Customer Reviews

Winegard HD8200U Platinum HD VHF/UHF Antenna

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have endured and suffered an ongoing struggle to receive local VHF channels Over the air (OTA) through an antenna. The past few months have been particularly bad especially for digital channel 12 on VHF which for most of that time was not receivable and when I could get it I was getting between one and two bars (out of ten) of signal strength. I would usually get two bars of signal strength on digital channel 7 VHF. I had been using a 30ish year old Radio Shack UHF/VHF combo 160 inch rooftop antenna that came with my house for VHF and a seperate UHF AD XG91 antenna combined through a CM 7777 preamp. UHF reception has been pretty good for the last year and a half or so, but it has been a struggle with VHF reception. I live in the northwestern Berkshire Mountain range, just to the east of Mt. Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts. I sit about 49 miles east of the transmitters broadcasting the Albany, NY networks as I live in that DMA. I have done a lot of research into my problem and decided to replace my Radio Shack with a new antenna. I narrowed it down to a Channel Master 3671 or a Winegard HD8200U. I decided to go with the Winegard and ordered it from Amazon because it was supposed to be UPS shippable and there's no place around here to get one. I was suprised at how long the box was at seven feet and it arrived with all but one staple removed and the antenna suffered a bit of cosmetic damage in transit including a few slightly bent elements that I was able to straighten without much trouble. All of the parts were there however and it wasn't much trouble to assemble. It was a bit bigger than I expected, about three feet longer than the Radio Shack it replaced at a total of about 14 feet assembled, but it is reasonably light. So I got it installed and aimed and checked my TVs. Well to my surprise my signal strength on digital Channel 12 and digital Channel 7 went from one to two bars up to a solid ten bars (out of ten) on both channels! I was quite amazed and wish I had replaced this antenna long ago. Channels 6 and 10 ANALOG now also come in crystal clear and I'm even getting channel 2 analog out of Utica, NY (about 30 miles west of Albany, NY) sound and snowy picture. Simply an amazing antenna and I recommend it highly to anyone on the fringe. I should be set now for the analog shutoff when some other channels move back to VHF. Very satisfied with this antenna! Amazon as always beat everyone else on price and satisfaction. Delivery was a bit shaky, but that was UPS's fault, not Amazon

If you are on the fence about buying this antenna (the Winegard HD8200U), get it! It is worth the money. I bought it for my parents and my parents and I couldn't be happier with it.
Here is the back story: My parents live in Ashland, WI and get their TV signals from Duluth, MN. They live about 55 miles from Duluth, as the crow flies (I believe). Even though they didn't have to switch until June (2009), most Duluth stations switched to digital-only broadcasts in February (2009). Ever since then, my parents have gotten no TV signal - well, they get one analog station weakly... So, I got them a digital converter box - no luck - no signal at all. They also recently bought a Sony HD TV with its own digital converter built in. Still no signal. I bought a HD-compatible amplifier and mounted it on their antenna mast - the analog station came in better, but no digital signal.
So, I ordered the Winegard HD8200U after reading reviews and doing some research. I also bought the Winegard AP-8275 Chromstar 2000 Series Pre Amplifier at the same time because I guess I wanted to buy the amplifier that was "made" to go with this antenna.
The antenna comes in a very long box and that might be a little hard to deal with. My dad and I assembled it on the ground outside their house today and this thing is *quite large*. The pictures in the instructions are very small and could be a little more clear. Also, my dad had to run into town and pick up some replacement bolts and nuts, since we somehow lost several of them - not sure they were ever in the box. We put it on a 10-foot mast, ran the cord in through the window of the house and tested it. Even on the ground - without being on top of the house - this thing gets amazing reception. We got every channel available and they come in very clearly.
Then we got it up onto the roof and screwed it in and tied it down. I don't think it is going anywhere... Reception on the analog channels is a little better than on the ground - and the digital channels (including two 720p and one 1080i programs) come in very clearly with no breakup or reception problems at all.
My parent's land is surrounded by trees but should have a pretty straight shot towards Duluth.
Anyway, I don't mean to make this review too long or corny. But I have been working on this project for months and it was amazing what a difference there was between their old antenna and the Winegard antenna - no signal vs. perfect signal.
I wish I would have bought it sooner, though I guess I wouldn't want to have been up on the roof in super cold weather.
I am now confident that this antenna is worth the money and lives up to what they promise.
Hope that helps.
- Jeremy

We bought this antenna for my in-laws who live about 55 miles from the signal source. We coupled this with an Winegard Ap-8275 Chromstar pre-amp. It is roof mounted.

We eyballed the angle towards the signal source, split it three ways, hooked it into the converter boxes, and fired up the TV's. We were able to pick up 12 stations (we got 4 before), and even caught two stations 80 miles away and 90 degrees from where we pointed the antenna. This antenna is awesome.

This unit was purchased to replace a 20+ year old antenna that was somewhat corroded and had several bent or missing elements. The old antenna was pulling in all of the local Baltimore stations well, but reception of Washington DC area channels (particularly UHF) was spotty at best. After reading the overwhelmingly positive reviews here and elsewhere, I had high hopes that the HD-8200U would improve my reception substantially.

As others have noted, the instructions do leave a bit to be desired. With careful review and some common sense, though, assembly is not too difficult. In general, the antenna appears to be well constructed. I did encounter one manufacturing issue, however, when attempting to join the front and rear sections. A bolt hole that had been punched in the tube had not been done so cleanly. The result was a large "burr" on the inside of the tube that needed to be broken off and filed down before the parts could be put together.

After completing assembly and mounting the unit in the same orientation as the previous antenna, I hurried into the house - anxious to check out signal strengths and rescan for any additional channels. I was surprised to find that I had in fact lost several stations. The receiver was no longer detecting DC channels 4, 5, 20, and 66 at all. I spent considerable time adjusting the antenna rotor, but to no avail. Signal strengths for all of the local stations (both UHF and VHF) are quite good but about the same as with the old antenna.

I am not running a preamplifier, but I really expected this unit to perform at least as well as my previous weather-worn, beat up antenna without one. This has been a waste of both time and money for me.

We lost half of our eight local stations in June, 2009 when the switch happened to Digital Broadcast only. So, we knew our TERK indoor antenna (OK for 20 years) was not adequate. Did research on indoor ones and purchased four only to return them because of no improvement or worse. Did much more research and decided on trying an outdoor bigger one in the attic before going the most difficult route - roof mounting. Chose the Hd8200 because of the rave reviews.

The very long (11') box arrived and we realized this was turning into a huge project to assemble and install in the attic above our living room where the 25yr. old TV is - Toshiba - works great.

We carefully carried the five pieces to the attic and began assembly. All the parts arrived safely. This antenna is so huge - 15' by 11' - that ground assembly was clearly impossible. The directions could have been clearer! But, there's only five pieces and opening up the many rods went quickly enough in the hot and cramped attic. Hung it with nylon rope from the roof rafters. Got the best cable (RG6) and put the 50' down the inside of the wall into the basement and up through the living room floor.

It's quite directional. We rotated it 30 degrees to get the maximum reception. Because of the enormous size, rotation space is limited. But that's OK, it turned out.

To our amazement, we now get an unbelievable 47 stations - up from eight, all brilliantly clear on a 25 yr. old TV. We also purchased the Winegard AP 8700 preamp which did not seem to make any difference. We now receive San Jose, (50 mi. away), and Cotati, (45 mi. away).

So, roof mounting is not necessary and the 8200 is definitely worth the $$ and effort. Glad we did the research and got good speedy free delivery service from Amazon.

I temporarily installed the Antenna outside on a 8 Foot Pole until the snow melts when I will then install on a 20 foot pole. I live approx 35 miles east of Cleveland. I had trouble picking up Cleveland stations with my much smaller antenna, but even at 8 feet the channels come in perfectly. I am going to add a channelmaster rotator. With added heighth and the rotator I suspect I will be able to pull in more channels. Some days I can even pickup Toledo stations not clearly but passable. This antenna is very large (I beleive its about 12' long)and the instuctions could be clearer but if you take your time you won't screw it up. Be sure you use RG6 cable for less signal loss and you will probably have to assemble it outside or in a garage due to its length. I also found when hooking up and activating the Digital convertor box analog channels come in even a tiny bit better. I am very satisfied with this antenna...

I had to install this HD 8200U in my attic, what a pain. This is a very large antenna to assemble in a hot attic, and barely had enough room. Fortunately, my house is lined up with the transmitters in Chicago, which are about 45 miles away, so it runs along the length of the house. I bought the AP 8275, and I am sending it back. It was causing signal problems, could be defective. Parts of this antenna are fragile, I broke one of the arrow shaped rods where the rivet is, but sort of fixed it with wire and electrical tape. The instructions are not very good, but I did manage to figure things out. This antenna is very directional, so you will have to work on getting it pointed correctly for the best signal strength. There are 2 wires that have to be fed through small holes, but I managed to accomplish this. The box was taped well, but only had 2 staples in it. So that is the bad or things you need to know.

The picture quality I am getting is fantastic. So without an amplifier, and in my attic, I get the DTV versions of 2,4,5,7,9,11,17,18,20,23,24,26,32,38,44,48,& 50. A couple of these are from Milwaukee and one is from Rockford. Most of these have 3 or 4 channels each, for example, WTTW has 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, & 11.4. I might invest in a non-directional UHF antenna, to try and pick up some more Wisconsin channels. Prior to this I have had Comcast, Dish, and Direct TV. All had problems, now I am saving $70 a month or $840 a year after about a $200 investment. A lot of the cable programming was garbage for my kids anyway, so no great loss from my perspective. With a little effort, you can install this and get FREE HDTV. God Bless America! I would recommend this antenna to my neighbors.

I purchased this antenna to get ready for the analog to digital transistion as my existing antenna was VHF only and was about 15 years old. The Winegard was easily assembled despite somewhat confusing instructions and appears quite well made. The improvement in my reception was noticible but not earth shattering as I hoped it might be but I am picking up all of the channels that are expected by the various reception guide sites to be available to me and more so I am pleased. I am using it with a Winegard preamplifier as well.

We have had this antenna up for about a month. We are in a very rural area and are almost out of the blue fringe area. This antenna brought in analog channels better than we had ever had. With the converter box we get 10 digital channels as clear as our friends get cable. The only problem was trying to figure out how to assemble it. It was very simple after we decided that the brace bar went on top.

I used this antenna with the Chromstar 2000 amplifier. I live near Everett, Wa and receive(digital and analog) channels from Vancouver, BC (over 100 miles away). The channels are crystal clear when the antenna is pointed north, but still come in when I point the antenna south. A word of warning, this antenna is huge. Take a look at the dimensions, before deciding where to mount it.