Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception
by Terk
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception
Customer Review: Best indoor antenna so far!
Summary: 4 Stars
I spent a lot of time testing different indoor antennas, and here are my findings. As others have noted, please use this as a guideline, as your mileage is likely to vary significantly based on your location, distance to TV tower(s) and other conditions. (I am in the SF bay area, in Los Gatos, close to the mountains so reception is a challenge, though [..] classified me as being in the "yellow" area - btw, if you read the antennaweb descriptions by clicking on it surprise, surprise, yellow seems to be the best, better than green!).
1. Rabbit ear antenna (from radio shack) - didn't work very well at all. I have tried rabbit ear antennas in the past (but that was before DTV broadcasts) and they didn't work well for me, so I didn't bother to try other rabbit antennas such as ones from RCA.
2. GE 24775 Quantum Indoor HDTV Antenna - I would rate this as ok, and not very good. It was highly sensitive to direction pointed to and it also seemed that the best direction to point the antenna kept changing. It seemed to pick up vhf though, which was a big plus for me, since my local nbc is vhf, and abc is also moving to vhf after dtv transition (according to antennaweb). Also, it needs to be powered and unless you turn it off when not in use, it is sucking power.
3. Terk Low-Profile Indoor Antenna (TV5) - was also ok but not very good, though it seemed better than Quantum above (however is bigger too!). It is also always on sucking power .
4. Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception - quite good. It got all uhf channels when directed appropriately (thank god my tv has a signal strength meter!). HD clarity was awesome! For those of you in the SF bay area, just point towards sutro tower in SF - I found that it didn't quite match with the direction that antennaweb gave me, though it was exactly 180 deg off, so I guess the "direction pointing to" may be subject to interpretation. The big negative for me was that it didn't seem to get my local nbc, which is vhf, though the antenna claims it is both vhf and uhf. It ia also always on, sucking power (but you can probably put it on a power strip and turn if off when not in use). I took the amplifier out and connected directly and it didn't work (the manual does explicitly warn that it won't work). It has an amplifier switch and so I turned it off, to simulate an unpowered unamplified version. With the amplifier turned off, it still seemed to work fine, so if that simulates the Terk Technology HDTVi VHF/UHF HDTV Indoor Antenna model which is unpowered, the latter might be worth considering.
By the way, as I was going through my antenna search, one of the most helpful review for me was SHEiK124's review [...]
Next step for me is to try other antennas including some outdoor ones, especially the highly rated Antennas Direct DB2 Multi Directional HDTV Antenna which is supposed to be multi directional and doesn't require power (it doesn't have vhf though so that's a big negative for me) and some of the winegard ones, including the Winegard SS-3000 Amplified Indoor UHF/VHF Antenna which is supposed to have vhf reception.
In any case, as others have noted, the move to digital with HD channels is awesome since I plan to stop paying the outrageous rates for cable! Good luck with your search for a good antenna!
Customer Review: Worked for us
Summary: 5 Stars
Before buying the TERM HDTVa, I tried 3 other antennas. Our goal was simple--we wanted to be able consistently pick up the most important HDTV stations in our area without resorting to cable, and hopefully, without the expense and hassle of installing an outside antenna. We thought this was possible, since our old antenna (RCA 1030, rabbit ears with amplification), was almost good enough. Living in the eastern suburbs of Seattle, the situation was pretty clear. We live on the south end of a 700 ft hill--so stations to the north were out. There are mountains to the east and south, so we needed to pick up stations 10 miles to the west (Seattle) and 25 miles to the southwest (Tacoma), with all of the stations within 70 degrees of each other. Our reception problems probably aren't due to weak signals, but to interference from the hill, and all of the 40 foot fir trees which blanket our areas.
I first bought the RadioShack Model 15-1892. This a fancy model with a remote control to aim the directional UHF antenna. This was a little too much trouble to program and use, but picked up a few more stations. However several channels would occasionally drop in and out. Better, but not good enough.
Next, I bought the RCA 1251 from Best Buy, attracted by the "55 dB" amplication advertised on the box. Totally useless, not as good as our original model. At this point, we were afraid that we'd have to pay hundreds of dollars to have someone install and outside antenna--it would scare my wife if I went up there to install it myself)--but it'd be better than giving $500/year to Comcast.
I had avoided the Terk HDTVa because it looked like it would be huge and ugly--actually it isn't--it's only a bit bigger than the other antennas, and it is by no means unattractive. Also, the Y. Chang review was somewhat negative, and that review seems well researched and clear. However, the more reviews that I read, the more I realized that all antennas had mixed reviews, indicating that the real issue was whether the characteristics of the antenna met the needs of the individual situation.
I think I would have picked the Terk HDTVa earlier, if I had spent more time at the Antenna Web website (http://www.antennaweb.org). At this site, you put in your address, and it tells your what stations you can reach, and the characteristics of the antenna you need. This site told me that I needed a medium range directional antenna, and which direction to point it. A directional antenna like the Terk is the best way to deal with the interference from the surroundings. In our location, the problem isn't weak signals, it's noise--amplification doesn't improve the signal to noise ratio. Also, since all the stations are in the same approximate direction, it's easy to find which way to point the antenna.
It would have saved a lot of trouble to just buy the Terk first. It would have also been much cheaper from Amazon than BestBuy. I set it up with the UHF arm horizontal--you can also insert it with the prongs vertical. I extended the rabbit ears all the way down to the sides, pointed the antenna just south of due west, and plugged in the amplifier and attached the output to our tuner, an EyeTV tuner plugged into a 24 inch IMAC. Immediately all of our stations worked perfectly. I haven't touched it since. Problem solved.
Customer Review: Excellent Indoor Antenna for Houston TX Metro Area
Summary: 5 Stars
With much anticipation, the Terk HDTVa arrived yesterday. Assembly (horizontally positioned antenna to base) and TV hookup was easy to the bedroom 32" HDTV. After setting the antenna beside the TV and pointing it in the general direction of the TV towers 25+ miles across town, I walked away while the TV was searching for available channels. In a few minutes the scan was finished - and my local news station was playing about as crystal clear as it gets in HD. I quickly searched the TV for available stations and was surprised at: 1) the number of stations available 2.) the clarity of the picture. Initially, I was pulling in ~ 43 stations, although not all were good signals (not snowy, but choppy pictures that sometimes froze).
After experimenting with the antenna some, here are some first impressions of the Terk HDTVa:
1.) Am I ready to give up my AT&T U-Verse service? No, not by any means. However, the antenna was never intended for that purpose. Rather, I was hoping for a cost-effective means to pull in local news and weather updates for secondary day-to-day use ... as well as a backup during times of weather emergencies.
2.) The antenna is somewhat directional, but not to the point that it had to be precise. Generally speaking, I can pick up a lot of stations as long as I'm generally in the direction of the TV towers (+ or - about 35 degrees). Granted, you loose some stations and pick up others as you point the antenna in different directions, so it will take some experimentation to get the best antenna direction to pick up the desired TV stations.
3.) First impression is quality is good and product should be durable, but am considering mounting the antenna base to a wooden base to better stabilize it. Not saying the base is unstable per se ... just that I do see where it would benefit by being more stable.
4.) Present antenna angle gives me about 54 TV stations. Granted, there's a lot of stations that don't get good signals, and a lot of stations that I don't care to watch, but there are indeed some stations that I do like to watch. And, as I already mentioned, the picture quality is as good as it gets. Yes, there's more experimentation to do (e.g., Vertical positioning of the antenna. Tried it once but couldn't pick up any stations, so went back to horizontal positioning), but my first impression of the Terk HDTVa is ... WOW!
5.) Would I recommend this product to others? In a heartbeat ... if you are willing to do some research on its pros, cons, range, etc! For instance, I'm +25 miles from the TV towers which located in the same general direction, and the ground is about as flat as it gets and there are no major structures to hinder the signal. I'm considering mounting the antenna in the attic, but don't know that I need to to meet my needs.
6.) As for appearance, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. To me, it looks like a state-of-the-art indoor TV antenna. Can't say that it blends into the decorating scheme of the room, but, on the other hand, can't say that it sticks out like a sore thumb, either. It's still early in the antenna positioning decision, but I don't anticipate any need to hide the antenna from view. To me, I'm more concerned with locating it where it likely won't be disturbed or knocked over. However, since I'm married, my mind is always open to change. :)
Customer Review: Decent, but not spectaular
Summary: 3 Stars
A few months ago I upgraded our Tivo in the family room to the newer HD model. Not wanting to rely on Comcast's CableCards for High Definition network feeds I pulled out an old RCA antenna to pick up the OTA signals. The results were okay, but not consistent. Some channels come in crystal clear. Some macroblock every couple seconds. And for some reason I can't seem to pick up the local CBS affiliate's HD channel at all (not that I watch much on CBS, but it's the principle of the thing). After a few months of reading reviews and looking at other antennas at Best Buy & Fry's I finally pulled the trigger on the Terk HDTVa hoping it would be the solution I was looking for.
When it showed up and I opened up the box those doubts immediately began to creep in my head. First off, the HDTVa is huge. Much bigger than I was expecting it to be. And ugly. I knew what it looked like and I get what they were going for from a design standpoint, but this thing stands out like a sore thumb, especially if you're trying to partner it with an elegantly designed flat-panel TV. As other reviews have stated, the footprint of the antenna is pretty small and as a result you can knock this over pretty easily. The coaxial cable coming out of the bottom doesn't help either. As I was putting it together, on top of my own dislike for it's design, I thought my girlfriend was not going to stand for this jutting out from behind the TV. Still I thought I needed to see how it performed before I made any decision.
I hooked everything up and checked the signals coming through the Tivo. The results were just about the same as the RCA rabbit ears. Some channels were clear. Some had drop outs every few seconds. Still nothing at all coming through for CBS. We're in the Western Suburbs of Chicago, only about 14 miles from the broadcast towers, so it's not like we're straining to pick up a signal. Adjusting the antenna didn't seem to make much of a difference for the better. Either the signal strength stayed the same or dropped. When my girlfriend came home it took her a while, but when she finally noticed the antenna, she gave me a look that said "what the hell is that thing doing in here."
After a few days I disconnected the Terk and packed it back in its box and reconnected the RCA. If the Terk's performance had been rock solid, it might have made up for its lack of looks. It wasn't, so I went back to the less intrusive antenna.
I'm sure that it works perfectly for some people and the design doesn't bother everyone. But in my case it's not the be-all, end-all I had hoped it would be and so it goes back. If you're looking to use this with a flat screen Plasma/LCD/DLP, I wouldn't bother unless you can expertly tuck it away somewhere.
It amazes me that, in the age of the iPod, a TV antenna hasn't been reduced to the size of a computer mouse that could be inconspicuously placed next to or on top of your TV set and works without constant fiddling.
Time to start looking for something else...
Customer Review: It Really Works Most of the Time
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this device for a single purpose: Off the Air TV in the kitchen.
Frankly, I wanted to connect our existing cable for the TV; however, my cable company told me that they "do not do splits for existing service." That is cable talk for if you want another TV connected to our lines you have to subscribe to additional service. We do not run wires for your new connection. I was floored. That's like calling the telephone company and they said we are sorry but we do not do phone lines. A call to our local phone company would result in a date being established for additional wiring that would be paid for by me. The cable company would not even consider that option. Not to be outdone, I opted for this antenna and quite frankly I am pleased for the most part.
It does what it says it will do. I can pull in 10 of the 11 local channels without having to jump through hoops. The missing channel is PBS and even though it is out there it is not worth the hassle to attempt to pull in. The 10 channels are all in high definition (HD) and each provides a clear and vibrant picture on the 19" Samsung (reviewed elsewhere). If we did not live in the valley between two 100' hills to the east and to the west our reception would be much stronger. The antenna is a line of sight device and even though we live in a cruddy place for reception we receive a fairly decent signal that the antenna provides. To have a basis for comparison, I connected the TV to cable to determine the quality of the TV picture and sound. Each had excellent quality and compared favorably to the 1080p resolution of the main TV. The 19" TV is 720p resolution so therefore there was a slight decrease in picture quality between the 19" 720p and 46" 1080p TV. The point is that the source (cable) provided an excellent picture for both TVs. I disconnected the 19" from cable and connected the antenna. The picture from the antenna compared favorably to the cable but because the signal strength from the antenna was less powerful the picture quality was not quite the same. That is the reason for the 4 instead of 5 stars.
I readily admit to being a wireless nut. Actually you can describe me as a nut with almost any adjective. I cannot stand wires. That is just wonderful when there must be over 2 miles of wires in the house for all the contraptions that are connected and cross connected. This antenna adds even more wires. The device says that you only need to place the antenna on top of your HDTV. That is wonderful but I have yet to see any HDTV that has a shelf big enough to place an antenna. Finding a place to put the antenna can be a pain and it was for me due to my dislike for wires. Like so many of our daily decisions we are forced to forgo one thing for another. I gave up on having a wireless connection along with a cable connection and am basically pleased with what we have.
Bottom Line: It works well if you need off the air TV.