBA may be making their players take a huge pay cut, due to the suckers, I mean consumers, deciding they have more important things to spend their (our) money on. This is a defining case for the power of the people!)Customer Review: Work like a charm
Summary: 5 Stars
Those who experienced problems with DB4 and posted frustration here probably have their own unique issues. In my case, DB4 works like a charm.
My location is quite bad: The house is 32 miles away from the nearest station, sitting half way on a dense wooded hillside facing the opposite direction from the stations. The negative postings did make me hesitant. Then I figured in case DB4 did not work, I could return it to Amazon for DB8, so I ordered DB4.
First I tried it in the family room next to my HDTV, it did not work. Then when I put DB4 in attic (as some folks posting here suggested), the result is beyond anything I can imagine : WITHOUT ANY FINE TUNING of DB4 direction, snap, I got 30+ DTV channels from even 40 miles away, clear and sharp! I also got analog signals from DB4 as well.
It is funny to look at the DB4 setup: attached to a shovel handle mounted to my Christmas tree stand, standing in attic, wire dangling, but the picture on my HDTV beat those in Best Buy! I will move DB4 to the roof once the outside temp is not freezing.
DB4 has a brilliant design to offer light weight, easy mount and best of all the good quality. With the price and fast shipment from Amazon, I only regret I did not try it out earlier.
Folks, ignore the negative postings and try yourself. Even factoring out the easy return and exchange at Amazon, what's the downside to try one DIY with only 40 bucks? A digital-to-analog convert box costs that much. And the one time $58 vs $60 per month cable charge? you know the value in this economy :-) (The RG6 cable costs $18, see my other posting.)
Customer Review: DB4 HD Antena
Summary: 5 Stars
I read reviews of this and thought it would be a good fit. Boy were they right. I replaced a 20 year old antenna, tripod and cable with this. Easy to put together. Just two bolts and you then put it up. The pole bracket has wing nuts. How much easier can you get. I live in Milwaukee and I now pick up stations from the Green Bay and Appleton area.
It's a very light antenna so be carefull when you handle it. You don't want to damage it in any way. You don't want to damage the reflective grid and pick up bow ties. Once I got it on my roof, and I have a ranch house, you really see the stand and pole. The rest of it you don't notice much. So much different than the old huge aluminum ones.
This is my first HD antenna. I didn't want an indoor one and this one does NOT require an amplifier. I angled it towards the area where the transmiters are here and I got it right the first try. Get it as high as you can and make sure you use new coax for the digital signal. I replaced all my 20 year old coax. Get a good heavy duty tri pod and pole. They'll last longer. I got my tri pod and pole from Radio Shack. The stand is heavy duty and pole is coated against corrosion. Worth every penny. I replaced my Radio Shack tri pod and pole from 20 years ago with a new one. A $15 cheapie is pure junk. You want something to take any high wind.
This is well worth the money. You won't be sorry with this as long as you install it right and follow the directions. Do it wrong and you'll have problems. Read and follow the tips they give you and you'll be happy as I am. I love it.
Customer Review: Excellent results splitting the signal
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently purchased and installed the DB4 antenna with the 75cm "J" bracket. It's working well for me. I installed it on the back of the house, below the roof line about 12 feet off the ground. The topology is pretty flat. I'm probably 50% blocked by trees that are much taller than my antenna. My stations are all within a few degrees of each other and all are around 15 miles away.
The surprising thing to me, is that I'm able to split the signal and feed two TVs without an amplifier. I'm getting 15 digital stations. My cable runs are probably 70-80 feet. The signal strength is 55% - 95% depending on which TV it is and whether it's day or night. Rain may be a factor too as I'm getting a very strong signal today and it's been raining on and off for two days.
The only peculiar thing I've noticed is that I can't get the ION stations (39.1, 39.2, and 39.3 in my area) on the upstairs TV. Reception on these same stations is perfect downstairs. All of the other stations are very strong but 39 doesn't show up at all with the auto-scan. I've tried it on an older TV with a converter box and a new digital TV with the same result. I think I'll have to drag the upstairs TV to the downstairs location and try it there.
I've very pleased with the antenna. The bracket is top quality too. I tried to scrap off some paint to hook up a grounding wire and I had a difficult time getting through through the paint to the metal. I've had such good luck with this that several of my friends are considering the same option in order to reduce their monthly TV bill.