EV's Recommended & Top Rated DTV Indoor UHF/VHF Set Top Antenna Review Round-Up Guide - Page 6

Indeed, YMMV seems to be the story with indoor antennas.

I did try our old RCA ANT120b in the "sweet spot." It locks in the local CBS, FOX, ABC, and NBC slightly better than it did pre-phone books, but PBS is still all over the place. The PHDTV3 shows higher signal strength across the board on all channels (about 5-15% of the signal meter on our Zenith DTT900), but more important for me is that PBS and it's 3 subchannels comes in solid.

Also, the PHDTV3 pulls in the Ion affiliate at about 60% strength--very watchable, especially at night--whereas the rabbit ear/loop combo wasn't doing the job at 30%.

So, yeah, the sweet spot helps, but ultimately the PHDTV3 turned out to be the right antenna for us. We would've bought a different silver sensor style antenna, but they don't sell them in any store locally.

Okay, I have to ask. What the heck does YMMV mean?

By the way, that 4-pronged, strange looking antenna is a Smart Antenna.

If you can find the RCA ANT110 at a local store, it would be very interesting to make a direct shoot-out comparison against the ANT111. I've used both, my results aren't scientific but seems like the cheaper ANT110 (with a big 5" round UHF loop) had slightly better gain than the ANT111. But could the ANT111's rectangular UHF loop be more stable against certain types of interference?

My preferred antenna at this time is the Philips MANT510 - but to be honest, a couple of channels I could receive with the RCA ANT110, I can't quite get with the MANT510. The Philips does have a decent flat-panel UHF aerial and appears to have a well-designed low-noise amplifier, it's more stable than many.

It might be fun to also include the Philips SDV2210/17 in a comparison test. It is one of the better-looking indoor antennas and, while probably not the absolute best performer, seems to be competent. I'll put it this way: my absolute best local signal (a PBS station) came in at 95% signal strength using this $10 aerial - the best signal strength I've ever gotten here except for using an outdoor Channel Master 4221. It's not a bad choice; it's roughly tied with the Radio Shack 15-1868 (another aerial in my collection).

I have a couple of older, no-longer-in-production antennas which I've used in the past (which I haven't donated yet). These were acquired used. I may test these out again and write some short reviews before donating them to a thrift store. These are:

Magnavox MANT300 (amplified)
Radio Shack ATV 1000 (amplified)
Radio Shack 15-1857 (non amplified)
Recoton amplified

None of these are best-in-breed but I wanted to snap a digital picture of each and write a short review on each so the information would be available.

How much was the ANT108 selling for? Did you buy one?

In February 2009, a fair number of stations are switching their ATSC transmitters to High-VHF. Channel Master's new introduction of a UHF-only aerial is strange indeed.

Yeah, I kind of thought that too. It seems a little late in the game, but better late than never I guess. I'm sure they're just trying to cash in on the success of the Silver Sensor. Channel Master has a better reputation than Philips when it comes to quality, so I'm sure they are banking on people going for the Channel Master if given the choice between the two.

As far as it being UHF only, most of the so-called HDTV antennas these days are UHF only. I assume that means that most markets must be UHF only. I've always assumed that most places would have both VHF and UHF, but who knows.

Anyway, it's pretty cheap to pick up a pair of rabbit ears if VHF reception is needed. I have to admit that when I was first looking at antennas, I wanted an all-in-one unit; but actually, I've found it more convenient to have separate VHF and UHF antennas. I prefer being able to focus each antenna independently. I realize that's not for everyone, but it's nice to have the option.

Fry's sells the 4020 and 4030. I've not seen any reviews of these indoor antennas, or of the more basic 3803 and 4000.

The original FCC game plan was for all DTV stations to be on UHF. However, the final channel allocations mean that in most major media markets, at least one major station will be migrating back to an upper UHF frequency. In my local DMA, here are the stations flash-cutting to DTV from their current analog channel on 02/17/09:

KCTS analog 9/digital 41 - becomes digital RF 9
KSTW analog 11/digital 36 - becomes digital RF 11
KCPQ analog 13/digital 18 - becomes digital RF 13

When Philips introduced their Amplified version of the Silver Sensor (PHDTV3), they included VHF rabbit ears in anticipation of this.

Channel Master's quality is generally perceived as being more consistent than Philips, though many CM products are now manufactured overseas rather than in the States.

Many so-called UHF antennas will also receive high band VHF.

Topic stuck.

Congrats EV. Tonight's posts inspired another indoor reception possibility. Most old televisions only have an antenna in and a video/audio in. If logistics were to require it, two converter boxes could be used, one to get VHF-hi and the other UHF. Plug VHF into the antenna in, and UHF into the video/audio in.
One of my Silver Sensors is definitely not going away at the transition now. The old rabbit ears may not go either.

Congratulations EV!

New question: Best Buy and Wal*Mart are both selling a flat-panel RCA ANT1500 HDTV Indoor Antenna. Besides the huge price difference, are Best Buy and Wal*Mart selling different versions of this product?

Best Buy's RCA ANT1500
Wal*Mart's RCA ANT1500X

At Best Buy:
Model: ANT1500
Product Height 14-7/10"
Product Width 10-3/4"
Product Weight 2.1 lbs.
SKU: 8817328
Our Price: $59.99

At Wal*Mart
Model No.: ANT1500X
Product in Inches (L x W x H): 11.0 x 0.5 x 10.0
Shipping Weight (in pounds): 1.8
Wal-Mart No.: 000515633
Price: $29.97

I may not have to try two converters. All of my stations are broadcasting from the same direction, but if stations are broadcasting from different directions, and one has the ability to place different antennas towards them, it might be worthwhile. This would keep the cable runs from the antenna to the tuner at a minimum. If someone were to seek only one VHF-hi channel, the converter could even be placed in the attic.

No problem.

Oh I forgot, if anyone feels that they have to have a VHF-UHF antenna for their chances of indoor reception, not true. An antenna for each is a possibility. Choosing a combination antenna may yield worse reception than choosing one antenna for each.

This evening, I watched baseball broadcast from 55 miles away. It was on analog channel 36. (-95db, one edge) Rabbit ears beat a Silver Sensor for reception, they always do.

Wow. I bought this a week ago, and let me tell you: it's an answer to a prayer. Works better than anything I've tried to date. Was even able to successfully split the signal to my normally stubborn HD tuner card and know what I was seeing on the TV was exactly the same being recorded to the hard drive. Yeah, it looks a bit like the starship Enterprise, but I like Star Trek!

It was a nightmare prior to this antenna....in spite of nearly all the locals being in one general location (approx 15 miles away).