[Don_S]

Has anyone tried these? 

http://wisemoneydaily.com/tech/clearview-hdtv-antenna-x2.php?utm_content=lp1&referer=&region=California&utm_source=yg&utm_campaign=hdtvantenna&utm_medium=hdtvantenna_3&utm_term=3_ad_18&sxid=587744279268

https://buyclearviewantenna.com/product/salespage-clearview.php?affId=76E606D5&c1=us&c2=1_clearview_1&subid=587744279268&region=California&utm_content=lp1&referer=&utm_source=yg&utm_campaign=hdtvantenna&utm_medium=hdtvantenna_3&utm_term=3_ad_18

  I hate infomercial hype and "only available online". But I will be moving into a new home where I can't install a rooftop antenna and do not want cable bills on top of my already increased monthly expenses.  I also want to put one TV (maybe both my TVs) in places where coax was not run.  I do not want to do more attic crawling or put holes in my new walls. Neither of my TVs are smart.

I am fine only receiving local stations. Now I have a rooftop and it works great.  I will be moving 6 miles away.  Massive power lines near the new home but not real close also give me worries about reception.  I am leaning toward something I can get at Best Buy and return if necessary. Any recommendations would be appreciated. I posted this in the HT Circle but think C&C. 

[aldcoll]

The big question will be the location of the home and the distance to the broadcast antenna.

I set up both of my daughters homes in different states with this http://www.winegard.com/freevision?q=offair

You need to be inside a line of sight and distance radius that as I recall is about 30 miles.

One daughter is in a ground floor apartment and no outdoor items of any kind.  She is also ground floor and the whole complex blocks her line of sight.  She is also 22-32 miles from the transmitters.  All she can do is move the antenna around to three spots in the front room to receive reception.  And none of her windows face the proper direction.

Daughter 2 ended up with a outdoor mount after not liking the having to move the unit.  We had to work around several large trees.  We spent several hours checking reception as the broadcast towers were to the west, north and north east.

A high dollar unit might have done better but she was happy with what she had and the trees were more of a issue.

I would recommend using a smartphone app.  There are lots out there and I forget which one i used.  The will give you distance and compass readings.   

I would select a app and drive over to the house.  My guess is the power lines wont be a big issue but I will let you report back.

And for what it's worth neither of the antenna you linked work in my house 34 miles from the transmitter.  A neighbor on the second floor of his home has good luck.  And I am in a REAL FLAT area.

Alan

[Don_S]

Thanks Alan,

My area is very flat too.  I don't like the idea of having to move the antenna around.  Reminds me too much of my childhood tweaking rabbit ears.  I also use DVRs so I need something that works without me observing and tweaking.   

[Elizabeth]

For Hi Def over the air reception via antenna, line of sight to antenna is a great thing.

Previous apartment I had a sort of line of sight right at the window. Worked out pretty well.
New place I am blocked from line of sight. And also have to move the antenna around to get all channels.
And this depends on time of day.
Seems late afternoon/dusk some channels just fade below the minimum 35%, and the screen just goes blank.
Though I CAN always move the antenna around to get that channel back (but then I lose some other channels.

Seems once in awhile I find a magic position which I can get all channels without moving the antenna. But then a week later it stops working so well.
I have no idea why.

The best antenna of three $80 indoor jobs is a older Terk flat diamond 8 shape, not powered.
The other two, both powered SUCKED at getting all stations at one position.. (compared to the diamond

[Doublej]

I use rabbit ears so I am not much help.

I find this useful sit useful in helping to sort things out. I would definitely buy something that is returnable if it doesn't behave to your liking.

https://www.antennaweb.org/

[Phil A]

I bought my girlfriend an amplified HDTV antenna to use as a back-up (basically on top of a wall unit not far from a window).  The problem is that one station is high VHF (vs. UHF) and it brings in everything except that one.  I have mine antenna (actually two as I added a high VHF for the one station that sometimes had problems a few times a year) in the garage attic and it works well (have it with an 8-way distribution amp as it goes to 8 different places).

[FullRangeMan]

8 places? How many TV sets you have Phil?

[MaxCast]

8 places? How many TV sets you have Phil?

8   

[ArthurDent]

Like the weather & real estate it's all about location, location, location. The Clearvue you linked is the spitting image of the Wineguard I got from Azon a while back. When I got it it was ~$70. Around & outside Seattle lots of hills & trees, so reception without a roof antenna back in the day was spotty at best. Digital signal transition didn't help any. My problem with a window mount is the TV location, which is not really accessible to a close window. Even with the 18' coax mine came with can't get there from here, except across the middle of the floor. So in my case it's in the attic. I get all but 1 local, and about 35 channels in total. Of course only about 1/3 of those are watchable. Others are shopping, etc., & Spanish.

I'd tried one shorter cabled unit from Costco, which was about $20 I think. It did just reach the a window for a test. The 1 channel it got was stunning compared to the doo doo signal I get from Comcast (Ltd. Basic - no HD). But 1 channel didn't cut it.

So if the Wineguard & the Clearvue are effectively the same unit the 50% off sale on the Clearvue site is a buy at $40. The newer Wineguard is listed at $55 at Azon  https://www.amazon.com/Winegard-FlatWave-FL5500A-Amplified-Ultra-Thin/dp/B00BN5Z2WM/ref=sr_1_20?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1497761643&sr=1-20&keywords=ota+antenna .

I've tried it without the amp & it definitely needs it in my case. I did a lot of searching, more for quality than price as long as it was reasonable. I used the online antenna site noted, which was of limited value for my location. A lot of the makes have ravers & detractors, I went with the Wineguard as they've been in the business a long time. Figured that would count for something.

I'd say if the Clearvue has a 30 day return policy it could be worth checking out. I didn't look to see if it powers with AC & USB. The Wineguard does. Good luck finding the right unit. I'd cut the TV cable, but then they'd up my Inet charge to get at least half what they lost back. Effectively I figure the TV signal costs me about $10/mo.

[Phil A]

8 places? How many TV sets you have Phil?

You don't want to know - otherwise you will start a go fund me page for a straight jacket for me

OK - I'll fess up and it is just me in the house (and I don't watch much regular TV - e.g. news or some sporting events - football, basketball)

Master bedroom - 40 inch set and an Epson 8350 projector with a 92 inch screen that folds into the ceiling
Garage - a 14 or so year old Vizio 42 inch TV (I gave away a 32 inch 720p Vizio about the same age late last year)
Living Room - Epson 5030 Projector
Kitchen - 24 inch TV
Front bedroom - 55 inch UHD set.
Back bedroom - old 50 inch cheap Best Buy Insignia set (really just used on boot up of music server)
Upstairs bonus room - old 55 inch Vizio back lit LED (had in the master bedroom of the old place).

So that adds to 8 (I split/run the signal in the master bedroom for the TV and projector thru the TV tuner) and I have an antenna connection outside too if I ever decide to go one step further.

[Phil A]

8   

The two Vizio sets (32 and 42 are really old - they work but are dated).  I bought the Insignia TV for the FL house (did not want to spend much) while I was going back and forth to the Virginia house I sold (so I had something to watch).  So I decided to plunge into one UHD set last year and then just shifted things around.  The old 42 inch Vizio was in the room I currently have the 50 inch Insignia.  So I moved it to the garage (yes I have an antenna connection) and gave away the 32 inch set.  If something goes, I'll replace it.  If nothing goes then maybe in a couple of years I'll see where UHD is heading (e.g. Dolby Vision, ATSC 3.0).  If I decide to get something, I'll just rotate stuff again and see if the 50 inch Insignia will squeeze into the spot where the old 42 inch Vizio is (the bezel is thinner so the 50 inch set is just 4 inches wider).

[Phil A]

And I have lots of experience with setting up an antenna.  In the late 1970s, I had 3 of them in my townhouse attic.  I was half way between NY and Philly.  I had a VHF one (a Winegard 20/20) that got Philly VHF off the ass end.  I had a UHF one towards Philly as they had some good UHF stations and I had a big FM one too (when FM was better).  When I moved to South Jersey, I had a rotating one put on the roof and got Philly plus Baltimore UHF and sometimes could pick up NY.  When I moved to (Northern) VA, I had them pre-wire and then built a sub floor in the attic so I could get to the wiring and had a 10 foot antenna in there, an antenna preamp, an attenuator (to take care of one station that would have a signal that would overload) and got DC and Baltimore stations.  Just not a cable or satellite guy. 

[FullRangeMan]

Ouch incredible Phil, I though you were an audiophile.

[Phil A]

Ouch incredible Phil, I though you were an audiophile.

My systems are set up for 2-channel audio and a couple of them have preamps with HT Bypass.  I use both the main system (which is an integrated AV system) more for audio and the secondary back-up audio system is strictly 2-channel (the TV is only used for the Windows 10 music server boot-up and then gets covered).  The main system is that way as it was that way in my old house and I didn't finish the basement for many years after I was in the house.  So it has just been left that way vs. tearing it apart.

[FullRangeMan]

[Phil A]

and no this is not my house

[Bob in St. Louis]

I tried a MOHO Leaf 30, and didn't work very well. I live in a valley surrounded by trees and I'm far away from the TV towers.
If you're closer to the city and not "in a hole", it might work for you. It's indoor/outdoor and doesn't take up much space.
I ended up using a MOHU 60 and mounted it to my old satellite mast on the roof. It can be used indoor as well.
VERY happy with the 60.

[Don_S]

Anyone have experience with this unit?  I can get one for $80 but returning it would be a pain and costly.  Shipping both ways plus restocking fee. Reviews are mixed. Some love it and others say it doesn't work better than much less expensive units. A local buddy swears by his. I want to install it in my attic. My roof has concrete tile and a radiant barrier.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BYIUYHA/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I3B5G5Z5X1PX6L&colid=2CZ6AS179W2L8

I checked out the communication box in my new home.  There are four coax connections waiting to be hooked up.  I would place the antenna in my attic, drop a lead and use a coupling to connect to the only output I would be using.  Does anyone know how much a coupling reduces signal strength compared to a 2-way or 3-way splitter?  I could always add a splitter later if I needed to activate more outlets.

[Phil A]

The antenna looks interesting.  If you end of getting it let me know. I bought a cheaper indoor one for the girlfriend (probably $35).  Probably doesn't have VHF as it pulled in everything except one station which is broadcast on Channel 11 (NBC).  I put it on top of her wall unit facing a window.  I just moved it temporarily to her bedroom TV as that cable box went in a storm last night.  It doesn't pull in as many stations sitting on the dresser in an interior wall.  I did look in her attic (need to clean out a few boxes) quickly (without going up all the way - her ladder was ready to give way with me on it) and if I could find the other lead going to the bedroom TV I'd buy one.  She mainly watches broadcast TV anyway.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Check out a MOHU 60.
I've got one and am happy with it, but there are a bunch of "if's, and's, and but's" if the unit will work in your location.
https://www.amazon.com/Mohu-Lightweight-Detachable-Performance-MH-110585/dp/B00AVWKUXE/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1504493173&sr=8-3&keywords=mohu+60