EV's Recommended & Top Rated DTV Indoor UHF/VHF Set Top Antenna Review Round-Up Guide - Page 11

That seems a little overboard for somebody who apparently cant spell egregious correctly, seatac.

But I aprreciate the sentiment.

Im still looking forward to some reviews from you, if/when you have the time.

One more note, when I re-did the balun on the Youtube Quad, I changed it out for an outdoor Genesis balun I picked up at True Value, I think its a bit better than the indoor one that came with the MANT510.....also I used a 12ft coax cable, others units have mostly been 6ft when tested, unless there was a power injector involved.

The Youtube is a pretty darn good antenna. I still plan on making an upgraded version with 10 or 12 gauge copper romex, larger bows and wider spacing between them.

Winegard SS-3000


OK, I broke out the Winegard SS-3000, and its getting an upgrade from its current position, I had it pretty close though. That run through there is pretty tight. These units have an integrated amplifier. I set this one up on the window ledge in the center of the North corner window, for this test. Another note, this unit has thin coax, like the RCA ANT108, for one leg of the run, and a power injector, like the Philips MANT940 and RS DA-5200.

Everything from the RS 1880 down to the Youtube is pretty tight, and many have there own unique characteristics, such as beam width. And the HDTVa's heavy directionality may be hurting it in my tree infested location.

However, I must state that I have an RS 1880 on the other side of the house, under the giant oak tree and giant tin reflector roof pointed South! out of the windows and Im getting decent reception, but not really satisfactory. Maybe Ill try some other units out there.


Performance rankings.....based on EV's observations....Rough Guide

Channel Master 4220 with CM 7777 amp on roof
DB2 with Channel Master 7777 amp on roof
RS 1880
RCA ANT1500 "electrified"
RS DA-5200
RS 15-1892 UFO
DB2 unamped indoors
Classic Single Bow Tie
Winegard SS-3000
Terk HDTVa
Channel Master 4220 unamped indoors
My First Attempt at the Coat Hanger Antenna, Youtube Video Specifications unamped
RCA ANT108 (very similar to the RCA ANT110 and the Philips MANT110 and others)
Channel Master 4030
Philips MANT940
RS 1868 Delta
RCA ANT1020
RCA ANT1500
Philips MANT 510
Jensen TV-931
RS 1870

:thumbsup

PS - You dont end up in the Radio Shack with The Starship Enterprise under your arm on a whim. No wonder you got the stink eye. LOL!

Doesnt the SS-2000 come with a Winegard 269 amplifier?

Thanks for the info on the StealthTenna performance. VHF Hi, hmmmm....

Pics added Winegard SS-3000, Terk HDTVa, RS 1892 UFO with Remote. You can see the Winegard SS-3000 is kinda dusty.

Add here is one of the Draper Luma 92" projector screen.

I think its 12 or 13 db, but very clean.

Im gonna leave the Terk HDTVa right where it is. Its doing and admirable job, and did better with dropouts tonight after the wind died down. Still having trouble locking onto my 2 weakest signals from Charleston at 45 miles.

Here is a pic of the legendary RS 15-1880 and a close up of the back.

Reworked the RE & Loop section on the front page, comments added/edited. Moved RCA ANT1020 and Channel Master 4030 from The Dugout to the RE & Loop section. Edited Table of Contents. Edited review of the Philips MANT940 and the MANT940 front page. Again sorry for the confusion.

I picked that tip up in a thread on avsforum. Perhaps one you were actually involved in, I cant remember where to find it, so I cant credit its originator.

Bummer wblynch.

Ive got one on order. Ill review it when it comes in and probably rework the front page comments afterwards.

Note to self, need to look at and possibly expand/edit comments on CM4220, RS UFO, Terk HDTVa and Winegard SS-3000 on front page.

That is very interesting Roger. Ill try to analyze that later. It just goes to show you that antennas can be very tricky. Visiting the local reception threads and asking others that are nearby what has worked for them is a good way to key in on a good antenna for your particular situatioin.

You can get rabbit ears and a VHF/UHF signal combiner to use along with your amped PHDTV3 Silver Sensor, come Feb09, perhaps.



Edited/added comments on Winegard SS-3000 and CM422o on front page. Need to address RCA ANT1500 with more testing, Terk HDTVa, and RS UFO on front page still.

That sounds great allargon.

Ive noticed that the Terk HDTVa is really touchy and sensitive to placement. Also, if I tip the front section upwards a little towards the gap in the trees toward the Charleston towers it does a little better.

Iv noticed that windy conditions and trees seem to be limiting the effectiveness of all 3 outdoor antennas on the roof. The DB2, CM4220, and Winegard 4400 all have dropouts associated with wind. However the Winegard seems to have the most gain, bringing in stronger signals on my 2 weakest Charleston stations, however, not enough to overcome breezy to windy conditions...this isnt a function of gain but rather signal direction stability, the leaves and branches scattering the signal about. The CM4220 similarly has more gain on my weakest Charleston stations, than the DB2, but it cant overcome breezy to windy conditions.

The directionality of the Terk HDTVa is not helpful for this situation, but may provide more gain where trees are not a problem than some other antennas, as well as where stable multipath is a problem. Similar to the highly directional high gain xg91 that I replaced with the DB2.

I think Im gonna choose the Channel Master 4220 for the final roof install....for the following reasons.

Its smaller than the Winegard 4400.
Its tougher than the 4400, steel instead of aluminum, and thicker steel where applicable. Nice powder coated galvanized steel reflector.
Its has larger bows than the DB2....although I really like the thick 4mm aluminum bows on the DB2.
Its seems to have slightly more gain that the DB2, especially handy on my 2 weakest channels.
It has dual mounting brackets instead of just one....this is really a minor consideration as the DB2 did just fine.

Additionally, I tried the Winegard 4400 without the Channel Master 7777 amplifier, and it just wasnt doing the trick, though it was better than many of the indoor antennas Ive tried.

Im thinking of trying some indoor antennas, sitting on top of the chimney attached to the CM Titan 7777 amplifier where applicable and with the 50ft run of quad shield copper on steel RG6. Just to see how they do.

Sounds Great! :thumbsup

I suppose you signal meter goes from 0-10? Does 6-8 lock in your channels without dropouts?

Here is my TVfool info for digital channels. 36 WMMP (real channel 35) is my toughest station and its not showing on the digital list for some reason.

I can pick up WSAV channel 3.1 (real channel 39) Savannah GA sometimes, its the most powerful singal coming from Savannah. And I like to use Channel 11 analog(real channel 11) to check for analog VHF Hi performance.

Its flatland around here. Also the towers at Charleston as the crow fly's crosses a water body, the ocean for about 25 miles....however this is a mixed blessing, the instability of the air along the shore isnt good for broadcast signals. My real problems are the local yard trees, though.