Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception
by Terk
|
List Price: Our Price: $30.56 You Save: $39.43 (56%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $19.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception
Customer Review: Set it up Right
Summary: 5 Stars
My setup: Older Toshiba 50" Projection TV (SD) with a AccessHD converter box and signal strengths listed below are based on what this box reports on a scale of 0 (weak) to 100 (best).
My location: over 20 miles from Chicago Broadcast towers, SW in Woodridge, 1st floor in NW corner of 2 story building.
I was not too sure an indoor antenna would do any good, it had been over 10 years since I had any OTA TV broadcast as I had used either cable or satellite during that time. I was hoping in that time that antenna's and TV Broadcast had improved and that it would be relatively easy to grab the OTA transmission. I even was going to buy the HDTVi (no amplifier) but it was out of stock at TigerDirect where I purchased this one.
First impression was just ok as the signal seemed weak. I turned on the amplifier and for some channels it made all the difference while others were still disappointing. Then I noticed this red line on the UHF antenna while making an adjustment trying to find the right spot. The directions say to insert the antenna up to that mark, I initially had not because I didn't want to damage the "needle" connector in the antenna (it attaches to the base). I pushed a bit more and it went in and I started getting better pictures and a better signal.
The next day I removed the UHF antenna from the vertical position and replaced it in the horizontal position - again inserting to the line and it seemed to actually "fit" better this time. Now my UHF channels (most) have 100% signal and the ones that don't are actually in the other direction (not in Chicago) so I would probably have to point the antenna differently to get them (but I prefer to leave it as it is since I get the major channels). I think there's really only one I don't get (channel 23) but I get a lot more than I knew existed! I didn't know NBC, ABC, WGN and others had additional channels! I can get good signals even without the amplifier now that the antenna is completely connected and pointed in the right direction.
As with all antenna's, it's going to depend on your location and setup for your results but I am very happy I have this antenna although I could have probably used the HDTVi the amplifier may come in handy in the future I guess. I'll try to update this with the channels I get and perhaps even a Video review to help demonstrate the antenna's usefulness.
I should also mention the VHF channels come in good (not 100%) but I haven't really tried to optimize those yet (mainly CBS & ABC) since I didn't want to fully extend or move the "rabbit ears" portion of this antenna. I still can watch these channels and the picture is fine so there really isn't any pressing reason to mess with it. The rabbit ears are extended a bit and in a "V" configuration and signal strength is typically mid 80's to low 90's.
Bottom line is I can now watch "nothing" OTA instead of paying to watch "nothing" on cable or satellite :)
*** Update: Here's the channel list I receive (with notes):
2-1 CBS VHF
5-1 thru 5-3 NBC, Nonstop and NBC5US UHF
7-1 thru 7-3 ABC(WLS), Livwell is on 7-2 and 7-3 and all three channels repeat on 44-1 thru 44-3
9-1 and 9-2 WGN and 9-2 shows "Antenna" and is a different program so I'm not sure if it's a WGN channel or not
11-1 thru 11-4 WTTW channels in HD, DT and one broadcast in Spanish
20-1 thru 20-3 WYCC HD, SD and 20-3 show MHZ and is a different program
23-1 thru 23-3 MeTV All show same program
25-1 HSN
26-1 thru 26-5 WCIU, UTOO, MeTV (same as 23-3), MeTOO and THIS
32-1 FOX
38-1 thru 38-3 ION, QUBO (children's channel), IONLIFE
40-1 WESV_LP Spanish channel that sometimes I didn't get sound on
44-1 thru 44-3 same as 7-1 thru 7-3 above
50-1 WPWR My50
57-1 WDCI
60-1 and 60-2 WXFT Spanish HD & SD
61-1 thru 61-3 WCHU, WLFM (music only?) and 61-3 shows WCHU but there is no picture or sound
62-1, 62-2 and 62-4 WJYS, MCTV and PRISM
66-1 WGBODT Spanish
Hope that helps!
Customer Review: Excellent reception in challenging conditions
Summary: 5 Stars
After hooking up my government-subsidized DTV converter box I quickly realized that the future of television, in my house in a post-2/17/09 world, would be dim. Actually, it would be mostly black, with some very sharp, colorful moving images. Although I live a scant 12 miles or so from my local broadcast towers, where the Currier-and-Ives analog-signal image of my UHF stations was at least 60% watchable all the time, I found that the digital signal was non-existent 40% of the time. Before digging out my library card just yet, though, I decided to give the Terk amplified HDTVa antenna a try.
I was immediately disappointed to find that the Terk was actually *worse* than my rabbit ears, I received no signal at all! But then I plugged in the tiny transformer attached to the coax cable and boy what a difference! I started watching all my favorite channels, sans snow. Sure the antenna comes with a slim little instruction booklet, but I bought the thing so that I could watch more TV, not do more reading.
The antenna is directional, so you do need to point it towards the broadcast towers. Fortunately for me most of my local stations have towers in the same general area, so I don't need to get out of my chair and re-point the antenna when I change channels. My DTV converter box also has a signal-strength meter feature which made it relatively simple to find the optimal orientation.
After watching beautiful high-def signals cropped and downscaled by my converter box to fill my 20" 480i tube TV for a couple weeks I decided to put this antenna to the test and move it out of my second story and into my ground-level rec room, a no-man's land for analog TV reception. Instead of essentially pointing out a window, downstairs the antenna was clad in a brick-lined room and pointing through the trunks of trees in an urban woodland (the trees are full of leaves as I type). But the Terk pulled in a watchable signal on every channel I had identified upstairs! As long as a helicopter didn't fly over and nobody walked between the antenna and its source.
It was only as I went to move the antenna back to my upstairs TV that I noticed a little on/off switch on the "power injector" widget. It turns out that I hadn't even turned the amplifier on! Sure, it is all spelled out in the one-page instructions, complete with a little blow-up picture of the power-injector that includes a pointer to the on/off switch, but hey, if I wanted to read would I have been watching 40% snow all these years?
After switching the amp on I tried another channel scan with my tuner, and lo, 8 new channels were detected! And reception on the original channels was more tolerant of people walking past the antenna (still waiting for a helicopter fly-over). So now from my Falls Church, VA, home I get not only the Washington, DC, channels, but I also get Maryland public television, which as far as I can tell is coming from Annapolis, MD, or Owings Mills, MD, or some other place beyond my sphere of consciousness. And I haven't even done the rotate-rescan-rotate-rescan exercise I went through with the rabbit ears when I first got my DTV converter box. I used to receive about 6 analog signals, I now get those plus 3-5 more in digital form, which combined with the additional side-band channels gives me a total of 20+ broadcasts.
There are contracting rabbit ears -- "VHF Dipoles" in fancy owner's-manual-speak-- that you never see in the promotional images. When they are extended they can make balancing the unit precarious, but I don't bother extending them, I don't need them. And after taking 73 seconds to read the owner's manual I found it wasn't even completely accurate: their URL for helping you find the broadcast towers in your area didn't exist (see why I gave up reading?). But none of these things affected the performance of this product for me.
The reception of this antenna is so good for me that I just purchased a second one.
Customer Review: Worked for us
Summary: 5 Stars
Before buying the TERM HDTVa, I tried 3 other antennas. Our goal was simple--we wanted to be able consistently pick up the most important HDTV stations in our area without resorting to cable, and hopefully, without the expense and hassle of installing an outside antenna. We thought this was possible, since our old antenna (RCA 1030, rabbit ears with amplification), was almost good enough. Living in the eastern suburbs of Seattle, the situation was pretty clear. We live on the south end of a 700 ft hill--so stations to the north were out. There are mountains to the east and south, so we needed to pick up stations 10 miles to the west (Seattle) and 25 miles to the southwest (Tacoma), with all of the stations within 70 degrees of each other. Our reception problems probably aren't due to weak signals, but to interference from the hill, and all of the 40 foot fir trees which blanket our areas.
I first bought the RadioShack Model 15-1892. This a fancy model with a remote control to aim the directional UHF antenna. This was a little too much trouble to program and use, but picked up a few more stations. However several channels would occasionally drop in and out. Better, but not good enough.
Next, I bought the RCA 1251 from Best Buy, attracted by the "55 dB" amplication advertised on the box. Totally useless, not as good as our original model. At this point, we were afraid that we'd have to pay hundreds of dollars to have someone install and outside antenna--it would scare my wife if I went up there to install it myself)--but it'd be better than giving $500/year to Comcast.
I had avoided the Terk HDTVa because it looked like it would be huge and ugly--actually it isn't--it's only a bit bigger than the other antennas, and it is by no means unattractive. Also, the Y. Chang review was somewhat negative, and that review seems well researched and clear. However, the more reviews that I read, the more I realized that all antennas had mixed reviews, indicating that the real issue was whether the characteristics of the antenna met the needs of the individual situation.
I think I would have picked the Terk HDTVa earlier, if I had spent more time at the Antenna Web website (http://www.antennaweb.org). At this site, you put in your address, and it tells your what stations you can reach, and the characteristics of the antenna you need. This site told me that I needed a medium range directional antenna, and which direction to point it. A directional antenna like the Terk is the best way to deal with the interference from the surroundings. In our location, the problem isn't weak signals, it's noise--amplification doesn't improve the signal to noise ratio. Also, since all the stations are in the same approximate direction, it's easy to find which way to point the antenna.
It would have saved a lot of trouble to just buy the Terk first. It would have also been much cheaper from Amazon than BestBuy. I set it up with the UHF arm horizontal--you can also insert it with the prongs vertical. I extended the rabbit ears all the way down to the sides, pointed the antenna just south of due west, and plugged in the amplifier and attached the output to our tuner, an EyeTV tuner plugged into a 24 inch IMAC. Immediately all of our stations worked perfectly. I haven't touched it since. Problem solved.
Customer Review: Excellent Indoor Antenna for Houston TX Metro Area
Summary: 5 Stars
With much anticipation, the Terk HDTVa arrived yesterday. Assembly (horizontally positioned antenna to base) and TV hookup was easy to the bedroom 32" HDTV. After setting the antenna beside the TV and pointing it in the general direction of the TV towers 25+ miles across town, I walked away while the TV was searching for available channels. In a few minutes the scan was finished - and my local news station was playing about as crystal clear as it gets in HD. I quickly searched the TV for available stations and was surprised at: 1) the number of stations available 2.) the clarity of the picture. Initially, I was pulling in ~ 43 stations, although not all were good signals (not snowy, but choppy pictures that sometimes froze).
After experimenting with the antenna some, here are some first impressions of the Terk HDTVa:
1.) Am I ready to give up my AT&T U-Verse service? No, not by any means. However, the antenna was never intended for that purpose. Rather, I was hoping for a cost-effective means to pull in local news and weather updates for secondary day-to-day use ... as well as a backup during times of weather emergencies.
2.) The antenna is somewhat directional, but not to the point that it had to be precise. Generally speaking, I can pick up a lot of stations as long as I'm generally in the direction of the TV towers (+ or - about 35 degrees). Granted, you loose some stations and pick up others as you point the antenna in different directions, so it will take some experimentation to get the best antenna direction to pick up the desired TV stations.
3.) First impression is quality is good and product should be durable, but am considering mounting the antenna base to a wooden base to better stabilize it. Not saying the base is unstable per se ... just that I do see where it would benefit by being more stable.
4.) Present antenna angle gives me about 54 TV stations. Granted, there's a lot of stations that don't get good signals, and a lot of stations that I don't care to watch, but there are indeed some stations that I do like to watch. And, as I already mentioned, the picture quality is as good as it gets. Yes, there's more experimentation to do (e.g., Vertical positioning of the antenna. Tried it once but couldn't pick up any stations, so went back to horizontal positioning), but my first impression of the Terk HDTVa is ... WOW!
5.) Would I recommend this product to others? In a heartbeat ... if you are willing to do some research on its pros, cons, range, etc! For instance, I'm +25 miles from the TV towers which located in the same general direction, and the ground is about as flat as it gets and there are no major structures to hinder the signal. I'm considering mounting the antenna in the attic, but don't know that I need to to meet my needs.
6.) As for appearance, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. To me, it looks like a state-of-the-art indoor TV antenna. Can't say that it blends into the decorating scheme of the room, but, on the other hand, can't say that it sticks out like a sore thumb, either. It's still early in the antenna positioning decision, but I don't anticipate any need to hide the antenna from view. To me, I'm more concerned with locating it where it likely won't be disturbed or knocked over. However, since I'm married, my mind is always open to change. :)
Customer Review: This is what you need to know about over the air high definition reception
Summary: 5 Stars
I was using 2 dvrs from my cable company and really liked them, but they greedily raised the rates constantly so that eventually they were charging me double the price I was originally paying. They are really trying to soak their customers on the transition to digital cable and customers who buy new HDTVs, double and triple dipping for things that they didnt charge with the old analog cable -- such as extra outlet charges, digital upgrade (from analog), box rental (price jacked up 20 percent every 6 months) and high definition fees for each tv! Eventually I had enough and decided to change to Tivo and get this over the air antenna. It works GREAT! But here is what you need to know and what I learned after much time spent. First, digital high definition broadcast for free over the air is much better than the old days when you had ghosting and snow. The signal either locks in pure and crystal clear or it does not. If you are in range then you can have cable quality high definition with this antenna for free. I get all the main stations living about 45 miles from detroit michigan. I love it! I did end up buying an antenna signal boster and splitter from radio shack which made this purchase even better (stronger signals) and allowed me to split the antenna into 2 high definition tvs. If you get tivo (and I love it!) then tivo has an antenna signal strength meter and you can see how best to position your antenna. I have mine in my bedroom closet upstairs and get everything very strongly.
I also have a special case where I receive analog cable as part of my condo package. So i ditched the digital upgrade (at 70.00 dollar per month) and use the analog cable into my tivo and also the high def signal from this great antenna (tivo hd takes two imput sources). But, even with just over the air it is worth it to dump cable as those are the shows that we usually watch and cable stations only ocassionally. I couldnt be happier. I presume the cable company will lose customers in droves and lower their greedy prices later as consumers learn that this antenna allows cable-perfect receiption of high definition for free and not snowy and ghostly like over the air of the past. Do consider a visit to radio shack for an antenna booster for added peace of mind that you wont have to move the antenna to point to the various tv towers but it worked quite well even without that... just not as well when i tried to split the signal in two without an additional booster.
Also, it connects to the tivo box or the tv directly with a coaxial cable. If you have bad reception by your tv, put it higher in your house or maybe even attic and get an extra long good quality coaxial cable to run that all the way down to your tv. I hide mine on a high shelf in the closet and run the coaxial cable from it to the tv... you can get a signal booster from radio shack after you find a good high spot in your home (key is to avoid close buy buildings etc).