Terk 60 Mile Range High Performance Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna - Supports UHF, VHF 1080 HDTV Broadcasts for Free

I have been through a couple of indoor HDTV antennas. None came close to the performance of this one. I am in a notoriously 'bad reception' area just outside of Chicago. The best antenna I had before this one was an RCA omni-directional; but I still could not get CBS 2 with it nor could I get all the channels it could receive at once. I constantly had to get up and move the antenna while simultaneously checking signal strength on my T.V.(thank God for that feature on my T.V.-Samsung ROCKS!) But it was truly a pain in the butt constantly moving it around and holding it in the air! When I got this one(in less than five days with standard free shipping I might add-thank you Amazon), I had it out of the box and attached to my T.V. within five minutes. Definitely get the 'amplified' version of this antenna, there is a difference. This is the Terk HDTVa, not 'i' - it is worth it, trust this! Go to [...] to compare. This was the third highest rated Terk antenna on their site, the other two were outdoor antennas! That and the fact that it is one of the highest rated indoor antennas on Amazon and TERK's quality were the only factors that influenced my purchase. Because it is one ugly antenna! But if you like modern art, you'll love the look too. Point is that it works well. It took me a weekend of playing around with it to find the "sweet-spot". This is when I was blown away! Not only do I get all of the UHF/VHF signals, but I have not touched the antenna in weeks. Once in awhile I get a little scramble on CBS, or some of the less powerful signals, but it is not often and it goes away. I also pick up 47 channels now! Half of them are in Spanish, but that's' O.K.; it still impressed me. Before with the RCA the best I could get was 31 - That's a big difference. Auto-scan your t.v. before you hook up the TERK! I don't know why this works, but it does; I've done it several times before and always got better results. Make sure you auto-scan your t.v. several times with the antenna attached with the antenna in different locations until you get the 'Optimal' locale in your room. The first scan I did allocated 34 channels, second scan I got 38, the third time was the 'sweet-spot' that netted me 47! Note:that I did this over a course of maybe 2 days of occasional 'fidgeting'. This just comes with the territory if you want free HDTV. The picture quality is superior to all of my friends with cable and dish(they told me this, not my words) But I agree and it is worth it. Also the rabbit ears are a lot longer than they look so extend them all the way to get the best reception on that hard to get signal - that's how I 'found' CBS. I knew this was worth it when my wife saw a food show on WTTW in 1080i and said, "My God that food looks so real I could touch it and I think I can smell it too." - Enough said.

I live in Vancouver, Washington & like most people here, I read the reviews... the good, the bad, and the ugly and then decide to take my chances or not. I did take the chance and bought this, roughly 30 days ago so I've had a chance to use this before writing this review. This review does contain both praise and rant but I'm giving an honest review because if I can help you make a better choice then that's great. For the record, I am a tech/geek guy who does know how to setup things and troubleshoot things - so you know where I stand.Out of the box, it was pretty simple to put together. Surprisingly, the cord from the antenna is not very long, maybe 5 feet and it's not something you can swap out with your own coaxial cables... it's built into it. So you're stuck with hooking it up close to your tv or tivo. It does have a space age look which is pretty cool but after a while, it will wear off. I was a little disappointed that it's not very stable because of a design flaw. There is a groove under it for the cable but when you try to have the cable in the groove, it wants to fall over. Extend the rabbit ears and it's a guessing game if it's going to fall over or not. Truth be told, I had to use duct tape to secure it in one place. Why?Well, if you've read the other reviews, you'll know it is very directional ~ meaning you have to point it in a certain direction for it to work. The antenna has rabbit ears that I thought were useless because of the pitch that "everything's going to go digital and rabbit ears wont work. Don't buy that load of BS because at the end of this review, I have news for you. Okay, the rabbit ears - I found when fully extended they really make a difference so don't discount them with helping you get a good signal.I bought this along with a Tivo Premiere to kiss Comcast's outrageous prices & monopoly Good Bye! I'm glad I did because with this antenna I did get incredible HD channels (ABC, CBS, NBC & FOX) ALL CRYSTAL CLEAR FOR FREE. However, here's the kick in the pants. I found that Best Buy has an RCA Rabbit Ears Antenna for $11 bucks! I read in the reviews that some people are getting signals of 90 and above. With this antenna, I was only getting 74 on a PERFECT day (out of 100 & averaged 58 to 60) and on some channels, it dropped down to 51. (If you're wondering where I'm getting my numbers, Tivo has a signal strength meter that measures the signal coming from the Antenna.)Trust me when I said I tried almost everything in trying to boost my signal past 75 and I got fed up. Remember I've had it about 25 days to play with it and it does work, but I'm 9 miles from the antennas, I should be in the upper 80's on most channels. Being in the Pacific Northwest, where it does rain a lot, I waited till we had clear skies to see if that made a difference... Not really. There is a signal amplifer that comes with it that you DO have to plug in (which I was under the impression that this antenna didn't have anything you had to plug in, which I thought was a plus. Turns out I was mistaken, you do.)That little booster does make a difference that without it, you're going to get a lot of choppy signals... at least that's what I observed on my end. I live by the river that separates Oregon & Washington so for the most ideal conditions, I got a pretty good deal but some channels wont be as good as others. This is where you have to decide what channels have higher priority vs others. (You shouldn't have to). In my case, you can have a certain number of channels that are real good quality but some others will almost not work and it's frustrating to watch every few words drop. It does get old when Tivo records a show you want to watch only to find "And The Murder Is...... (blank) ~ Well that solves the case. Good job" -- WHAT?!!? ARRGGHH. (Some show you watch depend on good diologue and dropped words because the signal comes in and out can be frustrating.It got to the point where I decided to spend 11 bucks at Best buy on their RCA - Indoor Off-Air HDTV Antenna. Sadly, It worked even better than my $40 dollar one I'm reviewing. ALL my channels are in the mid 70's to 80's AND STABLE on the signal meter with no compromise of channels and they are all HD QUALITY. Keep in mind, it's down pouring outside so I can only imagine this on a sunny day. So I'm saving $29 bucks without the hassle of pointing the antenna or compromising what channels in favor of others.Now, does the Terk HDTV antenna work? Yes, with beautiful channels, even better than Comcasts HD but where I live, not all the channels come in the same strength and remember, I'm 9 miles away from the towers, unobstructed. Your results will vary, but I hope by telling you my experiences with having to tape it down to secure it, and pointing it, short cords, etc that you'll be better informed to make your own decision. If money is tight, there's always a local Best buy that you can have your antenna today by driving down and buying it and you'll probably have better luck.What I would liked to have seen:Wider Base for better supportStronger AmplifierMy recommendation: Go to Best Buy first and try their $11 RCA - Indoor Off-Air HDTV Antenna first. If that doesn't do the trick, you can always go higher. The Terk Antenna I bought here is on its way back to Amazon. Thanks... but no thanks.As they said when I grew up... "And Knowing Is Half The Battle":-)