Customer Reviews

Winegard HD7694P High Definition VHF/UHF Antenna

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Installed this antenna in the attic (cement siding & pine shake roof). Pointing it properly made a really big difference in signal strength. With some adjustment (and moving it away from the metal furnace flue) I picked up all the HD channels from the tower 25 miles away with a signal strength between 50-100. It picked up all the channels off the UHF and VHF towers 25 miles to the north when pointing the antenna north, and even picked up the channels off the UHF tower 5 miles away which were about 120 degrees to the left.

I had previously purchased a ClearStream 4 UHF antenna but didn't realize it didn't do VHF. While the ClearStream 4 is fairly compact and easy to install in an attic, the Winegard HD7694P is a bit trickier to install/adjust/point inside an attic space as it's length, weight, and long metal rods tend to run into the attic 2x4's. The UHF performance is just as good as the ClearStream 4, if not just a little better.

The only channels I don't get are from antenna towers either 75 miles+ away, or in a totally different direction (which I didn't care about anyway). My cable run is about 50 feet long and I'm not using a signal booster with my Tivo Premier. So we are cancelling our DirectTV ($65/month) satellite service, because now we get lots of HD channels for free.

Moral of the story: Do your channel/tower/signal homework. Check the location of the TV towers with the channels you want on antennapoint.com or antennaweb.org.

Final tip: When pointing your antenna, point it once, check the signal strength, and then adjust its orientation to improve the weakest channel you really want. The higher power/better signal channels will probably still be good and you'll get that weaker channel's signal you want up into the "green".

I live in a hilly, wooded area about 16 miles from the local TV transmitters. The bunny ear antennas from years ago got me most of the local stations, but I had intermittent pixelation and sound problems, especially on VHF (13 and below) stations. I mounted this antenna in the attic of our 2 story house (My wife thinks antennas on the roof are ugly). That got it above most of the nearby trees that were blocking the TV signal and pointed it toward town. Luckily for me, the local stations are all in the same direction. This antenna does seem to have a preferred receive direction (the way the fork points). All of the channels 7 and above work great now even without a preamp. I got a preamp to help Ch 6 which is outside the manufacturers suggested 7-69 for this antenna. The preamp/filter seems to have solved most of the Ch 6 problems as well. This antenna is fairly big when spread (64" long, 36" wide, 12" tall), so if it had been much bigger, I would have had trouble orienting it in the attic around the roof supports.

I purchased this antenna to replace a Terk TV55 which was not providing consistent reception of digital channels in my location. I live about 30-35 miles from the towers in a neighborhood with lots of trees. The Winegard HD7694P added 10-15 points to the signal strength of all the stations it is pointed at and so far not a single drop out or lost signal. It includes the rubber boot to cover the RF connector and a decent manual. very satisfied.

I live in a northwest suburb next to O'Hare airport (21 miles from the broadcasting antennas) and bought the Wingard HD7694P to replace an old Radio Shack model. I wasn't able to get our Channel's 2 & 7 reliably with the old antenna since the stations went to a digital signal. I purchased this antenna and an amplifier. After connecting the antenna with my old cables and without the amplifier, every station came in great. The amplifier was sent back and I now enjoy amazing clarity on all channels.

After reading reviews and having purchased another brand of HD antenna that didn't perform well I finally settled on the Winegard 7694P. I was surprised how small it was, especially after putting it on the roof. I replaced a Clearstream 4 that was only fair at receiving channels 14 - 69 and terrible at receiving 2 - 13(VHF). At the time I purchased the Clearstream it was not advertised that it would not pickup VHF, since they did not think any stations would use VHF after the digital switch. But almost all broadcast areas will have at least one station that broadcasts digital on VHF, so keep this in mind when you shop for an antenna.

The Winegard description clearly states that it receives channels 7-69. This was critical in my decision making. It is working perfectly, even on windy days it locks in to all channels. Signal strengths are strong and I probably won't need my rotor anymore. I am picking up stations 50 miles away with ease. This one is definitely the right choice.

First, I want to say that our decision to drop the cable company 3 months ago was one of the best we have made in years. Paying $60+ a month for channels we rarely watched was a complete waste of money. I will admit I miss certain channels like CNN & ESPN, but not enough to spend $60 or more a month for just a couple of channels like those. Netflix, Hulu Plus and an OTA TV antenna has provided 90% of the programming we would have watched on cable with a significant savings on monthly expenses.

As for the Winegard HD7694P HDTV I have had good, but not great results with it. I do live in a fringe reception area approximately 57 miles south of the major broadcast networks in Indianapolis, IN which is a pretty big job to ask of an antenna to consistently receive a clear signal from that distance over some hilly terrain. We are lucky enough though to have few trees or hills blocking the view from our home, though. Also, I chose to mount the antenna in our attic which I realize decreases reception. Even with all of these problems, I manage to consistently receive a crystal clear, non-pixelated HD signal from most major networks out of Indianapolis. There are however a couple of channels that vary in consistency depending upon weather conditions, etc. Bottom line is while I am always able to have excellent picture quality on 3/4 of the major networks out of Indy, about 50% of the time I may not have such great results with the 4th.

I was previously using a ChannelMaster 2016 antenna which gave me nearly the same results as this Winegard HD7694P. The ChannelMaster 2016 was a smaller, easier to handle antenna that cost roughly $20 less. The ChannelMaster seemed to be less directional, providing better results at receiving channels from Terre Haute, IN to the west and Louisville, KY to the south. With the Winegard pointed in nearly the same direction as the ChannelMaster, I now receive no Louisville channels and the Terre Haute channels pixelate more often than before. I do have better results on the Indianapolis Fox affiliate than I did have with the ChannelMaster 2016. My assumption is that the Winegard may have a longer range reception ability than the ChannelMaster, but is more directional than the ChannelMaster and therefore does a great job at receiving stations that it is pointed directly at while struggling a bit on channels that are offset by more than 20 degrees to the side.

All in all, I ranked the Winegard 4/5 stars because it does do its job fairly well but for its size and cost I expected it to perform significantly better than the ChannelMaster 2016. I would not say it does for our situation, more of a trade-off than overall improvement.

This high quality antenna replaced a four panel bow-tie. It added new VHF and improved the UHF digital signals under all sorts of tropical weather conditions. The Tampa antenna fields are 40 to 49 miles, over flat geography, to the southeast of my location. Set up was actually fun, brilliantly unfolding and locking into position in a logical way. The antenna is light weight, yet strong and very high quality. I couldn't be more pleased with this purchase.

I mounted this thing in the attic.

Go to [...] to get the direction to mount this bad boy.

It took 3 minutes to assemble and 10 minutes to mount in the attic.

This thing is VERY directional. I first had this thing mounted about 180 degrees offset and was getting 20% signal,
at first I was worried it was because the attic mounting.

Once I got a compass app for my phone I got this thing dialed in based on the specs from [...]

My signal is now 90%+ on all stations, even the high VHF low channels (which I wanted because thats CBS and NBC!)

even during storms I don't get ANY drop off.

Pair this with a home built HTPC using windows7 media center for free DVR and you now how a Over the Air POWERHOUSE!!!

I had an indoor 1-bay bow tie style antenna that I was using prior to mounting this beast in my attic. This one doesn't pull in any of the UHF channels as well, and just barely beats the single bay antenna when it comes to VHF. I am able to get the one VHF channel I really wanted (NBC), but in the process, I lost a few lesser UHF channels that I didn't watch much. It just seems like an antenna this big would be able to pick up all of the above as well as the little antenna sitting in my livingroom. You can tell that it is very directional too... if it's a couple degrees off (and I mean 2 or 3) you lose channels completely. The bow tie antenna can be oriented in just about any direction and still pick up just as much... even when mounted indoors and 10' lower. So, while I am using this as my primary antenna, I'm not super impressed with it. I'm guessing that the specs are exaggerated; otherwise, it should have bested my little antenna in every way.

I live 30 miles from the TV transmitters here in SW Florida. I was torn between buying this model or the next larger one as my signal strength was too weak with a 4' boom length Channel Master antenna. This unit quoted as being within the specified range, but on the fringe. The antenna has a 5' boom length with more elements than the Channel Master I was using.

Happily this antenna performs superbly. I have it split three ways with no signal amplification and still getting 5 bars out of 6. All 15 local channels are being received with no drop outs.

The antenna arrived quickly. It was easy to set up and install. Best of all...it's made right here in the good 'ol USA.

The antenna is being used with a home theater PC and Windows Media Center software for live TV viewing and recording. Dropped DirecTV and saving $95 per month.