Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception
by Terk
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List Price: Our Price: $38.79 You Save: $31.20 (45%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $26.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
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for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception
Customer Review: Great antenna, but poor design!!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is absolutely the BEST antenna on the market for me!! With the advent of digital television and the rising cost of cable, I decided to make the switch to over-the-air television, so I've spent the past month or so trying different antennas to find the one that gives me the best reception. I live in an apartment (about 40 miles from most of the transmitters in my area), and an outdoor antenna is out of the question for me. Nevertheless, I've tried two other amplified indoor antennas and even two outdoor antennas (mounted inside), and the Terk HDTVa beat them all!!
The downside is that the antenna is very directional which means that it has to be physically pointed in the direction of the transmitter for the station that you want to receive. This really limits the ability to record shows and watch them later when they are on different stations. To circumvent this problem, I purchased two Terk HDTVa antennas and combined them with a splitter so that I can receive stations from two different directions at the same time. Unfortunately, this does slightly reduce the effectiveness of both antennas, but it works well for me.
Despite its superior performance, I do have one complaint. The base of the unit desperately needs to be redesigned. As many other people have mentioned, it tends to tip over easily, but that isn't my major complaint. My problem with the base is the fact that the VHF dipoles are severely restricted in their range of motion. The dipoles can be oriented directly toward the rear, to the side, or almost vertical; but they cannot be positioned toward the front of the unit. In my case, for the antenna to be optimally oriented for both UHF and VHF reception, I need to be able to adjust the VHF dipoles so that they are facing slightly forward. Unfortunately, this is not possible given the design of the base since the dipoles are located at the back of the unit and are obstructed by the base itself.
All in all, the antenna works as advertised and I would highly recommend it, but I do wish that the manufacturer would rethink the design a bit to make the unit a little more user friendly.
Customer Review: Completely Satisfied
Summary: 5 Stars
It seems backward to go out and buy an antenna of all things these days. Shouldn't be have something better by now? Well thanks to the introduction of digital broadcasts, we do.
I wasn't sure if this thing would work, but I didn't like paying $50 a month just to watch my broadcast channels in HD over cable (I never watched the other channels).
Thankfully I live in the city, and only 2-3 miles from the towers. Still, I wasn't sure how my cement building would affect my signal.
Here are some things you should know about this product:
1) It is directional. This means you have to point it in the direction of the towers. Orientation DOES matter
2) You either get a digital channel or you don't. There is no snow.
3) The device allows you to turn amplification on or off. This is GREAT because it allows you to adjust the antenna to fit your location. If you live close to a tower or have a strong signal, amplification will distort your signal causing your channel to drop in and out. If you have a weak signal, amplification will allow you to acquire that channel. Very nice feature.
4) Compact design and it won't stand out.
5) Rotating the antenna like your old rabbit ears will not work. If you can't get a signal, move the antenna slightly and then wait to see if your tuner picks up the channel. It may take a second or two. It won't be instant.
6) Just because it works for some of us, doesn't mean it will work for everyone. Antennas are really dependent on your location and the broadcast towers. Be patient and try a variety of positions and settings (antennas up/down, amplification on/off, direction, etc.).
7) Great price on Amazon! This will cost you at least $60 at Best Buy.
Things I can't comment on:
1) Product quality. It looks great. Works great so far. But I just got it today. There is a 1 year warranty on the product.
2) Performance during adverse weather. Its a bright and sunny day in Seattle today. We'll see what happens when the rain, clouds, and snow come.
Customer Review: Very poor reception with Terk (cheaper Philips antenna did the trick)
Summary: 1 Stars
We tried to use the Terk antenna for digital over-the-air TV (in conjunction with a converter box) unsuccessfully for several months. We live in Northern Virginia in a location with good overall reception, yet with the Terk, almost every station broke up after a few seconds or minutes, regardless of how we adjusted the antenna position. We found ourselves having to move the antenna for each station, yet the signal still broke up after a short while. We were about to call it quits and subscribe to cable, but wait!
While shopping at CVS, I came across a traditional Philips indoor antenna, Model SCP 020 (rabbit ears with a loop antenna) for $12.99 and thought I'd give it a try. Surprise, Surprise!! We now have CONSISTENTLY CLEAR over-the-air digital reception on seventeen stations, including four PBS stations, and are even pulling in stations for which Terk couldn't even get a signal. Best of all, with the rabbit ears and loop antenna, we only had to make an initial one-time adjustment of the antenna position, and all the stations come in clearly. No more moving the antenna around constantly like we had to do with the Terk! In addition, the Philips antenna has a much slimmer profile than the Terk, and is much less obtrusive sitting atop the TV.
If the Terk works for you - great. If not, before bailing out on using an antenna for digital over-the-air TV, try the Philips Indoor Antenna, Model SCP 020 (for VHF/UHF/FM/HDTV digital). It is HDTV compatible and just might work for you at a cheaper price than the Terk as it did for us.
NOTE - I see that the Philips Indoor Antenna (SCP O20) has only 2 1/2 stars based on 3 reviews on Amazon, yet the Terk has 4 stars based on over 500 reviews. In fact,we purchased the Terk based on the extremely favorable reviews it received.
I guess we're the outlier in the customer data gathered thus far. Again, if the Terk works for you, that's great. If not, give the Philips a try!! At $12.99, our Philips Antenna kept us from having to shell out $30/mo or more for cable.
Customer Review: Great for UHF and fair for VHF
Summary: 4 Stars
I just received the HDTVa from Amazon and I am pretty impressed. I had tried rabbit ears with a UHF ring and was able to pick up two stations- one clear and HD and one fuzzy and not HD. I hooked my HDTVa up and used the "find channel" feature on my Toshiba Regza (also purchased from Amazon) and found fourteen channels-five clear and HD and nine others. Two of the channels require me to move the antenna from its optimum position. I'm not too far from the towers but I'm surrounded by huge firs and annuals and my house sits in a low spot in the hills. I really did not think this antenna would work but to my surprise it has.
It is definitely superior to rabbit ears in the UHF range. Its a little bit top heavy as others have noted but it has a fairly long cable which enables me to place it in a convenient location. I was a little worried after reading a few reviews that said it was just like rabbit ears. In my situation it is clearly superior. No one has an antenna in my area because of the terrain. I suppose if it did not work that I would have sent it back but I'm glad it did work and even in the VHF range it does somewhat better than the rabbit ears (3 VHF for the HDTVa to 1 for the ears). Since the VHF part of the antenna is "like" rabbit ears I attribute the improved reception to the amplification. Also I am not convinced that merely turning it on and off is a true test of its effectiveness. The packaging and the build quality were all excellent- this antenna is not cheaply thrown together. Some gadgets are "all show and no go", but in my case the HDTVa has worked out well. If you are on the fence I hope I've given you enough info to take the leap on this one. I think there is a good chance that you will be pleasantly surprised--I was! Incidentally, use the "channel find" feature on your TV it does a good job of finding channels even when you can't seem to manually find them at first. My Toshiba has a built in digital signal meter which is really handy in optimizing antenna position. I hope your experience is as good as mine.
Customer Review: An OUTSTANDING Improvement
Summary: 5 Stars
I'll start by saying that I would have been impressed by a moderate improvement in my digital reception. There are so many stations in the Washington D.C. area that broadcast in HD, and yet I have had so much difficulty in picking them up "over the air" by using an indoor antenna. I was expecting my next attempt to be an outdoor job, but decided to try just once more with an indoor antenna. It was a risky move considering some of the mixed results people had reported, but since the majority of the comments were positive I figured it was worth a shot. I received this antenna today, hooked it up in a few minutes, and sent my equipment on an "automatic" search. With my previous antenna (a $100 Phillips purchased only 1 year ago from Circuit City) I was able to get a decent selection of traditional analog signals, but only 2 reliable digital stations. Now I receive better analog (which is no longer necessary) and a quite remarkable 21 (Yes, TWENTYONE) digital stations.
As most of you already know, if you receive digital signal you either get great reception, or unwatchable reception. When I say 21 channels, I mean 21 crystal clear channels. I am picking up all the locals, plus Annapolis, and even 4 from Baltimore. I haven't even started playing around with trying alternative sites around the house, or changing the antenna mounting position (the antenna can be inserted either horizontally or vertically into the base, which the instructions say can change reception patterns and success) yet, so I'm not sure how much better it can get, if at all. That being said, naturally I would like to see even more channel reception once I make that effort, but if I see no improvement I will still be thrilled with the improvement I've already seen.
In summary, this is an amazing improvement, and while I have no idea how it would work in other broadcast areas, I have NO regrets about my purchase for use here in the nation's capitol. Highly recommended...