Winegard fringe antenna no longer anodized

Perhaps call Winegard with your concerns. But overall they still make very good products. It is Channel Master that has declined IMO, as their antennas are now cheap Chinese made imitations. Although their new 4228HD is still a good performing antenna, but without the build quality of the original.

That's unfortunate. I have a slightly bigger Winegard that has been in place for 28 years with absolutely no problems at all.

What's your obsession with anodized aluminium? it doesn't make it a better antenna.

It doesn't make it worse either. But, it will last longer, which was the point.

Any proof?

Just curious , where are you located?

I have a Radio Shack Vu-190XR antenna ( see my avatar to the left) at my house in upstate NY. I put it up in the summer of 1995. It has lost a few big VHF elements, but non of them were bent like your antenna. Mine just broke off clean. It has seen some brutal winters, but I agree with you. 2 years seems too soon for an antenna to be breaking like yours.

Manufacturers furnish the products that we are willing to buy in such quantity and at such a price as to allow them to make money. A lot of people on internet forums criticize Solid Signal and Sadoun for selling junk, but they know from experience that is where the demand is.

Do you need VHF lowband (actual channels 2-6) reception? If not, any piece of junk tuned to channel 7 and above should be durable.

Yeah, my 28 year old anodized Winegard antenna which has withstood heat, freezing cold, wind, and rain.

Our local distributor has had to give up on many quality brands (Belden, Blonder-Tongue, etc) because nobody wants to pay for quality products any more. We even discussed it a few years back...."Why spend thousands on a new TV (or, several new TV's and a nice stereo system), and then complain about spending another 10% to give it a good signal?".
Heck, the antenna system will even outlast the TV nowadays ("Digital seems to equal 3-years")!

It's like fixing a toilet. You go to the big-box store and buy whatever is available. What is available is always the cheapest. And, then you go back in a few months and buy it again.
Or, you have to look for a real plumbing-supply store.

Do you have any VHF channels in your area anymore? If not, then that antenna was a waste of money. The back half of the antenna (long elements) is not even being used for UHF signals.

Check the broadcast frequencies that your stations use in your area here:

http://www.antennaweb.org/default.aspx

Couldn't get the photos to stay up long enough to really look at them closely...........
Do you still use the FM antenna?
If not, the long VHF elements on the upper one are needed for FM radio (high end of the low-VHF band).

Also, remember that the FCC is planning to "re-pack" the TV spectrum again, soon. No way of knowing what band your local stations will be in.
They might move back to VHF, even to low-band (2-6).

I was downstairs in the storage area yesterday, and remembered where I last saw a really good "old-fashioned" TV antenna....
It's a huge Lindsay "Test/Backup" antenna, for Cable TV companies. It cost about 300 bucks, ten years ago. It has heavy-duty anodized elements, and the ends are swagged (spun and rounded, to close them off). Nice rig. It's probably related to the Jerrold and Delhi brands, which Lindsay picked up.
They don't make that one any more.