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Antennas Direct OTA Antennas & Gear

361K views 890 replies 153 participants last post by  JJMoney 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
If you're already receiving HD then this is not going to be a cost-effective experiment. However if you're still interested, a good quality antenna would be a Blake or a Televes. The Televes is a bit cheaper.I picked up two Televes for $300. They have a local HDTV Info and reception section with a lot of knowledge in it. Good search function as well. If you're looking for a 6000 OTA module, I'll probably be selling one in the next couple weeks. The bloody things sell for almost as much on ebay as they are new. I think they might be getting hard to find new. On ebay you can expect to pay about $130-140 US. Jonic is selling them for BEV for about $310 Cdn. Which DirectTV box do you have. I believe most of them have a built in OTA tuner. If it's the Hughes, it does, and it seems to be a decent tuner.
 
#2 ·
In an ideal world a vertical stack will give you 3db of gain minus the insertion loss of the coupler (approx .5db for a decent coupler) or about 2.5 db. A horizontal stack is for reducing multipath and a very small increase in gain. I have some info on stacking from the engineers at Televes, I'll see if I can dig it up.
 
#5 ·
Antennas Direct DB8

The antenna pictured is an AntennasDirect DB8, and it is a well-made antenna, with excellent gain: it is virtually identical to the Channel Master 4228 8-bay UHF antenna, which sells for about half of the price. AntennasDirect is a reputable company that appears to try hard for customer satisfaction, but their products, however well made, are quite expensive compared to other established brands like Channel Master, Wade-Delhi and Winegard. AntennasDirect chooses to sell directly to the consumer, while the other mentioned companies choose to sell through a distributor and dealer network.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
From that U.S. website: "Our price $179.95" cough gasp faint!!! :eek: At that price that thing better be able to get me a beer whenever I want. My gosh... for a person looking for a corner reflector yagi, given the performance for low cost of the W9032 and CM4221, I don't see why anyone would pay the price for the one shown. I also don't like that they haven't subjected it to comparitive testing that Winegard, Channel Master, Wade, and the others do. We're just supposed to accept their word that its the best. Um, ya.
 
#9 · (Edited)
ive heard good things about cm4221 and 4228.... but where can i buy one from locally without having to order it online?

EDIT: looks like theyre not available locally meaning shipping costs more than the antenna..... does anyone know any local stores that sell outdoor antennas?
 
#10 ·
987654321 said:
Good article, and I like that he didn't just complain about what was bugging him - he did something about it. Nevertheless I just can't handle AD's prices, and I don't see any evidence (published head-to-head comparisons) that AD's products are superior, despite what the article is trying to convey.

Tigerbangs rates AD's 8 way bowtie as equivalent to the Channel Master 4228 in performance but at a much higher cost, so there doesn't seem to be any point in buying the Antennas Direct model. He did say that the build quality of the AD model was excellent, but then again so is CMs so there's still no value-added in that department.
 
#11 ·
HDTV101 said:
http://www.hd4free.com/jbx21.htm

Anyone ever buy one of these JBX21WB High Gain UHF Antennas?

They say it's the best.
That antenna looks remarkably similar to this http://www.blake-uk.com/prod_products_aerials_JBX.aspx antenna, even shares the exact same model number. The Blake was around long before this guy started making his antenna. If you do some digging on the AVS forums, there was lots of info a few years ago on the Blake. I know there was a company importing the Blakes into the US, haven't followed it for a while. I suspect that there's an interesting story there.
 
#12 ·
What is the difference between OTA antenna ratings?

What is the difference between an antenna rated 80 miles in Blue or Violet areas and an antenna that is rated 160 miles in Red area?

I bought a Magnavox MANT902 about 2 years ago and it was rated in the Blue to Violet areas at 60-120 mile range. I was browsing some sights to check out other antenna brands when I saw my same ant. was rated in the Red areas but the mile range stayed the same.
 
#13 ·
Antenna Ratings Explained (they're just general guides)

AntennaWeb has a great info page about the Consumer Electronics Association's colour codes and their meanings. Just bear in mind that these are general estimates and do not necessarily mean that your antenna is the best in its category (it may even be the worst!).

Nobody should ever purchase an antenna based solely on its CEA rating. We're here to tell you which ones you really need to buy. ;)

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/info.aspx?page=more_info
 
#14 ·
Deepest Fringe UHF? Wineguard 9032 Vs. Antenna Direct 91XG?

Hello All,

I am a new member to the community, and live south of the border in Ohio. I enjoy watching my Channel 32 & 54 Canadian Stations (Toronto), which is a pull for me. However, due to a recent storm I need to replace my existing equipment and wanted some feedback.

In looking at the best possible "deep fringe" UHF antenna. What would you recommend? I have narrowed it down to the Winegard 9032 & the Antennas Direct 91XG.

http://winegard.com/offair/pdf/pr-9032.pdf

I am a serious UHF DX Man, and would get the Wade 4' parabolic however, this only attaches to a mast of 2" or larger and my mast is not this big. It costs $400 plus shipping.

But back to reality, I am really looking for the deepest fringe antenna. I decided on ordering the Delhi ( Jerrold ) VIP-307SR for $176.55 to satisfy my VHF need. At this time, I do not know what to get for the UHF.

Below are the gain charts for the VIP-307SR. (What a monster at 194")




The Channel Master 4228 is nice, however, I believe the Yagi Type antennas are a more directional (directivity) and a tighter back door (front-to-back ratio) 91XG & Wineguard 9032.



Lastly, I will also buy the Channel Master 7777 pre-amp.

Any ideas or feedack?
 
#15 ·
THe channels 32 and 54 are repeaters from Windsor ON,TVO,CBC.Either antenna both are considered the best.I think the XG91 performs a little better but i think the winegard is better build.
 
#16 ·
rob50312 said:
THe channels 32 and 54 are repeaters from Windsor ON,TVO,CBC.Either antenna both are considered the best.I think the XG91 performs a little better but i think the winegard is better build.
I fully agree with the construction on the XG91, as it looks like a real "cheapo" with the sections you have to add piece by piece.

Thanks for the feedback....
 
#17 ·
Thanks for the rapid response. I will forward you my findings as a pursue this project. As we both love and have a passion for DX'ing, I will take some photos of the install.

Here is some helpful info for some other memebers on the form. It will help explain the importance of directivity and gain.

http://www.televes.com/ingles/asistencia/documentacion/DAT75_panelRadiationDiagrams.pdf

Once again, thanks for taking the time to answer my requests.
 
#18 ·
Sony Expert said:
Here is some helpful info for some other memebers on the form. It will help explain the importance of directivity and gain.
With all due respect to Televes, there was a stink about their UHF antennas a few years ago because of some gain numbers floating around that weren't true. That chart is good.

Check out http://www.hdtvprimer.com and you'll find some of his info on beam patterns really great, and he also has a section on stacking CM4228s:

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/16bay.html
 
#19 ·
After doing some research, I think the best bang for the dollar is the Wingard 9032's stacked vertically. They are $34.99 each.

I wonder if JurassicJockey is happy with his DAT's. They are $200 each. At that price, I would have went with the Wade 4" Parabolic. Now that is an antenna!

Yes, I rememebr when Televes was over rating the gain on these. I cannot understand an antenna of this shape is capable of achieving a gain as stated. The CM 4251 did not even approach a gain of 19dB for what its worth.
 
#20 ·
I picked up my Televes for around $175 Cdn (about $125 US at that time) for the pair. That was shipped from the UK. Shipping was about half of the price. I've been really happy with them. I'm over a hundred miles from the Buffalo transmitters and they're pretty steady for me. I went with the vertical stack with directions from Televes tech folks. I think I used 36" for the center boom spacing.
 
#22 ·
z0z0 I was looking at the DB 8 before I bought the channel master.

The DB8 is a very good antenna but it cost twice as much as the channel master.

For us that lives in the gta the db8 is a more directional antenna than the 4228, so unless you are using a rotor most people wont be happy with the performance. The 4228 is down about -3db at 15' and the db8 is down -6db.

Currently there is not much channels in our area that will benefit from the additional gain above uhf chan 50+ other than currently City and Sun. At chan uhf 60 it does have 3db more gain and that is a good amount.

When Global and Omni 1 goes online it will be broadcasted with more power than City or Sun so there is no real benefit using a db8.

If anybody is willing to spend the money on a DB8 its a nice antenna, but you would most likely need rotor to pickup the Buffalo and Toronto channels properly.
 
#23 ·
Thanks Yaamon! Great answer!
Now I feel comfortable with this as my "big" antenna choice. Now assessing stealth antennas. How does the AntennasDirect Lacrosse Amplified compare to the SquareShooter 2000?

I am in Mississauga and some people say that the SS-2000 will work for me to get Buffalo. Am wondering if the Lacrosse is any better.

Am wondering what this means "Based upon remote sensing technology, previously only available to the military"
http://www.antennasdirect.com/lacrosse.html

Thanks
 
#24 ·
z0z0 if you have good height to mount your antenna like on a chimney and the view to Buffalo is clear the Lacrosse should work for you.

I checked on the link you provided and the antenna has a incredible coverage almost 75' of coverage, wide enough for Buffalo and signals off the Cn tower.

The gain is about the same as the square shooter but a bit better in the higher frequency.

A suggestion a 4221 still has more gain than the Lacrosse throught the UHF freq and is alot cheaper.

My suggestion if you are going to mount the antenna up high like a chimney, might as well go with a 4221 more cost effective.

If you need to keep things slealthy then the Lacrosse might be your option but it does cost a bit more money.
 
#25 ·
Thanks for the reply. Speaking about gain - I was thinking of the amplified version which has specs of 17db so this is more than the 4221.

It sounds like the Lacrosse Amplified is a better antenna than the SS-2000. More gain and wider angle. Unfortunately noone has had an opportunity to actually test it out.

Does anyone know a good place to go shopping for antennas in Buffalo? Maybe I will do a road trip and pick one up.
 
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