Customer Reviews

Terk TV-3 Indoor Amplified Rabbit Ear TV Antenna, Video Switch

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Got a new HD TV? It has been said that 95% of americans can get five HD stations (unless you live in the mountains of Idaho, maybe). I get fifteen near Boston. So, this will help you out, but only if the transmitting antenna is within 20 to 30 miles (30 Km or so for you non-northamericans). A rabbit ears and the UHF loop will always help indoor reception. However, the built-in amplifier is a little on the anemic side, but it helps.

The good thing is that this doesn't cost much; if you don't think it is muscular enough, at least you haven't spent up towards $100 on it. HD TV at 720p and especially at 1080i is impressive! My favorite watching is golf games on the pro circuit - you feel you are there! You can literally see individual blades of grass!

So, this will give you a taste of what is possible. The sad truth of indoor TV antennas is that they don't transform lead into gold. You need a substantial outdoor, high antenna pointed in the right direction to get the gold standard in over the air reception.

If you didn't grow up in the heyday of TV, you may need to face the learning curve of jumping up occasionally to change the position or length of the antenna elements or strength of the amplification. It's so fifties! Enjoy!

ADDENDA:

I just got a somewhat more capable amplified indoor HDTV antenna from of all places, Radio Shack - their model 15-1892, which is a futuristic black disk with an internally rotatable antenna on a base with a 22db amplifier (which is a lot of amplification - on the order of 100 to 1000 times better than a plain rabbit ears) and a LED display and a few buttons. It has pulled in more HDTV stations than any other indoor antenna I have tried so far. It cost about $50 and is worth it, in my opinion.

I'm currently using these rabbit ears for my FM radio and it does a fine job - better with the rf amplifier turned off, actually. figure that

I had forgotten that I reviewed this item over 3 years ago - but got a reminder email when Baterdene Sambalaibat commented on my original review. Thank you for setting me straight. I must admit that I've learned a lot about how these things work after I gave this antenna a poor rating. After moving from my original house-dense neighborhood (with lots of reflected signals), and spending some time to look up the relative compass direction of the transmission towers and adjusting this antenna properly, it really works great - much better than other antennas that I tried. It's much better than the outside-mount hi-def antenna that I tried a couple months ago, which I returned when it didn't measure up to this antenna. I'm between 30-40 miles away from the transmission towers, which are in two separate directions from my house, and pick up all of the local HD stations, which I couldn't do with a standard directional house antenna.

This thing is great. If it doesn't work well for you, it is probably user error. Apologies for my previous bad review, included below for reference:

I bought this after reading the positive reviews that I saw here, expecting to experience a dramatic improvement in reception over my shabby OLD rabbit ears. I was disappointed because this Terk didn't provide any improvement over what I had been using. I can't receive any stations clearly. Not even one - VHF or UHF! Even though this thing is right next to a 2nd-floor window and probably less than 15 miles from the transmitter. The power amplifier on this thing is a joke - it's nearly worthless. I have no idea how others are pulling in numerous hi-def stations as they claim to be.

This antenna is awesome. Our cable company dropped one of our local stations, so I started putting antennas on tvs that I might want to watch that station on. I could not find an antenna that would work well on my living room tv. I read reviews, and decided to buy the Terk. Incredible. One thing I really like on this particular model, is the built-in video switch on the back of the unit. I can hook my cable into the antenna, and easily switch from cable to air. If I ever need another antenna, I'll buy nothing but Terk!

Got an ATI HDTV Wonder back in 2006 and was only able to pull 5 channels with the included antenna (mounted stationary). After reading customer feedback, bought this antenna to replace the one I have. I now get all channels listed on antennaweb for my location with a bit of manual grunt (moving around the rabbit ears). Caveat, when I schedule recordings on my HTPC, the antenna has to be pre-positioned to get signal for the channel. Not so good when I need to schedule recordings for channels coming from different angles.

Amplification's in the second to the lowest setting. It can also be turned off if you don't need it. Putting it to max just generates more noise and reduces signal strength for me. Your mileage may vary.

Short cable to link to Digital converter or TV. Slighty flimsy aerials, one of which broke within 3 days.
Does not perform very well in my city location, even though there are plenty of freeview channels available (SF, CA)

AAA one rating.
I like these. I bought them before we were FORCED to move to all digital. I had to buy a new tv because ours went out. This works great on a SDTV and we don't have to get cable to get in local stations. Work fine even in an apartment.
I highly recommend it. Use the boost by turning on the knob to get low powered stations in your area. Don't believe it when you're told that rabbit ears don't work. These do.

Works better than the regular old rabbit ears. On some channels turning the power up too high actually causes interference but I positioned it to where it will bring in all the channels clealy without having to re-adjust it. I was expecting it to perform better than what it does but not complaining because it does the job. I still say keep analog, I prefer a little ghosting rather than losing the entire signal with interference.

I purchased a new TV with a digital tuner for my brother because his old analog set died. He does not have cable or satellite so he needed rabbit ears. The product worked reasonably well in bringing in digital signals. His location is very iffy and digital is an all or nothing proposition. On the strong signals he gets a very good picture. There are local channels that come in with analog but won't come in with digital. He is disappointed in that.

The problem with the Terk antenna is that the cable is too short. I would like to have been able to move the antenna to a different position to see if we could get some of those missing channels.

I am upgrading to DTV and need new Antenna it was great good reception in my area and easy and fast delivery. Thanks

Hooked this up about a year ago and thought it was great. I got 7 stations and I live in a canyon. Two spanish, three cartoons and two I could watch. I was still happy to not have a monthly bill-and we don't get anything else down in here but spotty sat. and that is expensive. However, I got another tv for the bedroom and hooked up an antenna I got from kmart and I got 13 channels. Obviously I got another of the same type for my living room and booooyahhh I have 13 in my living room now also. Would not get another of these.