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: Great antenna, good product.
Summary: 4 Stars
I got this antenna because antennaweb.org informed me that most of my local stations were broadcast from a few towers at least 10 miles away, all within 7 degrees of each other on the horizon, so a high-gain directional antenna makes lots of sense. My horizon has other houses and trees, and outdoor mounting is infeasible for me so the amplification helps too. As an antenna alone, this product is great, but there are some minor design faults that could use some improvement.
The main antenna is flimsy, and arrived with some of the prongs slightly bent radially, which was easy to fix, but annoying. The dipole antennas (rabbit ears) are very long, and the shape of the base prevents them from standing completely upright, so they stick back, thus requiring that the antenna have a fair amount of free space on all sides, which makes it more difficult to find a suitable place to put it, especially since the directionality limits the number of places you can put it if you have brick walls. The channel in the base for the cable is deep enough for the cable, but since the cable is thick it wants to bulge out a little at the point where you bend it, so you need to mash it down several times for it to stop destabilizing the base. The base itself is small and has no apparent mechanism for mounting, so it requires adjustment if people (or cats) jostle it out of its carefully-aligned position. The adjustment is easy with a compass (or smartphone), so this isn't a huge problem, but it's annoying. I'll probably attach it to the bookcase with poster tape, but it'd be nice if it had a mounting bracket with screw holes.
If you need a directional antenna, an outdoor one fixed firmly in place is probably best, but if that's not an option, this antenna will serve you well, once you figure out a good place to put it.
Customer Review: Fantastic Indoor Antenna
Summary: 5 Stars
We wanted to get rid of cable; we had over 250 channels and maybe watched just 10 of them. It got to the point where we couldn't justify the cost anymore. So I started doing some research. Since most of our favorite shows were on network TV, it made sense to pick-up a TV antenna to receive free over-the-air HD broadcasts.
Since we currently rent, it limited our options to an indoor antenna. After reading reviews on indoor antennas, no matter the brand, signal quality was hit or miss and based on location more than anything else. I decided to take a chance with the Terk and I'm happy I did; it was an excellent purchase. We are really pleased with the Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception, the signal quality is excellent. We receive about 12 out of the 15 local broadcast channels, but that will vary by location (we are live in Downtown San Diego). Since it is an directed antenna, it has to point in the general direction of the signal, expect to reposition it a few times in order to find the the best signal/picture quality. Once it's setup, it's good to go.
My one negative is the shape, it's kind of odd. However it's far from a deal breaker, in fact, I was able to easily blend it into the living room decor. Friends that come over never see it and are surprised to learn we even have an antenna.
Do yourself a favor... before you purchase any antenna, do the research. Find out where your local signals come from ([...] is your best friend for this) and which type of antenna is best for you (indoor/outdoor, directional/omni-directional). If you ask me, a good antenna coupled with a nice media center is a much better alternative to cable.
Customer Review: Good antenna , just don't expect a miracle
Summary: 4 Stars
I looked through some of the reviews here and it appears that a lot of people just comment on whether it works for them or not. That's not always fair when it comes to attennas. It's a lot more about how far you are from the signal transmitted, how many trees/tall buildings between you and there, how well you position your antenna, etc. Sometime it also depends on your TV tuner. Some are better than others at dealing with multipath (this is when the signal is bouncing off houses and trees). I know for myself I get better results using my HDTV tuner on my Hitachi TV than I do using my Dish Vip 622 tuner. So please bare than in mind when you buy this product. Also you might want to check out the website antennaweb dot org. They can advise you on the type of antenna that might work for you.
I have the advantage of living within 20 miles of the signal stations so this antenna is doing a nice job for me. I have it nicely postioned behind my tv and i am getting steady signals on all the major network HD channels and also some additonal channels like The Tube and lots of religious stuff if that is your bag. You have to sometimes have the arial poles pulled up so bare that in mind for cosmetic reasons if you've got nowhere nice to hide it!
I have the amp turned on and get slightly better results. That might not be everyone's experience so try with it on and off.
One complaint is that if you want to extend the length of the cable you'll have to buy a female to female extender.
I also own the Zenith antenna which is cheaper. I get slightly better results with the Terk when amped, but got better results un amped with the Zenith.
This product works. You just need to have the right environment for it to work, it won't perform miracles.
Customer Review: Great, reasonable amplified antenna
Summary: 5 Stars
I have tried a few different antennas for getting over the air HDTV for my HTPC that I built for the living room. I was getting horrible reception from indoors from the older RCA and thought I would search for newer powered antennas because I really wanted to get rid of Comcast cable and watch the standard HDTV channels for Houston with DVR capabilities and the DVD library on the PC. After trying the ones listed below and some others I don't remember, I finally got the Terk after seeing the amount of reviews here on Amazon (originally bought from Best Buy, but ordered from Amazon and will return BB's).
This thing works great. I barely had to move it around to start getting channels (many more than any of the others were providing). It would work even better outside, but it isn't made for that. I might wrap it or protect it for outside use, that way I won't have to mess with positioning as much. I am pairing it with the SiliconDust HDHomeRun so that I can watch or record two channels at once (using a splitter). This way, I don't have to put TV tuner cards in individual machines.
The only thing I would like changed would be a base that was a bit larger or more sturdy. The unit will tip if the bunny antenna portion are not balanced. This is certainly not a deal breaker, but an annoyance, especially because the antennas extend from the base quite a bit.
Antennas used (remembered):
- Older RCA FM-VHF-UHF powered bunny eared (with loop, rating 2)
- Philips MANT940 Indoor/Outdoor HDTV Antenna (powered, Rating 4)
- RCA DIGITAL FLAT ANTENNA (flat white one, smaller sized, powered, not very good, Rating 2)
- eVGA inDtube USB tuner card with antenna (worked for a little bit, would not recommend, antenna way too small, Rating 2)
Customer Review: Works well, looks tacky
Summary: 4 Stars
I live in a dense urban area, but had lots of trouble receiving local stations. This antenna worked when many others have failed. Note that the amplification is not very high, only 11 to 12 dB, which is good if you need to avoid overloading the TV tuner, but not so good if you are out in the sticks. The elements are made from too-soft aluminum, they should use a stiffer alloy, the cost would be about the same. I had to straighten out some of the fins right out of the box, not a terrific confidence-builder. Also, the cable is hard-fastened to the antenna instead of providing a jack, so it is not as convenient for a tidy installation; if you need to use a shorter or longer cable, you need to coil up the excess or get a double-ended jack for an extension cable. Also, the inline amplifier is hard-fitted with a very short (2 to 3 inches) cable that goes to the TV or converter box input. For the same reasons, this is bad, because there is usually a jumble of cables "back there" and this means you cannot practically reach the amplifier switch from the front, after everything is installed. The amplifier is powered by a small & lightweight (which is good) plug-in power supply, which doesn't hog more than its own AC receptacle if you use the one on the end of your power strip. I almost became one of the other "negative" reviewers, had I not discovered that the new digital broadcast signals are extremely narrow, and whereas before with analog broadcasts, the antenna just needed to be pointed in the correct general direction, for this antenna, just 1/4" one way or the other would make the difference between good reception and the dreaded "NO SIGNAL"! Really! I wound up pointing the antenna 90 degrees from the direction of the broadcast towers; not logical, but it didn't work otherwise.