TV Antennas—reviewed

[KYAvion]

I tested 6 different TV antennas and thought I’d share my findings. Three of the antennas were directional and 3 were omnidirectional or “multi-directional.” All antennas were mounted to the original mast, and the weather was totally overcast and drizzly. In cases where the supplied parts didn’t include an amplifier with connections for 2 TV’s, a splitter was utilized.

The three directional antennas (King, Winegard, Pingbingding) performed about the same as my Winegard Sensar batwing, which meant no improvement. I could get 16 - 20 channels depending on how the antennas were rotated. Quality was good on some channels, but not great on others. Nothing spectacular.

The 720 degree UFO antenna by 1byone did pretty well and picked up 23 channels, but it’s rather large, somewhat heavy, and oddly it performed best with the mast lowered and the antenna pointed parallel to the ground. So oddly, it performed more as a directional antenna in my case, as opposed to being 720 degrees as advertised. The small 360 degree Antop antenna did OK and got 19 channels, but reception was a little glitchy. The small black “multi-directional” panel antenna by 1byhome did the best and picked up 30 channels, but of those 23 are clear. It will be interesting to see how it performs on a clear day. Regardless, it was the clear winner—small, lightweight, inexpensive, and great reception.

I tested all the antennas with their supplied boosters, but something I noticed was that some would work with the 12v Winegard wallplate amplifier. The small black multi-directional panel, however, would not. The green light on the wall plate goes out when the coax from the antenna is attached. It also wouldn’t work with boosters supplied with the Antop 360 antenna or the 1byhome 720 antenna. Anyone know why that would be the case? It works great with its supplied booster, but it’s interesting it won’t work with the other amplifiers.

[silverloaf]

KY -
Thank you for the review. I was wondering what to do if we got to a place that didn't have cable. This is good news.

While restoring our trailer, I ran coax cable inside. It begins in the left rear service compartment and terminates at a coax wall jack in the right front corner. I installed a coax wall jack where a phone jack used to reside. A 90 degree cable connector inside the wall skin keeps the cable from binding. It will be a short run from the jack to a small TV perched on the credenza.

Merry Christmas!

[Salty]

Interesting. I would have thought the Yagi antenna would have given you the best reception.

[KYAvion]

I would have thought so too. That cheap little rectangle outdid them all.

[Rostam]

I would have thought so too. That cheap little rectangle outdid them all.

Hi KYAvion,

How did you install the 1byone antenna (the best one)? It seems it need to be installed on the side of the trailer.

Thanks,

[KYAvion]

I previously had the batwing with the two square mounting poles, so I just removed the free one and mounted the antenna to the other with the supplied u-bolts.

[Rostam]

I previously had the batwing with the two square mounting poles, so I just removed the free one and mounted the antenna to the other with the supplied u-bolts.

Thanks!