Question 1

is it an indoor or outdoor antenna?

Accepted Answer

It can be use indoor or outdoors.  I live very far from all the OTA stations (30+ mi) and currently have mine in my attic.   I only have problems with 2 stations.
I have plans to mount the antennae on my roof since there is 40-50% signal degradation due to roofing materials.

Hope that helps.

Question 2

Can you use a splitter and run two coax cables to two different TV's without losing any performance?

Accepted Answer

Every time you split a signal you will lose performance unless you are using a booster as well.  Will that be detrimental to you particular situation?  That is on a case-by-case basis depending on how strong the incoming signal is to begin with and what the loss is on the actual splitter being used.

Question 3

Can you point the two antennas in different directions respective to each other?

Accepted Answer

No, at least not without re-engineering the unit. The front bar with the bow-tie units is a solid piece with the balun in the center. In order to "split" this in half you would need to break / cut the front and then figure out to attach another balun to the separated section.

Also, running multiple antennas on a single line can create problems with rf-echo's, reflections, and impedence mismatches. It can be done, but its not as simple as just attaching a splitter/combinder.

Hope this helps.

Question 4

Will this only pick up channels starting with 14?
Abc and cbs in the toledo area broadcast on channels 11 and 13.  Nbc and fox are on 24 and 36

Accepted Answer

My Antenna picks up nearly all available channels in the St Louis MO area. It does a good job and produces a clear sharp image at about 60 miles. The only weakness is during thunderstorms and high wind. My antenna is mounted out of the wind but the wind affects the broadcast towers. Good for digital UHF and apartment dwellers. Also consider a mounted rooftop antenna for long distance.

Question 5

How many TVs can be hooked up to 1 antenna ?

Accepted Answer

You could put a standard coaxial cable splitter on.  The addition of a signal splitter will result in about a 3-dB loss of signal from the input to each TV output added.  Although a strong signal losing 3 dB of strength won't have much of an effect, if you are between 25 and 40 miles from the transmitter, you may lose signal quality after splitting.  In other words, the weaker the signal due to how far the transmitter is, the worse the picture quality due to splitting.  But, if your signal isn't quite what you want it to be, you can use a signal booster to add energy to the signal, which I recommend if you split any signal.  Another option, if you have reasonably strong signals in your area, is to get the smaller flat antennas for each TV that you put near the TV or on the wall near the TV, and the big antenna for the main TV to get the most channels and/or better quality signal.  The individual flat antennas are not very expensive and work pretty darn good.

Question 6

I'm wanting to mount the product in the attack, what part of the antenna do I mount to?

Richard

Accepted Answer

inside, outside, attic, wherever ... Its mounted exactly the same way by clamping a support pole to the main column at the back of the unit. You could also just hang it from the rafters with a piece of wire. Just make sure the unit is close to vertical and not on an angle pointing up or down. Its effectiveness will decrease.

Question 7

what is a balun ?

Accepted Answer

A balun is an electronic device that allows you to connect normal cable TV type cable (75 Ohm cable) to an antenna's two screw type connections. Antenna connections are designed for use with 300 Ohm flat wire. If you just attach CATV ( normal type tv cable with the threaded connector and copper pin in the center ) to an antenna, the mismatch between the antenna's 300 Ohm output and the cable's 75 Ohm cabibility causes massive signal reflection at the connection and loss of most of the signal. The balun balances the 300 Ohm impedence of the antenna with the 75 Ohm inpedence of the cable and lets the signal transfer from the antenna into the cable without much loss. Its a simple little device but is critical. With some antennas, you need to buy a separate unit for a few dollars. With this antenna, a balun unit is pre-attached so you can connect the CATV cable to the "hub" at the center of the unit.

Hope this helps :)

Question 8

My friend lives in NYC basement apt. she has Roku and Netflex she used to have Time Warner Cable but decided to terminate her service due to cost, will this work?
Indoor?
will outdoor be better receptions? 
will it get cable TV channel or just Network Channel (NBC, CBS, ABC etc.)

I would like to surprise her with this antenna if it will work in the basement.

Thank you

JR

Accepted Answer

Over the air (OTA) antennas are designed to receive vhf and uhf signals from nearby broadcast towers. This antenna only receives uhf signals which in my situation covers every tower I care about (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, CW and even PBS). All of those towers are at least 57 miles away and my antenna is outside at gutter level 10 off the ground and I am only 7 feet above sea level. I get an outstanding signal from all stations. The less obstructed and higher you get the antenna the better chance you will have, but it is known to work from inside people's attics.  In order to get cable type channels I would try streaming the SlingTV service for which has a number of popular channels.

Question 9

Hello everyone.  I currently live in Soulard which is about a mile from downtown St. Louis, MO. Simply put, I can no longer afford the outrageous $140/month Uverse is charging me for the U300 Package and internet they provide and I am considering dropping their the cable altogether and switching to Charter for my 'net.  Anyways, my question is how many channels (and if you don't mind) which channels will I be able to receive with this (or any antenna under $100) if I do decide to drop Uverse?  I would greatly appreciate a reply at your convenience and thank you in advance for your consideration!

Best,

J.T.

Accepted Answer

Just by the town name, you may be able to receive "up to 33 channels from 15 over-the-air stations".  However, when it comes to over-the-air reception, hills or tall buildings may make a big difference.  Best thing is to go to the antennaweb dot org web page, enter your address and it will give you a list "estimated" based on software calculations.  I would start by pointing the antenna at 230 degrees (South-West).

Good luck.

Questions & Answers