Eagle Aspen Dtv2Buhf Directv 2-Bay Uhf Antenna

My mother lives in a high-rise, concrete structured apartment building in the large city (Oakland, CA). Her apartment windows face east, and the south is only partially seen through the window opening. I checked with Annena Web website, and it showed only 3 channels in good to acceptable position. The rest of the available channels was in the southwest and west. I expected to see only a handful channels.

I installed the antenna at the eye level on the coathanger(coathanger was that tall) standing next to the window facing south. When I did the auto channel finding, it listed over 50 channels (I got bored counting numbers), all coming in strong with the exception of 2. I suspect that those weak channels are from the west. I used, of course, the low-loss RG6 (20ft-long) cable.

I am amazed at the ability of this small antenna to pull in all those channels. It cost a couple of bucks over Andrew Jackson, and its performance is almost phenomenal. It is rated as outdoor antenna, but it is so compact, it works just as well as an indoor antenna. You can just hang it on the wall like a clock, if you wanted to.

I have seen this product first used in combination with a USB tuner for a laptop, and it pulled in great quality HD images that were projected onto the movie screen. I was sold right then and there, and I am glad I bought this.

It appears that, if you live in a large city, this antenna will do just about everything you want. I am sorry for the guys who did not get much out of the antenna. Maybe they can buy ones with 4 bay or 8 bay models.

I have but praises for this product!

PLEASE NOTE: you do NOT need a so-called *digital* TV antenna to pick up digital OR high definition TV (HDTV) from your local stations. Even old rabbit-ear antennas can still do the job! Also, broadcast channels will generally have a better high-def picture than cable or satellite TV because local channels do not have to compress their TV signals as much. However, most broadcast (local) TV signals have been moved from the VHF band (ch 2-13) over to the UHF band (14- and higher), even though they have retained their old VHF identifier (for instance, my local channel 12, which used to broadcast on VHF channel 12, is *still* referred to as Channel 12 and my digital TV even displays Ch. 12, even though it now transmitting on the frequency that was the old UHF channel 13). Digital TV ignores the VHF and UHF differences completely, but it seems that most TV transmissions have been moved to UHF frequencies since the changeover to digital, so a good UHF antenna will generally pick up more digital TV stations.

Virtually all TV and cable channels have commercials [even PBS, which didn't used to], but at least the commercials are free with over-the-air (OTA) channels available locally, and being a former satellite TV user, I REFUSE to pay to see commercials --lots and lots of commercials-- so it was necessary to opt for a good UHF antenna. (Do you remember when many cable channels were commercial-free, since you already paid for the programming? I remember those days. Cable channels are double-dipping by charging to show commercials AND charge customers to watch them!)

The old-style rabbit ears that I was using for my large high-def TV worked well for four local stations, but I wanted to pick up more channels in my home area (West Palm Beach/Ft. Lauderdale), but mostly wanted a strong signal for the upcoming Winter Olympics. After reviewing lots of positive comments by previous buyers of this antenna, I placed my order with Amazon.

It arrived in a few days in a small box, about 22x13x3 inches, and very lightweight. It requires a little bit of easy assembly, but the poor xerox single-page instructions leave much to be desired, even for something as simple as this antenna. Looking at the illustration on the cover of the box was more helpful than the difficult-to-see illustration in the instructions! But don't be worried, there are only a few parts, and it goes together with just a couple of basic hand tools, in just a few minutes.

Since I live on the ground floor of an apartment, it wasn't possible for me to mount this antenna outside (which would be highly desirable), so it would have to just sit on top of my TV, or lay it flat on top of a nearby tall speaker. Even though this antenna is directional (meaning it will receive a stronger signal if it is pointed in the direction of the signal tower), it actually works surprising well even laying flat, pointed straight up! This, of course, will depend greatly on the strength of the signal you are receiving. No doubt it would pull in more distant signals if it were upright and pointed toward those distant TV towers.

Since connecting this antenna to my TV (and just leaving it my living room) I now gather 4 or 5 more stations, but no doubt would see even more if it were mounted the way it should be. For the low price, I consider this a very good buy for picking up local OTA HDTV.

I don't use cable TV. I use rooftop antennas to get my OTA TV signals which I think is a better uncompressed HD source than the regular cable TV...besides, it is free!
I already have antennas that I can get very good VHF HD signals, but my UHF HD signals are still weak during bad weather conditions. So, I bought this antenna hoping to improve my UHF TV signals in addition to my existing antennas. It turns out about the same....not much significent improvements on my UHF signals that I can tell.
Actually, this antenna does about the same just by itself (without my other existing ones)...it will pick up all the channels in my areas (by itself) just about the same (both UHF & VHF) as my other antennas do.
***Conclusion: It is a decent antenna by itself for the price, but it does not improve my UHF as I was hoping for.

This Eagle Aspen antenna is far better than any of the Terk, RCA, or other small Xmas tree type indoor antennas (including amplified versions) I have ever used. I was fed up with signals breaking up even with the strongest local stations, and the need to re-orient the antennas for each station.

We live in the North East part Chicago IL, in Rogers Park, about 4 blocks S of Evanston). After mounting the Eagle Aspen to on a microphone stand (a Radio Shack model) reception improved by a factor of at least 5. The higher we lifted the antenna the better the reception (our TV is on the 1st floor). Since the Eagle is a uni-directional antenna you do not have to re-orient it for each station.

Our Samsung HDTV has a Signal Strength meter that you find under MENU / SETUP / CHANNEL which shows the strength of the signal with bars -the more bars the better. It's really important to have some sort of signal strength information, otherwise it is very difficult to properly orient and adjust the antenna for the best reception.

For most of the local TV stations (Channel 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 20, 32, 50) the signal strength showed maximum or close to maximum). In addition we picked up some distant stations as well. Don't worry that this antenna is UHF only, because virtually all of the previously low VHF stations now actually broadcast in the high VHF or UHF bands (e.g. Channel 2).

Before using this antenna we used to get dropouts, digital pixellated distortions, even with the strongest stations, as much as 2-3 times in 20 minutes on PBS channel 11 for example. With the Eagle, we still a tiny momentary, twitch no more than 1 time in 2 hours. My speculation is that this is caused by wind moving trees, or some other obstruction of the signal path.

FYI: The Eagle Aspen, like many outdoor antennas, come with a large U-bolt type of clamp, that attaches very easily to a any kind of pole or tube (it does not even have to be circular). A microphone stand is relatively cheap, takes up little space, and allows you to easily adjust the height, and angle of the antenna.

This outdoor antenna works beautifully indoors at a price well under poorly performing indoor antennas and of course only a fraction of the price of many highly touted outdoor antennas -for our location.

Of course not everyone wants a somewhat large and ugly looking "thing" looming in their living room, but it is possible to make it less conspicuous by putting it behind a tall bookshelf or some other tall object. Or, hang a painting from the ceiling so the painting blocks the antenna from view.

In any case I highly recommend this Eagle antenna. It's GREAT!

I use this antenna on my sailboat. It is hauled up the mast by rope when in use. I am 40 miles from the transmitters and I receive ABC, NBC, CBS, 3 PBS, the CW, THIS and ION. I get some pixelating when it is windy. i attribute that to the antenna swinging in the wind since it is not on a ridged mount.