THE GOOD
1. Worked better than one of those flat rectangular antennas. (The Channel Master rectangular one is still pretty good.). The various review sites, e.g., Wired, were right about this antenna being a good one.
2. The cable comes with easy-to-turn knobs for attaching. Just use your fingers. So much better than the old type that require open ended, perfectly sized wrenches.
3. The cable is separate, not built in, meaning less wear and tear and the option to use a different cable if you desire.
4. The circular design is elegant.
THE BAD
5. Its behavior changes over time and with weather, which is true of all these OTA antennas. Just be aware that you may not get perfect, cable-like, steady reception all the time!
6. Also, a nearby station changed its signal in some way and it became impossible to get a decent signal through our Roamio (TiVo). That station, well, three to be exact as it affected all the substations, ended up with staticky picture and intermittent sound. It was unbearable to watch.
——> Started researching new antennas....
Found a solution, however, which I present at the end!
7. The stickiness wears out. I did clean it, which restores some of its gripiness, but the large ”heavy” cable connector section pulls it down off the wall. We had to get small stick 'ems to keep it up. No big deal but a set of them should be provided.
8. ALERT: It is reversible, but you have to decide which side to show AT THE START! You cannot change your mind later as the sticky pad goes on ONLY ONCE! They really should include two sticky pads, so that you have the option of reversing it later on — e.g., if you move it somewhere else.
THE UGLY
9. The cable is very long, which is handy if you need to run the antenna far away, but is an inconvenience if you put the antenna near the set —there is lots of cable flopping around behind the set. OTOH, being able to put it farther away can get it out of your visual field! See next.
10. Our family room is wood paneled so neither black or white is ideal. We went with black, but it looks odd to have a long black cable snaking up behind the TV set, ending in what looks like a circular clock face. It will catch your eye repeatedly at first, but then one learns to ignore it.
TIP TO RESOLVE LOUSY RECEPTION
Well, after days of having tried all sorts of locations, different cables, etc., we stumbled across a response to a question on Antenna Direct's website that mentioned using an *attenuator* to handle nearby, strong stations. Their signal can be TOO STEONG for the TV or TiVo, and needs to be weakened or attenuated! It's another reason that amplified antennas often don’t work or make reception worse!
So, we tried that. One simply screws the attenuator (a cylindrical several-inch long item) into the antenna jack of your TV or TiVo and then attaches the antenna cable to it. (We had a couple of attenuators left over from our old MOCA in house system, so we picked the blue labeled one.) They only cost $6-10, so it's definitely worth it.
Well, guess what?! IT WORKED LIKE A CHARM!
The pesky stations that we had intractable problems with cleared up fantastically. We went from weak reception, fluctuating around 50 strength on our Roamio TiVo with broken up picture and irritating intermittent sound to CONSISTENT reception, clear sound, and a STRONG signal strength of 72!
Amazing!
So, that's it! The good, the bad, and the ugly.
——>. FOR NEARBY STRONG STATIONS, GET THEE AN ATTENUATOR!
| Brand Name | Antennas Direct |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 6.4 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 0.5 x 8.75 x 10.2 inches |
| Item model number | ECL |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color Name | White/Black |
| Specification Met | No |
