Antennas Direct DB8 Multidirectional HDTV Antenna

Other products by Antennas Direct

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 42 x 29 x 4 inches ; 10 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000EHWCDW
• Item model number: DB8
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (102 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #7 in	Electronics > Accessories & Supplies > Audio & Video Accessories > TV Accessories > HDTV Accessories > HDTV Antennas
  #11 in	Electronics > Accessories & Supplies > Audio & Video Accessories > Antennas

• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 8, 2006

Product Description

Product Description
Intended for people at great distances from the transmitters, the DB8 is our most powerful multi-directional HD antenna. In fact, its 15.8 dB gain make it one of the most powerful multi-directional antennas available. The bow tie design of the DB8 uses triangular elements instead of rods to greatly increase the bandwidth allowing it to cover the entire UHF band. Additionally, the mesh reflector of the bowtie is more efficient than a rod reflector, is lower in weight, and provides less wind resistance for greater performance and durability. This DB8 is the ideal antenna for use in locations that can pull long range signals from various directions and offers an attractive alternative to using a directional antenna mounted on a rotator.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

110 of 113 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Super sensitive, difficult to point, June 6, 2008

By	G. E. Grant "sciencetech" (Port Townsend, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Buying an antenna for your digital TV receiver? It can be difficult, eh? If you live in the city near the transmitters, it's fairly easy -- any small, truly omni-directional antenna will do fine (perhaps the Antennas Direct DB2). If, like me, you live 50+ miles from the TV transmitters and they're in different directions, it becomes a challenge. Here's some tips:

- No antenna is totally "omni-directional" (receives from all directions) no matter what the ad says. Every antenna receives better in one direction than another, and the high-gain antennas are the most picky. Your TV's rabbit ears antenna might do better than a fancy high-gain antenna if it's pointed in the wrong direction. If you buy a "uni-directional" or high-gain antenna, be prepared to spend a lot of time tweaking the direction.

- Don't believe the high-gain ratings, they're mostly marketing hype. There are independent web sites by antenna nerds that rate antennas fairly, so do some research. What you'll find is that every antenna receives some channels better than others -- for instance, it may have great reception ("gain") for channels 30-60 but be terrible for channels 1-20. Ideally, buy an antenna that has has good gain for the channel(s) you're most interested in... if you know what those are.

- Antennas are highly sensitive to position, direction, and things nearby that might interfere with the signals (trees, houses, traffic, the family dog, etc). So what works for me or your neighbor might not work for you. Even a slightly different location may have a huge effect on your reception.

I have a Channelmaster 4221 and an AntennasDirect DB8, one pointed at distant Seattle and the other pointed at Canada, and both connected to an RCA A/B antenna switch. Both antennas are excellent; the DB8 is slightly more sensitive but extremely hard to point. I would rate it 5-stars except it didn't come assembled and the assembly instructions are a bit puzzling. Construction and materials are good. The Channelmaster 4221 is somewhat easier to point but still highly directional; it came mostly assembled. Gain is good in my location. I'm only rating it four stars because the construction is less solid. If you're looking at these same two antennas but unsure of what to buy, I'd start with the 4221: it's much cheaper and more forgiving about the pointing direction. If you find yourself needing better reception, perhaps buy a preamp to go with it; if that still doesn't work, maybe move up to the DB8 or a higher mounting location.

Good luck!

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best in class long range antenna., May 9, 2007

By	S. Fox - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I live over 50 miles from the stations. The DB8 is the best antenna I have found for long range reception. It is tuned for the higher DTV frequencies and is resistant to interference. It will be much harder to get the same results from a combination UHF/VHF antenna.

With my previous antenna, I could only receive 3 Of the 8 HD stations in my area.

After installing the DB8, I not only got all 8 stations with 85% or better signal strength, I was even able to improve the signal on my existing channels by about 20 points.

For the previous reviewers who had a problem, it was most likely an installation error. Unless you live very close to the towers, it's kind of hard to screw up DTV reception with a high gain UHF antenna like the DB8.

For long range reception the DB8 is best in class, but as much as I like its performance, this is probably not the best antenna for people living less than 5 miles from the transmitters, as it could possibly overload a tuner or attract multi-path interference.

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Happy with my purchase, November 7, 2007

By	B. Bishoff - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When I got an HD 1080i TV I purchased Lacrosse antenna (after reading favorable reviews) I was not happy with the Lacrosse. When I purchased new Dish Network ViP722 I had to do something so I purchased the DB8 after reading reviews.

All the HD towers were about 18 miles North-West of me. I have trees close to the antenna and between it and the towers.

The DB8 came through for me. I could never receive more than 2 analog TV channels worth watching but I got all these through the digital signal.

----------Digital Signal Strength
Channel-----Lacrosse---------DB8
3.1----------- NA ---------- 88
12.1---------- 73 ---------- 100
16.1---------- 82 ---------- 100
29.1---------- NA ---------- 100
35.1---------- NA ---------- 75
40.1---------- NA ---------- 75

The DB8 did not gain or loss much signal strength as I moved it to fine tune it. The Lacrosse would lose and gain other channels when moved for fine tuning. It would not pickup more than 2 channels at a time.