Customer Reviews

Terk Low-Profile Indoor Antenna (TV5)

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(34)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

for geographic reference I live 25 miles NW of DC.
The only CON was that the square antenna band takes a bit more lateral "real estate", but for the good reception I'm getting, its worth it
SUMMARY:
Someone gave me an old style antennae with a booster attachment and it worked OK, but I had to adjust it for certain channels, then during a surgical recovery I used cable for a couple of months then when I had the cable turned off, I couldn't get the old boosted antennae to restore the usual network (ABC, CBS, NBC, PAX, PBS, UPN AND WB{local}) reception.
So I did some research on booster antennaes and found this item advertised at a local big screen TV retailer. As they were highly recognized for being hi-quality and hi-tech, I did some more research on the TERK TV5 and while there were very few, (apparently this a reasonably new product), all the reviews I found were positive, so I ordered one oneline (saved $10 over the local retailer).
I installed the antennae in a matter of minutes (very simple design) and plugged it in.
Turned the TV on and VOILA! instant reception in the above channels and a few others too.
I am VERY pleased and satisfied, requires little or no adjustment (for my area) between channels.

Once you get over the looks of this antenna, it performs like a champ. I read several magazine reviews and checked out Circuit City's site and this antenna is mentioned at the top of everyone's chart.
I have DirecTV and it works great in combo with that, pulls in all my local digital and national HDTV channels.
I too am over 30 miles from the stations, but have no bad channels, the only time reception is weak or it does not pull in clearly is a local issue not the antenna's fault.
I liked this antenna, because it is not so massive, works indoors great, and it fit between the top of the big screen and the shelf above it with room to still adjust it.
I like it.

I recently got rid of my cable company since they only provided 4 local high definition channels and that too was very unreliable. One of the other channels would be out weeks at a time. They did not have the ability to connect an over the air (OTA) antenna either to the receiver box.

I had the Dish Network installed, and I am using the 921 box which is a High Def Tuner with DVR. It has a coax connection for the OTA antenna. Once you plug in an external antenna, you go to the menu on the receiver and choose Local Channels and then choose Scan Digital Channels option and the receiver sets off to find all the UHF Digital channels you can receive. Then it presents you a menu of all the digital channels, you can see which ones are High Def since it will have the channel name with DT or HD next to it. I realize this is not relavent to the antenna I am commenting on, but I wish someone had told me how all this works since I spent some time on figuring this out, so I am putting this in for completeness.

Anyhow I went to Radio Shack and got the TERK HDTVi antenna which looks funky, it picked up just PBS and Fox, nothing else would come in, also it was very directional.

Next I got the TERK TV-53 which is what you install over your Dish, that did not work either. Then reading the reviews here and on the Circuit City website, I purchased the Terk TV-5 from Circuit City and right away by just placing the antenna on the floor near the TV it picked up all the High Def Channels in my area (UPN, WB, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and Fox).

Though the receiver recognized these channels, I was unable to get ABC and CBS since the signal was weak, I live over 30 miles from these stations. So I took my antenna and put it in my balcony (Yes i realize this is an indoor antenna), and plugged it into my balcony's power outlet, I connected the output of the antenna into the diplexer output that I had my Dish installer put in, this is so that you can connect an external OTA antenna into the same line that the Satellite signal is going in. Then on the receiver side I had a splitter and one went into the Sat connection and the other went into the OTA Antenna connection.

The result was amazing, the signals all came in very clear with signal strength in the 90s.

Only thing left to do is to ensure that I won't have any issues with having an indoor antenna in the balcony, perhaps I need to make sure water does not fall on it and short circuit the whole thing.

This is the third antenna I purchased... the first on was an inexpensive RCA, and the second one was the Zenith HDTV/UHF model. The RCA is also an electrically powered antenna, and it worked better than the Zenith, but most of the channels were still pretty fuzzy. When I plugged the Terk in, it didn't seem to work any better than the RCA - Until I changed its location. The directions recommend placing this antenna near a window, so I moved the antenna away from the TV and mounted it on the wall closer to the front door. It's not pretty, but I get 13 channels now, and most are pretty clear. It easy to change to antenna's direction to get the best signal for different channels.

I recently bought a Sony HDTV w/ tuner. I only receive about 7 HD channels through cable tv. I checked antennaweb.com and discovered that most/all of the local stations broadcast in DTV. The primary transmitter is 40 mi from my house (in San Francisco), but is line-of-sight (I live on a hill across the Bay). No large buildings, trees, etc... in the way.

I plugged in the TV5 and didn't get a signal, but after using the auto program feature on the tv, was able to get all the local programming in DTV (approx 20 stations). I did have to max out the gain to receive all the channels(I bought the TV5 because it had the highest amplification I could find).

I wish the TV5 had markings on the base and the cylindrical mount used to rotate the antenna. It would be helpful when rotating the antenna to maximize the signal from different transmission towers.

Oh, the analog signals were just ok. Weaker stations had lots of snow. Light diagnonal lines on others. Since I was getting all the the stations in DTV, I deleted the analog stations from my program guide.

FYI - I still subscribe to cable (for the "plus" programming and premium channels).

The TV5 seems to work great for picking up the DTV signals. I can now enjoy HDTV broadcasts for all the major networks and local channels (I really bought the tv for improved dvd images).

I am very pleased that the TV5 is able to pick up all the DTV signals. (Indoor antenna purchases seem to be a trial and error endeavor. Note that I did buy from a store with a 30 day money back guarantee, just in case.)

In summary, the TV5 was able to pick up all DTV signals even though the transmission tower is 40 mi away (line-of-sight). Analog signals just ok, with lots of snow with weaker stations. DTV signals were fine (even on the stations w/ weak analog signals). The TV5 does exactly what I need it to do. It provides me with local DTV programming until the cable companies offer DTV for all local stations.

I saw a review for this on some one's blog and decided to give it a try. I've not had cable in my home for the last 8 years, I have kids and didn't feel like exposing them to shows on cable at all hours of the day and night without me knowing what they were watching.
The last antenna, (rabbit ears) worked ok, they picked up our local stations but I was always adjusting them.
This came today and I plugged it in, hooked it up, and couldn't believe the difference in how my local stations are coming in.
It was a miracle! And the best part, no more adjusting when we change channels. Every station comes in clear and I am pleasantly surprised and very, very happy with this product.

I'd been using a set of rabbit ears with a UHF bowtie for local channels, which worked pretty well. I live in an urban area that gets decent reception. I bought the Terk TV5 to see if I could clear up some of the interference on VHF, and pull in a couple of stations from a little farther away.

The construction quality is good, although the cable could be longer. There is a built in bypass switch if you have satellite or cable, which is nice.

As for performance: picture quality is good, range average. This antenna did get me better reception on a couple of channels that had ghosting or snow before. But I wasn't able to receive anything that I couldn't get with the rabbit ears. If I turned the amp all the way up, I could get some of them to come in slightly, but not well enough to watch.

My advice: check your reception first with a $10 antenna from Radio Shack. If you get everything you want and just need better reception, this is a great antenna for you. It will fit on top of your TV, and really does provide a great picture.

However, if you're trying to expand the number of channels you can receive, you'll have to get something else.

I bought the Terk TV5 with great expectations, but was ready to be disappointed. However, once i plugged it in, it picked up every single OTA channel possible. I was stunned. I'm using Dish Networks 811 receiver which is known to lock in channels only when the reception is superb (70% or greater).

Keep in mind that placement of this antenna is crucial. I used to place it right above my TV, didn't work as well as placing it near a window but yet on the floor. i was surprised to find that fact. How can the antenna work better on the floor than on higher ground? I guess putting it near the window is key.

I do not subscribe to cable television, so I'm quite used to imperfect reception. Over the years, I've tired of manipulating "rabbit ears" and bizarre third arms to find a clear signal and this unit has been a fine alternative. Simply rotating the flat arms around the center post allows the user to find near perfect reception for most strongly-broadcast channels. I live in Manhattan and many networks send their signals across the air and this antenna affords me clear reception on channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 25, and a host of shopping and Latino channels.
The only improvement that would upgrade my rating from 4 to 5 stars would be a remote control to rotate the base from a distance. Fine-tuning between channels late at night becomes cumbersome when the task mandates a trip to the box.
All and all, an unadulterated support.

I just received this today, and hooked it up...WOW! There were some local channels we couldn't pick up before, including our local CBS channel. But with this antenna, now they come in clearly.

We've tried so many other antennas, including ones that were more expensive, but noe work as well as this does. Buy it, you won't be sorry!