RCA ANT1500 Superior Flat Antenna (White)
by Audiovox
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Category: Home Theater
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: AudiovoxBrand: Audiovox
Edition: Electronics
Format: CD-ROM
Model: ANT1500
Publisher: Audiovox
Studio: Audiovox
Music Label: Audiovox
Product features:
- Dual-plane design provides more antenna in less space
- Eliminates constant adjustments - hang it, stand it up or lay it flat
- Low-profile design
- Supports all digital frequencies
- Includes metal bracket that can be used to stand the antenna upright
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of RCA ANT1500 Superior Flat Antenna (White)
Customer Review: RCA ANT1500 vs. RCA ANT1400 vs. The Old Rabbit Ears
Summary: 4 Stars
It's amazing that most of these antenna reviewers don't state how many miles away they are from the Digital Towers. Damn, some don't even list what state let alone city they are in. In my opinion, this renders their reviews absolutely useless as it DOES MATTER WHERE YOU ARE.
Some basic background first. This is for my 82 year old mom who lives in Bayside, NY (Queens County) around 11 miles East of most of the Digital Transmitters of the TV stations (Ch. 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 31, 50) she is interest in receiving. Her TV is set up in the NW corner of the home on the first floor located on a busy street. She is also about 18 miles West of her favorite PBS station (Ch. 21). Most of the above stations are now UHF but 3 of them (Ch. 7, 11, 13) reverted back to VHF. It would have been a lot easier if the Government required all stations to go UHF--the original plan for Digital. Up to 3 weeks ago (around 6/12/09), she was able to pull in all of the above channels (some better than others) without moving around her 22 year old combination rabbit ears/UHF loop antenna (unknown brand or model) attached to her 22 year old 26 inch JVC TV set. The important thing here was she was able to successfully view all the channels without ever getting up to adjust the antenna. That was my goal for the Digital transition--pull in the most channels for her without her having to move the antenna ever again.
Well on 6/13/09, her life changed for the worse. I purchased an RCA DTA809 Digital to Analog converter box. I installed it in 2 minutes and hooked up her old antenna to it and did a scan. To my surprise, most of the channels came in. After playing with the antenna again, I rescanned and picked up the other channels with the exception of Ch 21. (the lone station in the other direction). No matter what I did and all the playing around with the antenna, I could not get all the stations (34 total channels including the subchannels like 7.1, 7.2 & 7.3, etc.) to come in at a solid signal strength of 30% or higher (which seems to be the magic number to get a solid signal without pixlations or unable to tune messages) at the same time without repositioning the antenna. Some of the 34 channels are in a non-English language and are of no interest to her.
I purchased the RCA ANT1400 [...], installed it and rescanned. To my horror, only a total of 10 channels (instead of the 34) came in when I placed the Antenna on top of the TV only. Moving it all over and finally resting it flat on top of the window box only picked up an additional 4 channels for a grand total of 14 channels. Half of those 14 stations were under the magic 30% signal strength number and therefore, pixlated or did not tune in at all. I packed it back up an returned it to Walmart where I received a full refund. They did not have the RCA ANT1500 in stock.
I purchased the RCA ANT1500 [...], installed it and rescanned. To my surprise, 28 channels came in--still short of the 34 with the rabbit ears but double the number of the ANT1400 just by placing it on top of the TV. Moving it all over and finally resting it flat on top of the window box (about a foot below the ceiling with the built in 6 foot cable fully extended) picked up the missing channels plus one more for a grand total of 35 channels. Playing around by moving the Antenna one inch at a time, I finally found a position I could live with for the time being. Still no Ch. 21 (you would think that a station only 18 miles away should be captured at some point with this type of multidirectional antenna) but Ch. 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 along with the subchannels come in clear. Ch. 31 & 50 come in weak. However, according to www.dtv.gov, that site claims that Ch. 31 will be at full strength operation in August and Ch. 50's clone station Ch. 58 will be in operation to provide a stronger signal than Ch. 50 by October.
Everbody's situation in different and you have to do your homework. Go to www.antennaweb.org and put your address or zip code in. It will give the stations in yellow you are expected to receive with an indoor directional antenna (point and shoot type/rabbit ears type). The RCA ANT1500 claims to be a multidirectional antenna (set it and forget it type). However, even a change of one inch in placement can improve or worsen reception. So you will have to do some experimenting for best placement and reception. Learn how to use the signal stength option on your converter box to improve the overall signal--each box is different but the same approach applies.
For my mom's situation, the ANT1500 was much better than the ANT1400 hands down--no contest. Laying it flat (the higher the better) instead of standing it up or hanging it was better. However, if you don't mind getting up and moving the antenna, your old rabbit ears should be fine. Rule of thumb: You should be able to receive the same stations after 6/12/09 that you did before 6/12/09. When the signal is strong enough, you get a clear crystal picture with digital. However, with a weak signal, your picture will break up or just go blank. Gone are the good old days of analog when with a weak signal you still got a slightly fuzzy or ghostly picture. My mom is a bit mad she can't get a few of her old stations but when I told her of the horror stories out there, she calmed down.
Summary: I recommend the ANT1500 (although it should come with a longer, non-built in cable). Stay away from the ANT1400. Use your old antenna first--you may get lucky. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION & then POSITION, POSITION, POSITION. Good luck.
Description of RCA ANT1500 Superior Flat Antenna (White)
RCA's ANT1500 large multi-directional digital flat antenna (white) is a flat multi-directional antenna whose patented dual-plane design provides consumers with more antenna in less space. Designed to be hung on the wall, rest on a stand or lie flat on a shelf, the 10.4-inch square, 0.78 inch-thin antenna virtually disappears in a room. The ANT1500¿s patented design consistently outperforms traditional antenna designs when receiving signals across the VHF and UHF bands.Digital Cameras & Photo Categories
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