Anyone tried these newfangle antennas?

To speak to the original question, I have tried the 'new-fangled' antenna, identical to the one in post #1. I was having difficulty getting good reception with my antenna on the chimney above my second story, I think due to tree growing out in the signal path. I mounted the 'new-fangled' antenna temporarily on a pole 15 ft lower and 10 ft to the left. My reception improved very much and I got one more station. Now, I can not speak to the claim of 125 or 150 mile range, as I live in the mountains and am relying on a 'bounced' signal approx 50 miles distant.
It worked as good or better than these antennas on a channel master pre-amp:
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.as...ringe-UHF-TV-Antenna-(MXU59)&sku=716079001014
or
http://www.summitsource.com/antenna...uper-g-1483-with-50-ft-coax-cable-p-7648.html The picture on this one is incorrect, it is only showing the top half of the antenna.


I can't say how it will last, as it is made of a lot of plastic in the body, but for now, it is great, and the price was right at $39.95, including shipping.
 
To speak to the original question, I have tried the 'new-fangled' antenna, identical to the one in post #1. I was having difficulty getting good reception with my antenna on the chimney above my second story, I think due to tree growing out in the signal path. I mounted the 'new-fangled' antenna temporarily on a pole 15 ft lower and 10 ft to the left. My reception improved very much and I got one more station. Now, I can not speak to the claim of 125 or 150 mile range, as I live in the mountains and am relying on a 'bounced' signal approx 50 miles distant.
It worked as good or better than these antennas on a channel master pre-amp:
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.as...ringe-UHF-TV-Antenna-(MXU59)&sku=716079001014
or
http://www.summitsource.com/antenna...uper-g-1483-with-50-ft-coax-cable-p-7648.html The picture on this one is incorrect, it is only showing the top half of the antenna.


I can't say how it will last, as it is made of a lot of plastic in the body, but for now, it is great, and the price was right at $39.95, including shipping.

Interesting.I just got the impression they were basically junk and slick marketing.I already ordered the antennacraft vhf only for $16.99 at solidsignal.I'll report back with my results,hoping it will be a good report.
 
Don't you love all the hype about the "digital" antennas when no such thing exists? The old UHF antennas pick up just as good if not better than the new fangled so called digital antenna's. I have seen people pick up stations just as well with coat hangers and car antenna's 40-50 miles away from the tv stations. The outdoor straight element antenna's along with those that you can make yourself (videos on youtube show you how for the do it yourselfer) work better than these new fangled antennas. The bay and bowtie antenna's are probably your best bet which can also be self made or if you buy them they are around the same price as the new fangled ones but work much much better.
 
yup until the wind got ahold of mine I had a U-120 from Radio Shack that I used at the lake house before digital and it worked great even after the DTV transition
 
I picked up Mohu Leaf Plus Amplified antenna over the holiday when they had a 25% off sale and free shipping. Tested it at home in my basement, about 26 miles from the tower. The NBC (KARE) and the FOX (KMSP) are on VHF high stations 11 and 9. I couldn't get them in reliably in my basement space without adding another amplifier to the signal. Got it up to a solid 70 on the signal strength for the 722k for these two vhf channels. The UHF were easy peasy, no problem.

I gave the unit to my cord cutter son who is about 5 miles closer in in a 3rd floor apartment, though the apartment is on the south side of the building and the tower is to the north. He was able to easily get all channels, including the 2 I had issues with on the VHF High area, without my extra amp.

So I'd say this http://store.gomohu.com/the-leaf-plus-amplified-indoor-hdtv-antenna.html works pretty well for what it is. At least in my case at less than 30 miles from the tower.
 
I bought a Mohu Leaf(non Amplified) more out of curiosity than anything else but it works well. I get all the DC UHF stations very well. I have issues with the HI VHF ones (7 and 9) but I get a decent signal on the low powered channe 6. It is one of those spanish language stations that is reallya radio station but it does broadcast a loop of silent movies footage on the video portion of the signal.
 
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Think I'm a little to far out for a leaf antenna.Most channels here are over 50mi as the crow flies.
 
I picked up Mohu Leaf Plus Amplified antenna over the holiday when they had a 25% off sale and free shipping. Tested it at home in my basement, about 26 miles from the tower. The NBC (KARE) and the FOX (KMSP) are on VHF high stations 11 and 9. I couldn't get them in reliably in my basement space without adding another amplifier to the signal. Got it up to a solid 70 on the signal strength for the 722k for these two vhf channels. The UHF were easy peasy, no problem.

I gave the unit to my cord cutter son who is about 5 miles closer in in a 3rd floor apartment, though the apartment is on the south side of the building and the tower is to the north. He was able to easily get all channels, including the 2 I had issues with on the VHF High area, without my extra amp.

So I'd say this http://store.gomohu.com/the-leaf-plus-amplified-indoor-hdtv-antenna.html works pretty well for what it is. At least in my case at less than 30 miles from the tower.

good info since I'm about the same distance here in the SW burbs (29 according to tvfool)
For comparison I have a HBU33 antenna split 4 ways.....DTVPal converter shows 83/84 on 9 and mid 90s on 11 (11 runs at 45000 watts while 9 is only 30000)
 
hehehe well it does have the 21st century look.

I'm kind of looking for mainly a vhf antenna to try and pick up WJHL in Johnson City.Currently have a 4 bay uhf antenna and get most all the Charlotte locals great as we are at nearly 4000' elevation.That said there are still several peaks higher than us.Both WCYB and WJHL are vhf but,they are actually closer than Cha.I don't want to waste any money on something that most likely won't work.Oh and I have a antenna craft high gain booster.Back during the analog days could get WCYB pretty good with a rat shack mid range antenna but never had much luck with WJHL.

noticed this from avs.....I dont know if Charlotte has metv too or not
WJHL in Johnson City has added ME TV on 11.2 and shifted their weather channel to 11.3
 
Just wanted to update.Received the correct antenna from solidsignal Sat.Only got to play with it briefly.I was looking through the window to see the signal screen,and toting the antenna around outside lol.Been raining ever since :(

Anyway with the brief experimentation I was able to pull in WCYB in one spot and WLOS in another.Was surprised about WLOS.Never got a blip on WJHL or WSPA but didn't have time to try going higher.Got a usb tuner coming in tomorrow for my lappy,hoping that the rains will let up long enuff to play.Another couple of surprises WUNE 17 UHF came in better than on the 4bay uhf antenna,the CS600 is supposed to only be FM/VHF.Also WSOC 34 virtual 9 was coming in and that one really surprised me.
 
Forecast is 100% rain tomorrow.
Sounds like progress.
Sent from my Epic 4G Touch
 
Forecast is 100% rain tomorrow.
Sounds like progress.
Sent from my Epic 4G Touch


Yea it sux!I dunno how it's been across the mtn.towards you but,it has been one of the wettest summers I have ever seen.Had 4 tomatoes off of 12 plants,worried to death the potatoes are gonna rot in the ground before I can dig them.
 
Yea it sux!I dunno how it's been across the mtn.towards you but,it has been one of the wettest summers I have ever seen.Had 4 tomatoes off of 12 plants,worried to death the potatoes are gonna rot in the ground before I can dig them.

Yes it does. According to wcyb we had the wettest July on record. Just a few weeks ago there was major flash flooding that wiped out a bunch of peoples homes, it was pretty bad. http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/News/article.php?id=101697
3 to 4 inches of rain in an hr probably doesn't sound like much to folks from other areas, but it is devastating in this mountainous region.
 
Yea and I am a little concerned how it may be this winter.We get a heavy snow or two then some thawing rains and look out.Flood of 98 was bad here,dang near washed us away.If I recall correctly we had something like 18" of rain in a 24hr period on top of thawing snow.Had some localized flooding yesterday but nothing too major they did let the schools out early.

Back to the antenna topic,WLOS must be a fairly strong signal here.I used the mygica usb tuner late this evening and got to play just a little bit and,WLOS comes in just about everywhere.Now if i can work on WJHL,WSPA,and WCYB tomorrow or Sat.May have to hook the old rotor back up as the cs600 is fairly directional as opposed to the 4 bay uhf.
 
Yea and I am a little concerned how it may be this winter.We get a heavy snow or two then some thawing rains and look out.Flood of 98 was bad here,dang near washed us away.If I recall correctly we had something like 18" of rain in a 24hr period on top of thawing snow.Had some localized flooding yesterday but nothing too major they did let the schools out early.

Back to the antenna topic,WLOS must be a fairly strong signal here.I used the mygica usb tuner late this evening and got to play just a little bit and,WLOS comes in just about everywhere.Now if i can work on WJHL,WSPA,and WCYB tomorrow or Sat.May have to hook the old rotor back up as the cs600 is fairly directional as opposed to the 4 bay uhf.

Not to stay off topic, but since it's your thread I guess it's ok?
I remember that well. Roan Mountain was knee deep or better in snow & then the rains. It devastated Mitchell county & Carter county & probably parts of Avery. Where the Doe river meets the Watauga river in Elizabethon it pushed water & flooded almost a mile upstream..... unbelievable. If I recall they said it was a 100yr flood.

Back on topic. I had a channel master digital box I got with the gov't coupons that had the best tuner I had ever seen. Dish receivers didn't hold a candle to it. I think your on the right track with having the right tuner. Looks like the weather will be good for testing tomorrow.
 
Not to stay off topic, but since it's your thread I guess it's ok?
I remember that well. Roan Mountain was knee deep or better in snow & then the rains. It devastated Mitchell county & Carter county & probably parts of Avery. Where the Doe river meets the Watauga river in Elizabethon it pushed water & flooded almost a mile upstream..... unbelievable. If I recall they said it was a 100yr flood.

hehehe fine to go off topic by me.

We are directly on the other side of the Roan.They refer to this area as a watershed,all the minor streams feed the north toe river.It looked like a bomb had went off,house and mobile homes lifted off the foundations and moved downstream,cars looked like they had been through a crusher.They referred to it as a 500yr flood as I recall.We were blessed that there was no human loss of life here,imo it was a miracle.I do remember a man and woman drowned in Roan Mtn,they were swept away in their car.We were cut off from civilization here for at least 4 days before the national guard came in and got some roads open and temp bridges built.Hope to never see anything like that again.

Oh,I do have a dtv pal stuffed in a box here somewhere,It has a decent tuner.Just not sure how to use it in conjunction with the usb tuner and lappy.Had a zenith can't remember the model got it with one of those coupons and it had a great tuner.I gave it to my dad,he still uses it with his old crt sears and roebuck tv lol.
 
You near the "Toe River Lodge"? Been there a few times, awesome place with great food.
 
You near the "Toe River Lodge"? Been there a few times, awesome place with great food.


Lol yea about 7mi north of there.Go by there everyday.Cleve has made that into a fine place.Still trying to figure out what he's going to do with the old tarheel mica plant.Its that old,old building right beside the lodge.
 

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