Customer Reviews

RCA ANT1450M Multi-Directional Digital Flat Amplified HDTV Antenna (White)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I bought this after I tripped over my Terk antenna--parked in the middle of the room for the best reception--and bent it and drew blood on myself. I bought this one because it was small and wouldn't trip me and because it was on sale and therefore worth the risk.

And there is always a risk. Everybody's reception is different, and I have found that the highest-rated antennas--which work fine for other folks--have not worked as well for me.

I hooked it up and scanned the channels on my TV, and was shocked that this tiny lightweight thing picked up all the same channels as my two more expensive and larger amplified antennas. With my other antennas, my DTV reception is affected by movement in the room, but not with this antenna, which hides nicely behind the TV. I had to move the other antennas depending on which channel I was watching, but this one just sits there, hidden, receiving it all.

I just bought another one for my kitchen TV.

I couldn't be happier with this purchase. The HD programs and channels are beautiful to watch on an HD enabled tv. We don't have cable, so we wanted a powerful indoor antenna. This brought in many more channels than our old rabbit ears did (We live across the river from New York City). In addition, what I really love about it is that it is slick and elegant; it's a huge plus compared to other antennas that can be massive eye-sores. It's true that you do have to reposition it every now and then, but that's what you have to do with all indoor antennas. I wholeheartedly recommend this.

This amplified antenna starts with a small plastic-enclosed array that doesn't catch much signal to give the amplifier. The amplifier isn't strong enough to put out much, either. Together, they will probably do for strong signal areas. I am on the north side of a city where the broadcaset towers are on the south side. So I'm probably about 20 miles from them. The good thing about these antennas is that you may not have to move them once you find the right spot for placement. Watch out though for the cable positioning. It acts as part of the antenna.

What works better is the bigger non-amplified ANT1500M (wrongly described as amplified). It has long been established for antennas, that more metal picks up more signal. I use the ANT1500M with my 24db amplifier, which I purchased separately. All the stations come in with 4 out of 4 bars. With the ANT1450M, half or more of the stations have two or three out of four bars. The ANT1550M is supposed to be the bigger one with probably the same amplifier as with the 1450. You'd be better off with a better amplifier than the one that comes with these (amplified) antennas. I'm returning the ANT1450M.

We have a small TV in the kitchen which does not have access to our whole house antenna. I could not run a coax through the kitchen without having the coax being exposed and ugly or without spending significant money (not worth it just to hide a coax cable).

So we were using the T-shaped cable which came with the TV routed up through one of the kitchen cabinets. This worked pretty well for the analog stations, but digital channels reception was poor.

I measured that this antenna could fit in the back of one of our kitchen cabinets. I installed it and am very happy (and my wife is happy which is more important :)

There are about 20 or so digital channels in Chicago. The old unpowered T-shaped antenna picked up about 5 of them clearly. This antenna picks up all except 4 of them. It is a little irritating that it can not pick up all of the channels, but it is a significant improvement over the old unpowered antenna.

I also tried the antenna unpowered before powering it. Unpowered it picked up about 15 of the channels, so the amplification does indeed work.

It had the design we wanted so it would be more or less hidden (by placing on the top of a shelf or on the wall). When used with the ampflier the reception was very spotty, but WITHOUT the amplfier it worked perfectly, picking up all channels. A much better alternative to rabbit ears, from both the design and reception aspects.

Despite the manufacturer's hype in the product description, do not expect miracles from this or any indoor antenna. The combination of reduced height and intervening walls substantially reduces performance vs. an outdoor antenna. I tried several indoor antennas in this price range, in several locations. This was the best of them, but not perfect. What I found:

1. Not all digital signals are in the UHF band. In my area 2 of the 13 available are broadcasting in VHF, and they are major network (ABC, CBS) affiliates. VHF has a longer wavelength, and generally requires larger antenna elements than these, primarily UHF designed, antennas provide. Go to Antennaweb.org and check out the digital stations in your area. If any are VHF, you will probably want an antenna with VHF elements (aka "rabbit ears"). This is especially true if the "RF Channel" for a given station (also listed on Antennaweb.org), is 10 or lower. That said, the RCA antenna was the best of the bunch. It picked up the station on RF channel 12 flawlessly. The one on RF 9 was OK as long as the antenna was aimed out a window, and I didn't walk in front of it. None of the others could reliably pick up the RF 9 channel. For comparison, my old rabbit ears picked up both flawlessly, but didn't do well on the UHF channels.

2. All of the antennas I tried are fairly directional. All of the transmitters in my area are clustered pretty much in the same direction from my house, 210° +/- 10°, and 10 - 25 miles away. Lots of trees and houses in between, but no tall buildings. When I turned any of the antennas more than 40° off this 210° point I lost all but the two closest ones. The product description says you can lay the RCA flat. That lost me all but 4 of the stations.

3. Intervening walls make a big difference. Aiming the antennas through a window picked up most available channels (all of them with the RCA). Aiming them through an exterior wall took out about half the channels (3 of 13 with the RCA). This is probably because the wall, in addition to being brick, has insulation with a foil vapor barrier.

4. Height makes a big difference. Putting them on top of my stereo cabinet (4' high) vs. on the floor next to it, had about the same effect as aiming through a window vs. wall.

5. Keep them away from metal. None of the antennas worked well at all on top of my stereo cabinet until I realized they were sitting on top of my (metal cased) DVD player. I moved it down a shelf so the antennas were sitting on wood, and they all improved tremendously.

To summarize, the RCA was the best of the antennas in this price range. If you stand it up and aim it toward the transmitters, through a window, it works well for UHF and high band VHF up to about 25 miles away. If your transmitters are in different directions, you may have to get two antennas and use an antenna combiner.

After switch to digital TV, I lost some channels. This antenna picked up them easily. It has removable external amplifier, so you can use antenna with or without it depending on your needs. Very convenient. Reception is crystal clear. In horizontal position antenna takes very little space and looks very stylish.

If an antenna could be any easier to use, this one was. Reception had been been annoying before always re-adjusting the old antenna when tuned to certain stations. This one, in one position gets them all, even the weakest signal.

I also bought this being unsure how much the amplifier would boost the signal. It worked. I tried the antenna with and without the signal amp. There is definite boost in reception clarity. For my setup, I was feeding the antenna signal to the DVR and then on to the TV. I'm sure there was some signal loss in the connections and along the path. With this antenna, with the amplifier on, the digital signal is steady and strong, allowing for a nice picture. If you're in a fringe reception area for some station or have a weaker signal because of configuration, this will make the difference. Good results and value for this price.

This made a dramatic difference in my reception over rabbit ears. The antenna sits in my window, the same place as my rabbit ears, but now I get about 5 more channels. The amplifier is contained in this product, but it is a separate device so you can turn it on or off and check your reception. I get better reception with the amplifier than without. Highly recommended.

This little antenna is working great for me.

Out of the box, I was a little surprised at just how small it was, it's only about 9 inches square.

I was previously using a rabbit ears and loop type antenna which had to have the dipoles fully extended to have a chance at getting channels 2, 5, and 7. Sometimes I could get those channels, sometimes not, and I'd always have to fiddle with the position and gain switch of the rabbit ears. Actually, I almost never got channel 2 with the old antenna, although it's been slightly better since the digital switchover. I could live with the situation, since I usually watch PBS and some UHF stations that were coming in OK. According to antennaweb, I'm about 19 miles from the broadcast towers. Even back when I still had a roof antenna some stations came in poorly. When the antenna mast rusted I didn't think the old roof antenna was even worth replacing.

So, goodbye ugly rabbit ears and hello little flat panel. Screwed on the connectors, plugged in the amplifier and set the panel flat on a windowsill. 10 minute installation time if I count routing the cords behind the cabinets.

I did a channel scan and it found all the local stations, both the easy ones and the harder 2, 5 and 7. Great HD picture from a little un-obtrusive antenna! I also tried it without the amplifier box and I can get my favorite stations without the amp, but with the amp it pulls in everything.

Some people I know with cable or satellite write off over-the-air programming. I think they are missing a great thing, the 720P or 1080i high def programs that are being broadcast now look great.
I think they'd be shocked if they saw what a great picture I now get all without an ugly antenna or high cable bills. And they are missing out on some great PBS programming.

As I said, I am 19 miles from the broadcast tower, pretty flat area, just some trees and maybe a small building blocking line of sight to the towers. And I am lucky that I've got a handy window that faces the direction of the towers.

I will buy another of these antennas for the other TV set, it's a great deal at Amazon's current price!