Like many people, I've been doing some reading about ditching cable and being able to solely subsist on over the air channels and get rid of the cable bill. I watch very little TV - mostly I'm into documentaries and what little TV I do watch is news. Obviously, turning off cable and going it alone with just an antenna I realize I'd lose all the cable TV news channels. But I wanted to at least do some testing to see what I'd be able to pull in.
Also, being that I live in Florida on the coast, one of the other goals I had for this series of tests was to find a decent antenna to see exactly what channels I'd have access to in the event of a hurricane.
Before I post results and conclusions of the tests, here is some information on what I've tested and with what devices:
Antennas:
I tested four:
Mohu Sky HDTV Antenna
The SKYHDT is designed to be mounted although it can easily be hung in a corner of a room or in an attic. My tests using it, to be fair to the antenna and to Mohu, were not done with the antenna mounted and no doubt better results will be obtained if that's the case. Other reviews here on Amazon can attest to that. My goal was to see how well it performed compared to the others and under similar conditions and from similar locations in my apartment.
Winegard Company FL-5000 FlatWave HDTV Indoor Digital Flat Antenna - Made in USA
Mohu Leaf Paper-Thin Indoor HDTV Antenna - Made in USA
The Wineguard and Mohu Leaf are very similar in design in that they are both flat and thin and can easily be hung from a wall or window.
RCA Basic Indoor Antenna
The RCA Indoor Antenna is your basic set of what we used to call "rabbit ears" as it has protruding dipoles.
I tested these antennas using two TVs:
LG 42LD450 42-Inch 1080p 60 Hz LCD HDTV
Viore PLC7V96 (not purchased from Amazon)
TELEVISION
The LG is a standard 42 inch LCD TV and the Viore is a small portable - exactly the kind of TV you'd use if power goes out and your limited to battery operated devices.
During testing, I didn't notice any difference in the ability of one TV to pull in more stations than the other which indicates I have functioning tuners in both for UHF and VHF. That's why you'll see only one set of results.
When indicated during testing, I used the following coax cable to connect the TV to the antenna(s):
Mediabridge Coaxial Digital Audio Video Cable - (50 Feet) - Triple Shielded, F-Pin to F-Pin with Easy Grip Connector Caps
This is an excellent cable with solid connectors. It's a bit stiff which is to be expected. Any Mediabridge product I've purchased from Amazon has always been of high quality (HDMI cables, etc.).
Note that the Wineguard antenna has a 15 foot cable that cannot be detached. In my testing I added the 50 foot Mediabridge as ultimately it had to perform using the 50 foot cable as the 15 foot cable simply wouldn't be long enough to reach my TV(s). The Mohu Leaf comes with a 6 foot antenna but again, I tested with the Mediabridge 50 foot cable for the same reason. The RCA antenna comes with a 6 foot cable as well (non detachable).
Here are some somewhat surprising results.
Although these tests only show 3 physical locations I experimented with various locations to find these three which yielded the best results overall. Like others I found that moving the antenna even just a foot or so could mean a big difference. Weather also influenced the results. One day I did some testing during a huge rainstorm and the number of channels dropped considerably.
SkyHDTV:
Outside - in front of my apartment: 30 channels (tested with included 30 foot cable)
Inside - hung from south facing window: 25 channels (tested with included 30 foot cable)
Inside - hung from the center of south wall: 25 channels (tested with included 30 foot cable)
The SkyHDTV brought in more channels than the others, but I was surprised to find out that it didn't outperform the others by much and in fact, in some cases, depending on location it didn't outperform the other antennas at all. It's important to note as I've mentioned elsewhere that this antenna, by design should be mounted on a mast which I did not do - I merely wanted to test it against the others in the same exact conditions where I'd be using it. One other item to mention: the rubber gasket that is used to join the two of the halves of this antenna was not installed properly on the antenna I received. In fact, I consider it a defect on the unit I received. While I don't think it affected the antenna performance, I returned it solely because I realized that if indeed I ever did want to mount this antenna outside, the gasket wouldn't protect the insides of the unit. I don't see this as a reflection on the device, but simply as a problem with the unit I received. All in all I gave this antenna 5 stars as it did ultimately pull in more channels than the others and I suspect mounted on an mast would do even better.
Winegard Company FL-5000 FlatWave HDTV Indoor Digital Flat Antenna:
Outside - in front of my apartment: 25 channels (tested with included 15 foot cable)
Inside - hung from south facing window: 25 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable and included 15 foot cable and connector)
Inside - hung from the center of south wall: 25 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable and included 15 foot cable and connector)
Mohu Leaf Paper-Thin Indoor HDTV Antenna:
Outside - in front of my apartment: 25 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable)
Inside - hung from south facing window: 27 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable)
Inside - hung from the center of south wall: 25 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable)
The Wineguard and the Mohu Leaf performed almost identically. I would say any difference in how many channels they pulled in is probably an anomaly. I would consider both of these pretty good antennas and it would be a draw as to which one is better. The one advantage of the Mohu over the Wineguard is that the Wineguard's 15 foot antenna cannot be detached - 15 feet is either a long enough for your purpose or - like what I had to resort to, you'll have to add a connector and more cable.
RCA Basic Indoor Antenna:
Outside - in front of my apartment: 24 channels
Inside - placed in south facing window: 28 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable)
Inside - hung from the center of the south wall: 25 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable)
The big surprise: The cheap, inexpensive "rabbit ears" performed as well as the Wineguard and the Mohu Leaf. I was nothing less than astonished to see these results. Of course, the aesthetics of the Mohu Leaf and the Wineguard are somewhat better as you can hang either of them on a wall or in a window and they are mostly unobtrusive. Since these "rabbit ears" sit very well behind a curtain on my south facing window and can't be seen, that's where it sits right now - and where I'll probably leave it.
If you're looking for a cheap, simple solution to give you an antenna for a portable TV for a hurricane? You can't go wrong with the RCA Passive Indoor Antenna. I fully expected this antenna to be subpar, but in retrospect I'm glad I got one to test. I'll be keeping it. I also wound up keeping the Mohu Leaf and sent back the Wineguard and that could have been a coin toss as to which one I was going to keep - they are both very good. I'll also probably get another set of RCA "rabbit ears" and keep those for a backup as well or to use on another TV.
Other notes:
1. Reading the results of what other people have discovered and the number of channels they pulled in, I expected better results based on my location and other factors. While not unhappy with the results, it seems I'm not located close enough to the source transmissions or my location in an apartment on the ground floor doesn't allow for the kind of reception I need to pull in distant stations. By the way, I'm located about 30 miles north of West Palm Beach in Stuart, Florida just in case anyone is from my area. They may be able to have at least some findings to test against or use as a comparison. Note that 95 percent of the broadcasts I was trying to pull in are located almost due south of me or due south west. You can find the stations that broadcast in your area by going to TV Fool DOT com or Antenna Web DOT org and several other sites easily found online.
2. I did do limited testing from a second floor outdoor staircase just to see if my results would change substantially but they did not. I didn't include those results simply because they were almost the same as the testing I did outside from the front of my apartment.
In the end I don't think I'll cancel cable just yet, but I'm pretty happy knowing I can get at least 25 or so channels in the event of a hurricane. How many of those will remain up during and after a storm?
Those tests I hope I don't get a chance to report back on!
| Brand Name | Winegard |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 12.8 ounces |
| Product Dimensions | 12 x 0.02 x 13 inches |
| Country of Origin | USA |
| Item model number | FL-5000 |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Color Name | Black/White |
| Impedance | 75 Ohm |
