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: This is what you need to know about over the air high definition reception
Summary: 5 Stars
I was using 2 dvrs from my cable company and really liked them, but they greedily raised the rates constantly so that eventually they were charging me double the price I was originally paying. They are really trying to soak their customers on the transition to digital cable and customers who buy new HDTVs, double and triple dipping for things that they didnt charge with the old analog cable -- such as extra outlet charges, digital upgrade (from analog), box rental (price jacked up 20 percent every 6 months) and high definition fees for each tv! Eventually I had enough and decided to change to Tivo and get this over the air antenna. It works GREAT! But here is what you need to know and what I learned after much time spent. First, digital high definition broadcast for free over the air is much better than the old days when you had ghosting and snow. The signal either locks in pure and crystal clear or it does not. If you are in range then you can have cable quality high definition with this antenna for free. I get all the main stations living about 45 miles from detroit michigan. I love it! I did end up buying an antenna signal boster and splitter from radio shack which made this purchase even better (stronger signals) and allowed me to split the antenna into 2 high definition tvs. If you get tivo (and I love it!) then tivo has an antenna signal strength meter and you can see how best to position your antenna. I have mine in my bedroom closet upstairs and get everything very strongly.
I also have a special case where I receive analog cable as part of my condo package. So i ditched the digital upgrade (at 70.00 dollar per month) and use the analog cable into my tivo and also the high def signal from this great antenna (tivo hd takes two imput sources). But, even with just over the air it is worth it to dump cable as those are the shows that we usually watch and cable stations only ocassionally. I couldnt be happier. I presume the cable company will lose customers in droves and lower their greedy prices later as consumers learn that this antenna allows cable-perfect receiption of high definition for free and not snowy and ghostly like over the air of the past. Do consider a visit to radio shack for an antenna booster for added peace of mind that you wont have to move the antenna to point to the various tv towers but it worked quite well even without that... just not as well when i tried to split the signal in two without an additional booster.
Also, it connects to the tivo box or the tv directly with a coaxial cable. If you have bad reception by your tv, put it higher in your house or maybe even attic and get an extra long good quality coaxial cable to run that all the way down to your tv. I hide mine on a high shelf in the closet and run the coaxial cable from it to the tv... you can get a signal booster from radio shack after you find a good high spot in your home (key is to avoid close buy buildings etc).
Customer Review: It appears to work for me!
Summary: 4 Stars
Being an ex TV DX-er, I think it's a shame that because of all this DTV stuff, that were now meant to be excited JUST to get LOCAL channels clearly without cable!! Be that as it may...
I needed a new indoor antenna to accompany the 7" DTV portable I got recently. The DTV antenna I previously used, the RCA 1450 Flat antenna, would not cut it so well with the new TV. The RCA also came with an optional amp unit, but that didn't do much to improve reception. I am 10 miles (not line of sight) away from the major towers for this area. The next problem is that 3 of our major locals, cbs, nbc & fox, are on VHF (both low & high). The rest are UHF. The RCA did ok with an older Radio Shack TV (w/a converter) but with the new TV, I couldn't get the aforementioned networks... not in the house anyway. I had reservations about the Terk. First, I hate amps that need plugging in. Second, I hate rabbit ears!! BUT -- finding it half-price in the store, meant it was worth a try. And, to my suprise, it does what it says!
As I said, the "ears" are a pain... but with the VHF's around here, I had no choice. Anyway, with the unfortunate need to dicker with the rabbit placement, especially on low-end VHF, I CAN receive all the channels I had no hope of getting on the RCA unit. And, with the amp turned on, it does indeed stabilize the weaker channels.
Other reviewers complaints are valid. The unit is top-heavy, and the stand is only good at certain angles. The VHF dipoles won't go forward due to the base, and only add to its "tippiness" when extended.
At least it'll work w/o the amplifier, for which you won't need at all if you have line-of-site to towers. And assembly couldn't be easier.
Overall, I'd say (for me) 7 1/2 out of 10.
UPDATE!!! - 1 week later.
I've noticed something annoying over the past few days. I can only attribute it to skywave conditions (reception) unless anyone else has any knowledge or technical experience... or has experienced this themselves. On CERTAIN (digital) channels there is most often a sync problem with the audio being about 2-4 seconds BEHIND the video image. Here, I get 3 analog channels, in addition to the digitals. They are NEVER out of sync. And the digital ones that are, aren't uniformly out of sync. The 24/7 weather channel has a screen crawl. That crawl is "jerky" 90% of the time. Hense the images on the screen are also jerky in motion. The antenna is feeding a 7" portable TV. I still have cable on my main TV. In taking the TV & the antenna in the car, I've found it totally IN SYNC when positioned in an area closer to the station towers. Yesterday, even at home, they were in sync, & not jerky. Today, they're OUT of sync again. Just like analog TV used to be, reception varied due to skywave conditions. Of course locals were ALWAYS perfect. DTV is FAR from perfect!!
Customer Review: Necessary, But the Tuner Really Makes the Difference
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased a Vizio L32 TV from Costco that came with an integrated HDTV tuner to receive over-the-air (OTA) HD broadcasts. So I naturally queried the web for the best HDTV antenna at the best price. After doing my research, I decided to get the Terk HDTVa antenna mostly because of the fact that it has a powered amplifier to enhance the signal that it receives.
From what I read, spending the extra $$$ to buy the amplied antenna seemed to give a more reliable picture than the non-powered Terk HDTVi. This seemed to be the concensus among the various postings that I read on the Internet. So I took the plunge and spent the money.
At first, I was a little disappointed. The HDTVa seemed highly directional. I live in a DC suburb and can actually receive HDTV signals from both the DC and Baltimore markets. If I wanted to get the DC stations, I'd have to point the antenna in one direction. If I wanted the Baltimore stations, I'd have to point it in another. It was annoying at best and I must admit that the picture would become pixelated when the signals weren't at their strongest.
So I ended up getting the HD package from DirectTV which solved all my local TV issues. I decided to keep the antenna as a backup, even though I figured I wouldn't get much use out it.
Well about 3 months after having the TV, it started to act flaky on me so I decided to return it to Costco and get a replacement. Well wouldn't you know it, but Vizio had released a newer version of the same size TV, the Vizio VX32. I was excited because the specs for the new TV were a bit better at the same price so I was excited to take it home and test it out.
Once I got it home, I set the new TV up in the exact same space (mounted on the wall in my bedroom) and attached all the cables. One of the nice features of the Vizio out of the box is the fact that it goes through an automatic setup that allows you to program the OTA channels the first time you turn on the set.
Well I saw a huge difference in the number and quality of the stations that the Vizio identified. All of the DC stations came in with no pixelation and most of the Baltimore stations did, too, and I didn't have to aim the antenna.
I'm going to assume that this is due to a much better and stronger HDTV tuner in the newer Vizio TV. I spoke to a coworker who had also recently purchased one of the newer Vizio TVs and he said the same thing. He owns a set-top HDTV tuner that he connected to the non-amplified Terk antenna. He lives in VA and said that he could barely get the DC stations in clear. When he bought the new Vizio TV, using the exact same antenna, he's able to get all of the DC stations very clearly without having to aim the tuner.
So in conclusion, I give a thumbs up to the Terk powered antenna. But I also strongly advise getting a newer HDTV that has a newer tuner. It seems to make all of the difference.
Customer Review: Works about as good as standard bunny ears
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this antenna right when the transition happened from analog to digital. I dropped my cable because I mostly just watch network TV and I live in Los Angeles where there are a ton of over-the-air channels - so no problem, right? Well, I couldn't quite get some of the popular channels (like FOX - which according to the tower placement, I should have absolutely no trouble getting) with an old set of bunny ears that I had, so I decided to go with this amplified antenna. I figured it should work well, and the small size is nice for an indoor antenna. In short, it didn't improve performance at all - in fact, it probably is even a little worse.
I blame most of it on a cheap amplifier and its small size. The amplifier claims to provide 11dB of gain (or roughly 10.5 times the signal power for those who aren't familiar with dB). However, the amplifier isn't integrated into the antenna, it just goes in-line with the coax cable. This adds two more (low-quality) coax connections, which at a loss of about 3dB each, reduces the amplifier's effectiveness to only around 6dB of gain (or roughly a 4 times increase in signal power). 6dB might still be respectable if it came from an amplifier with a low noise figure, but this thing is quite cheap, so the overall increase in actual signal-to-noise ratio (the thing we really care about) is probably more in the 3dB range (or roughly a doubling of signal power).
The other factor that probably contributes to its poor performance is the antenna size. The digital signals are in the same frequency band as the old analog signals, so we should still use a similarly-sized antenna for the same performance that you had with analog. Reducing the antenna size greatly reduces the signal power that the antenna can collect, so we probably lose 3dB+ from the size reduction. This means that this antenna, even with the amplifier, probably provides absolutely no improvement over a typical set of bunny-ears that you might have lying around the house. The sad truth about antennas (although we want them to be as small as possible) is that the larger they are, the more gain they provide, and the better they perform. The geometry is also very important, and I am not sure how effective the 'sleek/stylish' design of the antenna element actually is.
The truth is, in their quest to make a visually attractive and small antenna, TERK made an antenna that performs horribly on it's own (for those who own the antenna and don't believe me - try using the antenna without the amplifier. In theory, it should work as well as a regular un-amplified antenna, but in reality it works about as well as a coat hanger). Therefore, they HAD to add the amplifier just to make the thing workable. Next time, I'll go for something a little larger and higher quality.
Customer Review: Strange Antenna, But It Works Great!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been through a couple of indoor HDTV antennas. None came close to the performance of this one. I am in a notoriously 'bad reception' area just outside of Chicago. The best antenna I had before this one was an RCA omni-directional; but I still could not get CBS 2 with it nor could I get all the channels it could receive at once. I constantly had to get up and move the antenna while simultaneously checking signal strength on my T.V.(thank God for that feature on my T.V.-Samsung ROCKS!) But it was truly a pain in the butt constantly moving it around and holding it in the air! When I got this one(in less than five days with standard free shipping I might add-thank you Amazon), I had it out of the box and attached to my T.V. within five minutes. Definitely get the 'amplified' version of this antenna, there is a difference. This is the Terk HDTVa, not 'i' - it is worth it, trust this! Go to [...] to compare. This was the third highest rated Terk antenna on their site, the other two were outdoor antennas! That and the fact that it is one of the highest rated indoor antennas on Amazon and TERK's quality were the only factors that influenced my purchase. Because it is one ugly antenna! But if you like modern art, you'll love the look too. Point is that it works well. It took me a weekend of playing around with it to find the "sweet-spot". This is when I was blown away! Not only do I get all of the UHF/VHF signals, but I have not touched the antenna in weeks. Once in awhile I get a little scramble on CBS, or some of the less powerful signals, but it is not often and it goes away. I also pick up 47 channels now! Half of them are in Spanish, but that's' O.K.; it still impressed me. Before with the RCA the best I could get was 31 - That's a big difference. Auto-scan your t.v. before you hook up the TERK! I don't know why this works, but it does; I've done it several times before and always got better results. Make sure you auto-scan your t.v. several times with the antenna attached with the antenna in different locations until you get the 'Optimal' locale in your room. The first scan I did allocated 34 channels, second scan I got 38, the third time was the 'sweet-spot' that netted me 47! Note:that I did this over a course of maybe 2 days of occasional 'fidgeting'. This just comes with the territory if you want free HDTV. The picture quality is superior to all of my friends with cable and dish(they told me this, not my words) But I agree and it is worth it. Also the rabbit ears are a lot longer than they look so extend them all the way to get the best reception on that hard to get signal - that's how I 'found' CBS. I knew this was worth it when my wife saw a food show on WTTW in 1080i and said, "My God that food looks so real I could touch it and I think I can smell it too." - Enough said.