Customer Reviews

Antennas Direct DB2 Multi Directional HDTV Antenna

5 star:		(330)
4 star:		(95)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

We have a secluded lot, about 2 acres, with mature (40ft+) dense trees around us. The nearest antenna is 16 miles away and the Chicago antennas are 44 miles away. We use this with our Phillips Flatpanel 50" pixelplus 2 HDTV with its own built in HDTV antenna. With only the HDTV antenna that came with the TV we received maybe 2 channels on a sunny day.
We first plugged in this antenna in our ground floor bedroom and kept it right behind our right: obstructed view. We did a search and found 17 HDTV channels and another 20 clear regular channels.
When we then placed the antenna on the roof (used an old DirecTV cabling on the roof) we solidly got 20+ channels in HDTV and another 34 regular channels. Some aren"t prefect but most are as good as old 'regular' tv quality.

We will probably upgrade in the near future to the DB4 now that we know this works for us. This thing is no hoax but we do think you have to be within about 30 or max 40 miles to get any type of reception.

Our advice:
drop the useless expensive cable or satellite and take a 15$ per month Netflix membership to beat / defeat all the showtime or HBO stuff and add this antenna for the local news stuff. Saves us at LEAST 60$ a month.

I'm in the South Jersey area, trying to pull in the Philadelphia stations in an upstairs bedroom. The antenna is indoors, attached to a Zenith digital converter box. It IS pulling in 25 stations, but not a major one we wanted--WHYY, the major PBS station in our area.

While researching how to get the station, I discovered two things: 1) Many people are having trouble receiving it, and we'd probably have to put an even larger antenna than the DB2 on the roof to get it. 2) In February, 2009, they aren't even going to be broadcasting their digital signal on UHF anymore, and neither is the local ABC affiliate. They will both be broadcasting digitally on VHF channels. This DB2 antenna is for UHF only. So as of next February, it will be useless for two major channels we want to watch. And there isn't much sense in trying VHF antennas yet, because we can't really test them out til the digital VHF broadcasting begins. In this case, it seems like procrastinating might have been the best course of action!

FYI, the antenna doesn't include the coaxial cable you need to run between the antenna and either your converter box or digital tv.

I originally used the Philips Silver Sensor antenna, but couldn't get stable reception. Added an amplifier and got more than half of the HDTV channels, but needed to move/adjust the antenna for the other channels (very annoying!).

With this DB2 antenna, i have ALL of the free "over the air" HDTV channels, with at least 90% reception, WITHOUT an amplifier!

It works for me in Orange County, CA!! GREAT HDTV ANTENNA! I will buy another!

Summary: the Antennas Direct model worked noticeably better than the Terk model. Plus, the fact that the Terk model needs to be plugged in to an electric outlet and you'll probably leave it on 24/7, burning up electricity, makes the Antennas Direct DB2 the better buy by far.

Living in Rockland County, N.Y., about 50 miles from New York, the signals are weak enough that a good antenna is required to get digital signals. I bought the two best-ranked on Amazon, hooked them up to a DigitalStream converter box (of the 3 boxes I have, I like DigitalStream best for its remote which will learn your TV's power on/off signal, and also has its own volume control). I carefully adjusted each antenna for maximum reception (takes time because signal strength fluctuates.)

The results of my mini-experiment: the Antennas Direct DB2 performed better than the Terk HDTVa. This, both from looking at "signal strength" readings, as well as a judgement made after living for about 2 weeks with it set up each way -- the Antennas Direct DB2 was the definite winner.

As to the negatives of the two items:

The Terk HDTVa requires you to plug it in to an electric outlet, and basically keep it plugged in. This means it is plugged in 24/7 and using electricity all the while. Who knows how much that'll cost in electric bills, wasted electricity, etc!

The Postive and Negative of the Antennas Direct DB2 model, is that it really is designed to be hung on a wall -- but if you really want to maximize reception, you must aim it carefully, through a trial-and-error process (same as the Terk, which you must aim). So, the final position that is best for you, might not end up being parallel to a wall! So in the end you'll have to stand this thing up on a flat surface anyway.

Note that the Terk and the Antennas Direct are both roughly the same size... not counting the Terk's two huge rabbit ears you can extend up to 4 feet (which I certainly extended and played with, in making the comparison.)

Also note, that the coaxial cable you use to connect to the Antennas Direct, should be the sort that has a little screw/nut at the end. The cheaper kind, that just slips on and off, might not stay well enough. So I had to go out and buy a $5 coaxial cable segment.

In summary: the Antennas Direct beat the Terk for performance, as well as the fact that it doesn't need to be plugged in and using electricity 24/7.

I tried about 5 hdtv antennas . This one was the best one . I live in Orlando near Sea World and all of the locals come in with no problem. I get 90's signals on all of the locals. . I also get Tampa Stations(28 and 32 ) at night. This antenna works better inside for me. I have it setting on top of my entertainment unit. It won't get the local NBC station because they broadcast in VHF. I tried it outside but the signals were worse .

What's nice about this antenna is it's small size(12"X19"X4"), and it works quite well. I was able to pickup quite a few NYC channels indoors, and am roughly 8 miles from the towers. Then I mounted it on the roof and picked up a few more channels making a total of about 20 channels.

Recently, I removed the DB2 antenna though and put up a Philips Mant900 Antenna. The reason is many of my local channels that are broadcasting on UHF are going to broadcast on the VHF band after Feb 2009. The DB2 is a UHF only, while the Philips covers both UHF/VHF. The Philips was definitely an improvement in terms of signal strength as well.

Go to antennaweb(dot)org to see if your channels are changing bands in Feb 2009, as you will probably need a dual band tuner.

This is a great antenna if you only plan on using the UHF band.

Edit 10/09/2008: I would also like to mention that there isn't any such thing as a HDTV antenna. As long as you have a HDTV with a HD tuner, you're all set. I'd definitely lean toward a dual band (UHF/VHF) antenna though, simply because both bands are in use and the prices aren't all that different.

When you're friends stop by and say, "Dang man, that's an unbelievable picture on your tv," you can proudly say, "It's FREE High Def!" The DB2 is a multi-directional antenna that picks up stations within 30 miles of your home. I live about 15 miles outside of the city, and I pick up about 15 stations - six or seven are in HD. I mounted this on my roof about a week ago and have been enjoying free HD shows all week with no interuptions. If you're looking for some free local channels in high def, this is a great antenna. If you live more than 30 miles from your local towers, try the DB4 - it's pretty much two DB2's stacked on top of each other. Make sure your tv has an HD tuner before purchasing.

I was looking for an antenna for a studio where I work, in a corner at the end of an alley...a challenge for TV waves! Over months of trials and errors, I probably installed half a dozen 'indoor' antennas - none of them worked at all! Then, I saw this one on Amazon and I decided to rely on the good reviews it has. At first, I was disappointed because it is not 'powered' and I thought that it should have made a huge difference. Then I tried to find a good location for it...and almost gave up. But, before returning it, I placed it just above the door on the small entrance porch...miracle! Instantly, my new HD-TV received 40+ channels - most of them I didn't even know existed, many of them in HD - with crisp beautiful images and fantastic surround sound (I only needed to hook up an old stereo receiver a friend gave me). And that was only possible because the antenna is NOT powered. This is a pure example of excellent 'made in the USA' craftsmanship! I have already returned the other 'made in China' junk-antennas and got back twice as much as this one cost. I just watched the world series and I thought I was actually there in the ball parks! Fan-tas-tic.

This antenna gets all the stations I was expecting, and then some! I even receive stations originating 180 degrees from where it's facing. Yes, I am fairly close to the tv towers (20- 30mi), but I can't find any flaws with this antenna even though I have it set up indoors. Very pleased, would highly recommend!

I think my Tucson apartment is enveloped in some sort of electromagnetic shield, because even though I have a line of sight to the towers 15 or so miles away, good reception has been scant since I ditched my $65/mo cable bill. First, my old RCA unamplified rabbit ears with UHF loop was okay on NBC, but crap on the rest of the channels. I had a decent signal on most of the networks with the Philips SDV2750/27, except that CBS would tile at unpredictable moments and become unwatchable (I could never get the signal to go above 65%, and I was lucky if it would hover around 60). Plus, once I got a UPS it took up a precious outlet because without the amplifier it was useless (and therefore my Tivo was also useless). I decided to give the DB2 a try, though, and I'm glad I did. The three advantages it has over the Philips amplified is, 1) it gets a consistently good signal (in the 80% range) on all channels; 2) it is not amplified, and therefore frees up an outlet; and 3) I can set it out of the way behind the TV and not have an eyesore looming on top of my set. I do still get some tiling on CBS, but as I mentioned, the signal stays in the 80s so I figure CBS must be broadcasting it that way. (I have my fingers crossed that it will improve after the much ballyhooed digital transition.) In conclusion, if you've had bad luck with garden-variety indoor antennas (especially the ones that scream "optimized for HD!!!" all over the package) and you need something more heavy-duty that won't break the bank, I recommend giving the DB2 a try. It costs about the same, but outperforms the rest.

UPDATE: Unfortunately I lost the Tucson ABC affiliate after the digital transition because it moved its frequency from UHF to VHF, and since the db2 is UHF only I can no longer receive it with this antenna. Since the antenna works so well on all the other channels, though, I came up with a solution that allowed me to keep the db2. I went to Radio Shack and bought a VHF/UHF combiner and hooked up the db2 and an old VHF/UHF antenna (Philips MANT210) up to it. Now the TV receives signals from both antennas: the rabbit ears handles ABC, and the db2 handles the rest. So if you've found yourself in this predicament (especially if the ratio of VHF channels to UHF channels is low for you), I recommend doing as I have.