I am part of a small group of friends who are gadget enthusiasts. One of us was a cable TV technician for 20 years, before that a TV repairman who installed tower TV antenna systems. We find that the best indoor antennas tend to be inexpensive, about $14 tops. There are a lot of makers and retailers of "Amazing digital" indoor antennas that prove to be garbage and cost up to $130. We have tested dozens and in the end end up still recommending $4 RCA units sold by stores like Family Dollar and Dollar General. My favorite has been a no brand flat antenna made in China, sold by Big Lots for $14. With I pick up 9 to 11 digital & HD channels.
Every $30 plus unit I've found recommended by buyer comments, I've ended up returning as the Big Lots unit
did better. Then, I ordered the Leaf. I did expect some improvement given the many very high buyer ratings.
I was also thinking I may still end up returning it. 1st, I was sceptical. As one buyer here put it "it didn't
look like much". Paper thin and paper light sealed in plastic like my diver license. I thought "what the heck?
I paid $44 for this?" My first placements and tuner scanning I was unimpressed. Then, I read the sheet that
came with it. It says best results from positioning it cable down. Since it is in clear plastic and I recalled one buyer wrote she taped it up, I grabbed a thin tall box and taped the Leaf to the top of it so the cable could be at the bottom and hang down and I could move the box to make adjustments on the top of my entertainment system, which permits me to face the Leaf out a window.
This time when I ran scan channels I was floored. My TV tuner found 14 channels. I was seriously impressed when I actually sampled the channels. I got 19 channels and three more (two of them analog) that do not work well. I cannot wait to connect a low power in line amplifier. With that I am sure I will get 22 channels, all with an indoor antenna and I do not need to reposition it to get them all. I cannot wait to see what happens when I position the Leaf to pick up stations to the North of me. I live in Canton, Michigan, an hour from Toledo, Ohio. I would not have believed it if a neighbor told me he could get one Toledo channel with an indoor antenna. I am getting three! I am also getting Canada's CBC 9, an analogue channel.
NOTE. I find many times buyers blame on an antenna a fault I never see mentioned in "buyer reviews" of antennas. I am surprised neither antenna sellers or makers educated buyers about this very real possibility.
Not all tuners are the same, not all tuners in the same TV work properly. For instance, I bought a Haier 10" portable as a gift recently. When I tested it, the TV worked fine. I bought another one a week later as a gift.
The second Haier has a defective tuner. It finds only 2 to 3 channels with the same antenna and same locations and positions where I tested the first Haier I bought. The first TV found 9-11 channels and play them well, except for one or two. Also, the second tuner came up with different results each time I ran scan.
When you find your results with a high buyer rated antenna is poor, you want to make sure the problem isn't your tuner, not your antenna or your location, your house, etc. I point this out because people mention every possibility beginning with sorry antenna and including where their home is, walls in their home, etc., but NEVER suspect the tuner.