PCT International 4221HD Channel Master Ultratenna HDTV UHF Antenna
by PCT International, Inc.
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List Price: Our Price: $37.04 You Save: $32.95 (47%) 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 PCT International 4221HD Channel Master Ultratenna HDTV UHF Antenna
Customer Review: Price/performance winner
Summary: 5 Stars
You can search several forums and find out that this antenna is 90% of the 4228 (in some cases more than 100%) for about half the price. The design of the 4228HD is flawed, and this one is right. It's working very well for me, but I'm going to try some tweaks to make it more directional (search for CM4221HD hacks for more info) and to fix what I think is a manufacturing error (the balun should be away from the relector - not between the reflector and the "whiskers"), and probably try some of the other suggested hacks that aren't permanent. The only antenna that I'd consider for a replacement would be the VERY directional 91XG, and that's because of the trees I'm getting my signal through. I'd have better multipath rejection and probably more signal. It costs 2X this one. This is a great antenna for anyone that 1) is 30 or so miles away from the antenna (closer to 60 if you use the CM7777 amplifier), 2) doesn't need a super-directional antenna due to hills or trees, and 3) only needs UHF (I use a separate VHF antenna to get 7 and 9 in the DC area). BE SURE to visit antennaweb or tvfool to know what your actual station frequency is, so that you aren't disappointed when you can't get your VHF station. This is NOT a VHF antenna!
I love Amazon, but I saved $10 paying $34 plus tax with free shipping somewhere else (better not say, I guess I'll keep that ace in the hole). Mine is outside atop a 30' mast, with a preamp and rotator. I'm behind a hill and trees so I need the height. I tried the attic, but even with the rotator and amplifier it wasn't good enough.
I have 30 channels and subchannels. 25 of them are on this antenna. Dump your cable and satellite! Or get OTA (over the air) stations as a backup and keep your monthly billed service. OTA really IS higher-def than cable and satellite, by the way. The picture is georgeous. This is really NOT a short-range antenna. It's a medium to long-range directional antenna in performance - maybe nearly as good as a 91XG with the balun fix and the hacks - we'll see. It's not quite as long-range or directional as some others, but without bad terrain or building interference, a really good antenna. As always, "your milage may vary", but if you get SOME signal with your indoor antenna now, prepare to be amazed.
BTW, your "antique" rooftop antenna may be be excellent as, is - don't be fooled into thinking there is really any such thing as an HDTV antenna. There are RF antennas and all TV signals are RF, HD or not. There ARE UHF, VHF and combo antennnas - the latter being the most common in "older" antennas. You don't need the low VHF of the old antenna and your UHF probably isn't quite as good as this one, but it might be. If you have a good (read "large") older antenna, do NOT expect to be amazed, plus be SURE you don't need that VHF portion any more.
Customer Review: Great HD reception for most channels
Summary: 4 Stars
Buying an antenna for your digital TV receiver? It can be difficult, eh? If you live in the city near the transmitters, it's fairly easy -- any small, truly omni-directional antenna will do fine (perhaps the Antennas Direct DB2). If, like me, you live 50+ miles from the TV transmitters and they're in different directions, it becomes a challenge. Here's some tips:
- No antenna is totally "omni-directional" (receives from all directions) no matter what the ad says. Every antenna receives better in one direction than another, and the high-gain antennas are the most picky. Your TV's rabbit ears antenna might do better than a fancy high-gain antenna if it's pointed in the wrong direction. If you buy a "uni-directional" or high-gain antenna, be prepared to spend a lot of time tweaking the direction.
- Don't believe the high-gain ratings, they're mostly marketing hype. There are independent web sites by antenna nerds that rate antennas fairly, so do some research. What you'll find is that every antenna receives some channels better than others -- for instance, it may have great reception ("gain") for channels 30-60 but be terrible for channels 1-20. Ideally, buy an antenna that has has good gain for the channel(s) you're most interested in... if you know what those are.
- Antennas are highly sensitive to position, direction, and things nearby that might interfere with the signals (trees, houses, traffic, the family dog, etc). So what works for me or your neighbor might not work for you. Even a slightly different location may have a huge effect on your reception.
I have a Channelmaster 4221 and an AntennasDirect DB8, one pointed at distant Seattle and the other pointed at Canada, both connected to an RCA A/B antenna switch. Both antennas are excellent; the DB8 is slightly more sensitive but extremely hard to point. I would rate it 5-stars except it didn't come assembled and the assembly instructions are a bit puzzling. Construction and materials are good. The Channelmaster 4221 is somewhat easier to point but still highly directional; it came mostly assembled. Gain is good in my location. I'm only rating it four stars because the construction is less solid. If you're looking at these same two antennas but don't know what to buy, I'd start with the 4221: it's much cheaper and more forgiving about the pointing direction. If you find yourself needing better reception, perhaps buy a preamp to go with it; if that still doesn't work, maybe move up to the DB8 or a higher mounting location.
Good luck!
Customer Review: Excellent Buy
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this antenna when I moved to a new home in Auburn, CA. My home is 110 air miles from Sutro TV tower in San Francisco and about 50 air miles from the Sacramento towers in Walnut Grove, CA. The home is on a gentle hill and, based on my Google Earth mapping, has no hills blocking the path to either set of towers. There are some condominiums and trees behind me that seem to be high enough to obstruct the signal, but I think it is mostly a clear path otherwise. The antenna is installed in my attic for aesthetic and practical purposes, so it also must pull the signal through asphalt shingles and plywood. Since the 4221 is quite directional, I ran into a few minor problems with having to compromise signal levels on some stations to have reception on the maximum number of channels. I also had to give up a couple channels I like to watch in order to reliably get stations I watch more often. Last weekend, I installed a rotor on the antenna to allow directional tweaks to optimize the weaker stations. With the addition of the rotor, I am now able to reliably receive most of the San Francisco stations as well as some San Jose stations, the Santa Rosa station (about 90 miles away) and all of the Sacramento stations, a total of 59 channels. As others have mentioned, a significant percentage of them are non-english or junk channels, but there are at least 30 that I watch. At this point, my only problem is when there is heavy weather. I lose some SF stations when there is heavy rain or fog or high wind, that's where the 4228 might help, not sure. Overall, I am very happy with this antenna. For the money, and free shipping through Amazon, it is only slightly more expensive than a set-top amplified antenna (which I also tried and which was a miserable failure). I might also remark that before I had completely moved out of my old home, I took the 4221 over there and tried it. I was able to get many of the Sacramento channels with good (65-80 of 100) signal level. Before digital TV, I had a mast-mounted antenna at that house and could not get any channels well enough to be 'watchable'. With the 4221 sitting on the floor inside the house connected to the TV with a 6 foot piece of coax, the reception was 100 times better than I ever achieved with the huge outdoor analog antenna. Additionally, dtv.gov listed that location as having NO reception, but the 4221 proved it wrong.Customer Review: Almost perfect
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this antenna a few weeks ago after a lot of research. I was looking to replace a set of rabbit ears to get a better signal to see if I could get my TV to PC converter to display Digital Signals. (That didn't happen, but it wasn't the antenna's fault.)
During my research, I searched for 4221 and came up with a site that has the gain figures for a lot of commercially available TV antennas. The author used numerical methods to evaluate them. Only the 4228 had more gain, but it looked like it would be way too big to use in an apartment.
(I'm batching it right now, so no women are around to complain about it! :-) )
The only problem with the antenna was, as another reviewer stated, was the wing nuts were too small. I've tried 10-32, and they are too smal, and 1/4-20 are too big. (I'm not hauling the antenna to Home Depot to get the right size!) Luckily, the transformer leads were stripped, and as its inside, they are OK just wrapped around the studs.
Originally, I just used the new antenna, and got channels 24, 33, and 36, plus 10 and 12. The review site I mentioned said that this antenna would work on high VHF, and it does. Then, I decided to see if I could use my rabbit ears and the new antenna. The results were surprising.
My rabbit ear antenna has a cable input, and a switch to select between that input and the rabbit ears. I tried hooking the new antenna's cable to the cable input on the rabbit ears, and got a couple of additional channels. I never got channel 8 on the rabbit ears, but with them hooked into the circuit, and with the switch set on cable, I get 3, 8, 10, 12, 24, 33, and 36. Channel 3 is a little better with the rabbit ears selected, but I can only get 8 and 12 with the cable selected. I have the rabbit ears behind the 4221, so I must be getting some sort of signal reinforcement from the rabbit ears.
The back of the antenna is a 1" wire mesh. It is supposed to work as a reflector. I've been wondering what would happen if I covered the mesh with aluminum foil. Its a better conductor than steel, and is solid. The waves are too long to pass much energy through the mesh, but I'm sure there is some leakage.
Anyway, I'm glad I got this antenna.
Customer Review: Bait and Switch
Summary: 1 Stars
I already have one of these that I purchased several years ago, and I was looking for another to point in the opposite direction and gain additional channels. It has worked great for years.
However, the version that was sent to me looks NOTHING like the picture..It is a much much cheaper version that barely passes as an antenna. The old wire mesh version is very sturdy in the wind, but this one has only horizontal bars with no vertical bracing except for the cheap plastic ends-- that have already broken in shipment and I doubt it will last more than a year. The bowtie part is only held by two very small aluminum strips and wingnuts and already flop around just from handling..any slight wind will bend these right off...It has only one mounting bracket where the pictured wire mesh version has two...Adding to the floppy-ness and just waiting for the first slight wind to creat a mangled disaster.
What you see is NOT what you get, the cost-reduced tinfoil version that they sent me pushes the absolute limits to save another $.02 and still be able to call this an antenna. This will never work outdoors, and if mounted in an attic will still require some extra homemade bracing to keep the bowtie unit from sliding down.
Yea, quality is getting worse everywhere, but this thing sets a new record. It's a real scam to show that picture but ship something else entirely.