Reviews Written by Fred B

Good performer, very easy to install

Pros: Small size, good reception of UHF channels

Cons: no VHF channel coverage, short cable if installing oudoors

I installed a USB stick HDTV tuner which came with a tiny magnetic antenna. Indoors on my bookshelf the tiny antenna picked up about 10 digital stations, with two of them showing HD programming. The picture was good enough that I was hooked, and wanted a better antenna to get more stations and also to eliminate occasional pausing and breakup I was seeing in the HD picture due to weak signal.

I installed this Phillips antenna high in the attic, using the included u-bolts to attach it to a vertical water pipe, but a wooden dowel or old broomstick could easily be used also. Or mount it outdoors on a TV mast.

Performance is very good, I now get 23 digital stations and the HD picture is rock solid. I purchased a 25-foot roll of RG6 cable and used that instead of the 20-foot RG59 that comes with the antenna. If you are mounting it outdoors and need to run the cable more than 20 feet, I would recommend getting a single piece of RG6 for the full length instead of splicing the RG59 to another piece. RG6 is much lower loss cable than the thin RG59, and can be purchased at Walmart for a reasonable price.

I have one HD station that is in the VHF range (the PBS HD channel here in Houston) and initially this station (KUHT-HD) was not detected by my TV tuner USB stick, but in the evening it started to come in, and today I am still getting it. This antenna is not designed to receive VHF signals since 99% of the digital/HDTV channels are in the UHF band, but it does manage to pull the one VHF station in so if things go well I may not need to ad a separate VHF antenna. ...