We have a secluded lot, about 2 acres, with mature (40ft+) dense trees around us. The nearest antenna is 16 miles away and the Chicago antennas are 44 miles away. We use this with our Phillips Flatpanel 50" pixelplus 2 HDTV with its own built in HDTV antenna. With only the HDTV antenna that came with the TV we received maybe 2 channels on a sunny day.
We first plugged in this antenna in our ground floor bedroom and kept it right behind our right: obstructed view. We did a search and found 17 HDTV channels and another 20 clear regular channels.
When we then placed the antenna on the roof (used an old DirecTV cabling on the roof) we solidly got 20+ channels in HDTV and another 34 regular channels. Some aren"t prefect but most are as good as old 'regular' tv quality.
We will probably upgrade in the near future to the DB4 now that we know this works for us. This thing is no hoax but we do think you have to be within about 30 or max 40 miles to get any type of reception.
Our advice:
drop the useless expensive cable or satellite and take a 15$ per month Netflix membership to beat / defeat all the showtime or HBO stuff and add this antenna for the local news stuff. Saves us at LEAST 60$ a month. Antennas Direct DB2 Multi Directional HDTV Antenna
I'm in the South Jersey area, trying to pull in the Philadelphia stations in an upstairs bedroom. The antenna is indoors, attached to a Zenith digital converter box. It IS pulling in 25 stations, but not a major one we wanted--WHYY, the major PBS station in our area.
While researching how to get the station, I discovered two things: 1) Many people are having trouble receiving it, and we'd probably have to put an even larger antenna than the DB2 on the roof to get it. 2) In February, 2009, they aren't even going to be broadcasting their digital signal on UHF anymore, and neither is the local ABC affiliate. They will both be broadcasting digitally on VHF channels. This DB2 antenna is for UHF only. So as of next February, it will be useless for two major channels we want to watch. And there isn't much sense in trying VHF antennas yet, because we can't really test them out til the digital VHF broadcasting begins. In this case, it seems like procrastinating might have been the best course of action!
FYI, the antenna doesn't include the coaxial cable you need to run between the antenna and either your converter box or digital tv.
I originally used the Philips Silver Sensor antenna, but couldn't get stable reception. Added an amplifier and got more than half of the HDTV channels, but needed to move/adjust the antenna for the other channels (very annoying!).
With this DB2 antenna, i have ALL of the free "over the air" HDTV channels, with at least 90% reception, WITHOUT an amplifier!
It works for me in Orange County, CA!! GREAT HDTV ANTENNA! I will buy another!
Summary: the Antennas Direct model worked noticeably better than the Terk model. Plus, the fact that the Terk model needs to be plugged in to an electric outlet and you'll probably leave it on 24/7, burning up electricity, makes the Antennas Direct DB2 the better buy by far.
Living in Rockland County, N.Y., about 50 miles from New York, the signals are weak enough that a good antenna is required to get digital signals. I bought the two best-ranked on Amazon, hooked them up to a DigitalStream converter box (of the 3 boxes I have, I like DigitalStream best for its remote which will learn your TV's power on/off signal, and also has its own volume control). I carefully adjusted each antenna for maximum reception (takes time because signal strength fluctuates.)
The results of my mini-experiment: the Antennas Direct DB2 performed better than the Terk HDTVa. This, both from looking at "signal strength" readings, as well as a judgement made after living for about 2 weeks with it set up each way -- the Antennas Direct DB2 was the definite winner.
As to the negatives of the two items:
The Terk HDTVa requires you to plug it in to an electric outlet, and basically keep it plugged in. This means it is plugged in 24/7 and using electricity all the while. Who knows how much that'll cost in electric bills, wasted electricity, etc!
The Postive and Negative of the Antennas Direct DB2 model, is that it really is designed to be hung on a wall -- but if you really want to maximize reception, you must aim it carefully, through a trial-and-error process (same as the Terk, which you must aim). So, the final position that is best for you, might not end up being parallel to a wall! So in the end you'll have to stand this thing up on a flat surface anyway.
Note that the Terk and the Antennas Direct are both roughly the same size... not counting the Terk's two huge rabbit ears you can extend up to 4 feet (which I certainly extended and played with, in making the comparison.)
Also note, that the coaxial cable you use to connect to the Antennas Direct, should be the sort that has a little screw/nut at the end. The cheaper kind, that just slips on and off, might not stay well enough. So I had to go out and buy a $5 coaxial cable segment.
In summary: the Antennas Direct beat the Terk for performance, as well as the fact that it doesn't need to be plugged in and using electricity 24/7. - Indoor Antenna - Db2 - Antenna - Tv Antenna'
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