Channel Master 4228HD Long-Range Outdoor Rooftop HDTV Antenna
by PCT International, Inc.
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List Price: Our Price: $77.95 You Save: $12.04 (13%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Channel Master 4228HD Long-Range Outdoor Rooftop HDTV Antenna
Customer Review: Very Pleased
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought the Channel Master 4228HD to use in conjunction with an Elgato EyeTV One and a Mac Mini, so I could finally say goodbye to my monthly cable bill. I live in a fairly flat suburban area with trees but not a lot of high buildings. The main broadcast channels I wanted to receive were between 6 and 35 miles away (the furthest being CBS). I hung the antenna from a rafter in my attic (2nd story) and pointed it in the general direction of the CBS station, and then scanned for stations using EyeTV. It found all of the local major broadcast networks and a slew of others in a 60 mile radius I had no idea even existed.
The reception is pretty good even though it is in my attic -- I opted not to get the amplifier as my coax run is pretty short. I get *occasional* digital noise in good or bad weather on all stations, and we only had a real problem with the far CBS station when we had 2 feet of snow on our roof and there was a blizzard outside. During thunderstorms and such the reception is still quite good. Overall I am very pleased with the antenna and its performance and would recommend it to others for similar purposes. I suspect that the digital noise issues would go away if I were to mount it outside, but I can live with the tradeoff of blips vs curb appeal of our home :)
Pros: quick setup, good reception
Cons: large and rather ugly, some of the rods feel very flimsy
Customer Review: very disappointing
Summary: 1 Stars
Well, ordered from crutchfield via amazon. Seems like a decent antenna but as i was screwing in my cable into the metal connector in the black box of the antenna (in the center of the antenna), that metal just snapped off! I was just hand tightening it! So i cannot even connect ANY cable to the antenna itself. SO even if it can grab good reception, can't get anything if i can't connect an rg6 cable to it.
Seems like for a high end antenna, they could spend a few extra dollars to engineer something better...it's just really shotty work.
Upon inspection,i could tell exactly what happend...the male connector for the rg6 cable coming off the box has a nut at the bottom that in theory if it remained tight, it would prevent the connector from turning. apparently,mine was loose (the nut), probably as a result of bouncing half way across the country in a UPS truck. As a result, as i was screwing in my cable,the WHOLE connector was turning. THe problem is the other end of the connector is connected to a wire so as it spun, it just snapped it off. For a $90 antenna, you would think they could come up with something a little better, especially since i think this is made in USA...i emailed channelmaster to see if they could send me just the black box to replace. the antenna comes in a big flat box pre-assembled.
Customer Review: Not as good as we hoped
Summary: 3 Stars
We are in North Everett, WA. We did notice some improvement with the local NBC (channel 5), but lost channel 9 PBS channels. The previous Radio Shack large directional antenna received those channels. KCPQ out of Bremerton, was completely lost as well. We are getting a better signal with the higher channels 20 and higher. Altogether, we are receiving 24 channels, which is less than before. We still don't get channel 4/ ABC and barely receive the two CBS channels. It's working alright, but not as good we expected. We might be trying a amplifier next. It's too bad we are receiving several religous and foreign language channels very clearly, but don't watch those channels very much. Some are affiliated with NBC, which probably explains why we receive those channels. I'd rather just have ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC.
It's interesting that when I disconnected the ground from the splitter, the signal improved slightly. Not sure why that would be the case. The mast is 20 feet black iron (gas) pipe and that is grounded. I almost wish I would have kept the other one up.
Customer Review: Perfect for long range reception.
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this antenna to replace an older Radio Shack VHF/UHF combo antenna. I've made the switch to digital only OTA TV and wanted an antenna that would bring in a stronger signal from my local stations, which are 30 miles plus away. This antenna brings then in great.
Installation was a snap. The antenna comes fully assembled. All you have to do is attach it to a mast. You may need to buy a new mast if you are using a rotator with a short mast. This antenna requires about 3 1/2 feet or so of mast to attach it to a rotator, unlike the 12 inches or so that a horizontal antenna would need when used with a rotator.
One caveat - The box it comes in is HUGE. Shipping costs may be high. I purchased mine locally and had to strap it to my roof rack to get it home.
**NOTE** This review was written based on the original 4228 antenna, not the 4228HD antenna.
Customer Review: Can Be Used Indoors
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this antenna knowing that I was well within it's range so I could put it in my attic. Well, needless to say it works perfectly after having been told I would need some high-powered external antenna to even have a chance. I know, from doing my own research, that results are completely dependant upon several very different variables, but it works for me and works well. I have it hooked up to an OTA DVR via a 50' coax cable and get signal strengths in the mid 80s on almost all my channels (occasionally it will jump to the high 90s if there are storms rolling in). I did notice that about once a week I'll have 0 signal on several stations I normally have high 70s to low 80s on. The weather will be clear and sunny. So I know it's not that. It always seems to be the same set of stations, so I'm thinking it's them and not the antenna. Oh, and as a side note, OTA HD is so much crisper/cleaner/clearer than cable/sat HD.