* HDTV Antenna - (cost $30) 6 different antennas tested. Below, I compare and contrast performance, price, flexibility, etc.
The debate of Internal vs External HDTV antennas has been debated endlessly elsewhere. I've tried several, and here are my results.
NOTE: I use the website
https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html to locate the antennas in my area, and point the antenna. The iPhone 'compass' app is helpful to use when pointing your antenna.
Internal Antennas: ($53.91) Terk 60 Mile Range High Performance Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna . Purchased in 2007, this antenna worked well in a house where 1 window faced all the antenna towers in Seattle. It worked well to test out antenna signal strength.
($19.99) Indoor Amplified HD Digital TV Antenna up to 130 Miles Range - HDTV Antenna with Powerful Signal Booster,Support 4K 1080P UHF VHF Purchased in May 2020, this little multi-purpose antenna was purchased to see if it would be powerful enough in a new city to gather even low power stations. As it turned out, it is acceptable for use in finding good signals, and the 15-foot coax cable makes it very flexible. It also includes a plug-in signal booster, so this one required an additional electrical plug. However, it wasn't powerful enough to gather signal from a local low-power station I'm particularly interested in receiving.
External Antennas:(36.99) Amplified HD Digital Outdoor HDTV Antenna with Motorized 360 Degree Rotation, UHF/VHF/FM Radio with Infrared Remote Control. Purchased in 2015, and returned. Tested before returning, and it had a signal booster box, and allowed for 360-degree rotation. Because of my hill obstructed location, this antenna did not pick up as many channels as I had hoped.
The rotation direction was semi-random. The antenna worked ok, but I didn't really need the rotation feature. Returned it to Amazon, and purchased the Eagle Aspen (below) because it had better reviews.
($29.04) Eagle Aspen EASDTV2BUHF Directv Approved 2-Bay UHF Outdoor Antenna . This antenna doesn't look like much, but it's very versatile, and works well if you have a fixed direction for your local TV transmitter towers. One thing to note: the small wire connections on the 'face' of the antenna are susceptible to rust, and should be mounted such that the length of the cable DOES NOT PUT TENSION on these sensitive connections. Recommend using a little clear nail polish on the screws for the connections, and LOOP the cable around the mast just below the antenna to keep tension off the tiny connectors. I used this one for 4 years until the ends rusted off. I mounted this one 80-feet up in a tall Douglas Fir tree in my backyard. Replaced with the Xtreme Signal 4-bay Bowtie (below)
($44.99) Xtreme Signal HDB4X 4-Bay Bowtie VHF/UHF TV Antenna - 50 mile range. Used this antenna for a year or so. It worked as well as the Eagle Aspen but mounted on a direct rooftop mast. I didn't want to have to have my son climb 80-feet up in that Doug Fir again. :-)
($24.99 - Ollies) Motorola branded SuperSonic Motorized antenna with rotation & signal boost. Mounted using a traditional chimney strap, and ground wire, this antenna works quite well for the cost. It comes with a little box that acts as a signal booster. The booster box has a single button on top to allow you to manually rotate the antenna, plus a 'remote' that has two (2x) buttons for rotation. The rotation works well, BUT the user has NO CONTROL over antenna rotation direction. Both buttons on the 'remote' have the same effect as the single button on the signal booster box. Pointed in a specific direction, I can pick up the local low-power station that broadcasts content over 8 HD channels.
(EDIT: after using for 2 years this antenna's 'rotate' function died. 1 year before, it stopped being reliable. Sometime after 2020, I discovered YouTube's
"Antenna Man", picked one of his recommended antenna's, and mounted it on the roof)
He correctly labeled this Motorla SuperSonic Motorized antenna as "junk". But with only $25 bucks invested, it was a good deal for when I purchased it.
(EDIT / ADDED below)($129.95 - Amazon.com) Winegard HD7694P antenna is a great antenna - the 130 mile claim is silly, and inaccurate - realize that VHF travels "line-of-sight", and even on a roof, the
CURVATURE OF THE EARTH prevents
ANYONE from seeing further than ~12 miles. This antenna picks up stations the previous antenna could not, and is my current antenna since 2022, and I can
HIGHLY RECOMMEND it. (edited 11/12/2024)