Customer Reviews

Zenith ZHDTV1 HDTV-UHF Digital Indoor Antenna (Silver and Black)

5 star:		(183)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(37)
2 star:		(35)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

I live in a historic brick building, which means I cannot get cable or install a satellite TV antenna outside. As a result, my reception has been horrible, which is a pity considering my nice HDTV. I have been using a Terk TV55 indoors with limited success (I constantly have to reorient it in order to find the "sweet spot" to receive digital and hdtv channels).

This antenna is a dream come true. Small, light, easily moved, the reception of this small un-amplified antenna is FAR better than that of the Terk one I upgraded from (and a fraction of the cost, I might add). Considering the poor reception I had before, I am greatly impressed with the ability of this small antenna to overcome the thick brick walls in my building without the constant loss of signal that the Terk antenna had.

Fantastic! This is the third HDTV antenna I've tried and so far, it is the best I've ever seen. I should reiterate that this antenna is un-amplified, which means that unlike other HDTV antennas, you don't have to plug it into an outlet.

One caveat though: the antenna is not exactly rugged. One of my friend dropped it on the floor and it broke the connection to the back, requiring me to order a new one.

This is an excellent indoor antenna, I haven't found better! Great picture quality, very low multipath, high gain for long range. If you wish to use an indoor antenna for whatever reason (in my case, I don't feel like the hassle or expense of installing an outdoor antenna yet, I probably will one of these days). There are a few things any potential buyer should note:

1. This antenna is marketed as an HDTV antenna. And, yes, it will receive ATSC (American HDTV) signals. No, a special antenna isn't necessary to do this. This antenna is actually made by a British company (Antiference) where they have a totally different digital TV system (DVB-T, which is debatably significantly better in terms of reception ease). I'm sure this is a great indoor antenna for HDTV - but the same characteristics of a great UHF antenna, make it a great antenna for any UHF signal, be it ATSC (American HDTV), NTSC (American analog), PAL, or DVB-T. No special antenna required. Though ATSC is so hard to receive with multipath, a GOOD antenna is important (which this is for an indoor).

2. Even the best indoor antenna simply will not compete with even a decent outdoor antenna. Outdoor antennas are able to use bigger, more effective designs and even more importantly they have a clear line of sight. An good outdoor antenna is best, this is merely a good 2nd place.

3. This antenna is UHF only. In case you're not aware, that means this antenna will not recieve channels 1-13 (VHF-Lo, and VHF-Hi). Well, actually, it will, but VERY poorly. This isn't a problem with this antenna. It's a UHF log-periodic design. It's a wonderful UHF design. It simply isn't made to pickup VHF. If you need VHF, look elsewhere (in my case, I have this antenna for UHF since my UHF stations are weak and this is the best I've seen, and I have very inexpensive rabbit ears for the single, strong, VHF station I get. Distant VHF stations I simply try to forget about ).

4. Finally, this antenna isn't amplified. It may benefit from setting up some sort of preamp, especially if your tuner is noisy. I found this with my computer. "Snow" can appear if the incoming signal is very good quality, but weak enough to be too close to the noise floor of the tuner. Note, that this antenna DOES give me a better picture (for UHF), no amp, than the nicest amplified rabbit ears + loop designs). Your results WILL vary. (Antenna needs depend greatly on location).

Anyways, good luck! OTA television with a great picture is a challenge. The best antenna for every location is different. This antenna is great if, like me, you need an antenna for UHF only; have a moderate degree of multipath (it's not as directional as many outdoor antennas, but it's better than any of those rabbit ears + loop antennas I've seen), reasonably strong signals mainly from one direction (or multiple directions and don't mind moving it), and don't want an outdoor antenna.

-update- I added an inexpensive 20dB amplifier I picked up at a major discount store, and it makes this antenna produce a much cleaner picture on weak stations. This antenna has always had a great signal (VERY clean), but it was noisy on weak stations because it's unamplified output was below the noise floor of my TV's tuner. With an amplifier added, my reccomendation for this antenna is even greater. It was ALREADY better than the best rabbit ear + loop amplified designs. Now it's almost ready to compete (amplified) with an unamplified outdoor UHF antenna!

After many attempts to find an antenna that would provide a consistent signal for my 5 local HDTV over-the-air broadcasts...the search is over! This is the one!

I live about 40-50 miles away from the broadcast towers in the middle of the woods (4 acres). Previously I purchased a Channel Master 4-bay UHF antenna. This was big, bulky and very ugly...not to mention dangerous to handle due to all the sharp wire ends. The [costly] Channel Master 4-bay antenna picked up less (inside my house) than a pair of rabbit ears with an adjustable UHF loop...which at least picked up 3 channels (1000 kw power stations) without much problem. The rabbit ears and loop needed to be constantly adjusted to keep the signals in over the course of several hours. This ZHDTV1 instantly gave me 5 channels and held the signal strength for many hours without needing to be adjusted. Once it is pointed...IT WORKS!

I also love the simple design. It took 5 seconds to put the pieces together. The coax cable attached to it is removable...which means I have the option to upgrade the cable to a higher-quality one and/or a different color that better matches my decor.

My only beef is that it is too light and thus can be easily tipped over or knocked off whatever it is resting on. A weighted base would be a welcome design improvement. A small piece of Velcro on the bottom of the base might work.

One last note, I do have it connected to a small external amplifier.

Believe the reviews...this antenna is sweet. Watching Jay Leno on the Tonight Show in 1080i HD is something that just can't be explained...you have to experience it for yourself.

If you read the reviews, some people pan this, and say it won't even get what rabbit ears get. They are correct. Others rave about how well it brings in signals compared to even expensive antennas. They are correct too.

What you need to keep in mind is that some HDTV signals are on UHF and others are on VHF. The manufacturer calls this an HDTV-UHF antenna, not an HDTV/UHF as Amazon had it listed when many of the reviews, including this one, were originally written.

Rabbit ears work on VHF and not UHF, so it's not surprising that they get some channels better than this -- it's not designed for VHF. On the other hand, this antenna does a great job on UHF, so HDTV signals there will come in clearly.

Before you get it, check to see where your stations really are on the spectrum. Keep in mind that they may move once analog goes away, and that they may have an alias. (i.e. what appears to be channel 7 might really be 52.1 even though your TV says 7.1, and they may plan to move back to channel 7 in the future when the analog channel 7 is gone.)

Keep in mind that most HDTV channels are on UHF, so in some parts of the country this will work perfectly. But if you get some channels great and others not at all, you might be missing those stations that are really on channel 13 or below.

Other similarly designed antennas will have the same problem, so go by what the manufacturer says, not necessarily what the listing says.

I give it 3 stars in terms of being an HDTV antenna and 5 stars as a UHF only HDTV antenna.

I have to admit that I was skeptical about this product, but based on the reviews and cost I figured it was worth the trouble. Most digital TV transmissions in the Bay Area take place from Sutro tower in San Francisco and the Tri-Valley area sits behind hills about 30 miles to the East. Checking the antennaweb.org site did not even list any of the San Francisco digital channels as accessible by any class of antenna from my address.

My first attempt was to access KPIX, our local CBS affiliate. I placed the antenna on top of a 7' tall armoire holding the home entertainment system (Toshiba DST3000 to Hitachi Ultravision HDTV) and moved it around until I got a signal of around 51. Experimenting by moving in front of the West-facing picture window near the TV got an even stronger signal, nearly pegging the meter at 93. I ended up mounting it above the picture window, disguised by a plant mounted above the window.

Eight stations were immediately accessible, with meter readings from nine more that were too weak for good reception, so I bought a 25db RCA signal amplifier to see if I could get more. That was good enough to get five more stations, with four signals too weak for reception.

With sub-channels, I'm now receiving 22 digital channels. The only disappointment was the inability to access Fox (KTVU) and KRON on digital channels 56 & 57. Since KNTV is broadcasting on VHF digital channel 12 and this antenna is UHF only lack of reception is understandable (oddly enough KNTV is also broadcasting on subchannel 48-2, with 48-1 being the Spanish language station KSTS.)

This product significantly exceeded by expectations.

I must say, I was skeptical when I took this out of the box. It comes with three pieces that look like a three year old put them together but this exceeds its reputation. I live in only 9.5 miles away from the mountain where all TV signals are broadcast from the top. I had previously tried every single antenna known to man but couldn't not get any signal strength and thought my hdtv tuner was broken. But, I decided to try to order this one and by turning the antenna vertical versus horizontal how it is shown, i got a full strength signal. You might be saying well sure you live close but let me explain why I could never get a signal before. I live less than a mile from a major international airport and airplanes fly less than 200 feet above the top of my condo complex not to mention I am surronded by tall buildings like corporate headquarters right next to my building and lastly I am on the far side of the condo complex on the second floor, so the signals have a lot metal to travel through before they get inside my residence. What does all this equal? If you live in a city with all the major signals coming from one location, this antenna is a must, especially when you turn the antenna vertical as described on the back of the box. Don't bother trying the old school circular or rabbit ears, they just dont work unless you live a mile away.

I have tried 5 or 6 indoor HDTV antennas before I finally purchased the Zenith ZHDTV1 HDTV-UHF Digital Indoor Antenna 5 months ago. The other antennas I purchased (and eventually returned) were manufactured by TERK, Samsung, and RCA to name a few, each costing between $50 and $100. All of these antennas are designed to look good, but to extent that they compromised the ability to work well for appearance. This is not the case with the ZHDTV1, as compared to all of those antennas it was by far the best indoor HDTV antenna I have owned. (Note that I only tried indoor antennas.)

I live in the metro St. Louis area. In St. Louis there are seven Digital Stations that are available over the air. The seven include FOX, CBS, ABC, WB, NBC, PBS, and UPN. All of their broadcast towers are located between 12 to 20 miles away from my house [FOX (12 mi), CBS (14 mi), ABC (11 mi), WB (11 mi), NBC (11 mi), PBS (14 mi), and UPN (20 mi)]. (You can find the location of you local digital stations at http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx). Furthermore my house is surrounded by tall trees that easily stand some 40 feet, and my house is located in valley that is roughly 75 feet lower than surrounding hills.

To actually be able to view a digital off-air channel you need a signal strength of at least 60. All of the previous indoor HDTV antennas I tried were able to receive between 3 to 5 channels with a signal strength around 70. The ZHDTV1 on the other hand receives all 7 of the digital stations that are available. And every station has a higher signal strength as well. FOX, CBS, NBC, WB, and ABC I get a signal strength between 80 to 85! PBS I get around 72-75, and UPN between 60 and 65. And I use the antenna unamplified!

I must warn people who are considering purchasing this antenna about several things. First it is a UHF (digital) antenna, so don't complain if you don't get VHF (analog) signals. Second it is a highly directional antenna. This works well for me because all seven of the digital stations are located in the same direction (Southwest). It is not an omni-directional antenna, so if you live in an area where digital stations are scattered around your location this antenna may not work as well. Finally I had to spend considerable time adjusting the antenna to a direction where I was able to receive every channel. Every antenna requires some kind of adjustment to find digital signals, and sometimes it is a meticulous process. Finally this is the best INDOOR antenna I have tried. There are some better outdoor antennas, such as the DB8 Multidirectional HD Antenna available at www.antennadirect.com, although the ZHDTV1 is on par with many commercially available outdoor antennas, and actually outperforms several outdoor antennas. Overall i am very pleased with my purchase of the ZHDTV antenna, and it is truely a bargain at $20.

I have tried about a dozen other antennas (2 outdoor and 10 indoor). And most of those were "supposed" to be high-quality/high-performance models. In fact, several were significantly more expensive than this one. However, this antenna NOTICEABLY outperformed ALL of them - be they amplified or unamplified, indoor or outdoor. So, as long as you only need to receive channels in the UHF range (it does not receive VHF) then I highly recommend this antenna.

I purchased this antenna to go with my Samsung 30 HDTV and Samsung SIR-T151 HDTV receiver. Everything I read indicated I would need an outside antenna to pick up stations not in my immediate area. This antenna is amazing. It picks up digital stations more than 80 miles away! It is highly directional, so if you get it pointed in the right direction, you get good results.

Works flawlessly for the price. I am <15 mi. from the source.
check antennaweb.com for your exact location and distance from the signal.