Outdoor TV Antennas

Top TV antennas for difficult reception areas

While an indoor TV antenna can do the trick for many (if not most) TV viewers, that still leaves a good number for which there's no alternative except to turn to an outdoor HDTV antenna. That includes those more than 45 miles or so from the nearest transmitters and those that are closer in -- sometimes much closer in -- but surrounded by hills or other obstacles that reduce signal strength.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has developed a color-rating system that identifies outdoor television antennas by type and receiving strength. The TV antenna types range from small, multi-directional antennas (coded yellow) that are suitable for use in high-signal-strength areas to large, directional TV antennas (coded violet) that are pretty much your only hope if you want to pull in a distant or weak signal.

Reports by address generated at AntennaWeb.org include that color code information. Yellow and green signals are good candidates for reception using an indoor antenna. Red signals might be receivable with an amplified indoor television antenna, or larger TV antennas such as the Antennas Direct DB2. Light green-coded signals might be receivable with an indoor antenna, but it is unlikely. For all other signals -- namely blue and violet -- there is virtually no chance that an indoor TV antenna will work at all.

Picking an outdoor television antenna is relatively easy -- match up the reception prediction with the color code rating of an antenna, and a good chunk of the work is done. You also need to make sure that the antenna is a good performer for the channels available in your area, especially if some broadcasters have elected to remain on VHF.

Ideally, television antennas should have flat response (the gain is the same) across all channels to boost all signals equally, but the ideal is rarely achieved. If you want to dig deep, or if you are at the far fringe reception area for a channel you want to receive, you can see plots of response versus frequency for some popular antennas at sites such as HDTVPrimer.com and AntennaHacks.com.

There are lots of different UHF, VHF and UHF/VHF combination outdoor TV antennas available -- so many that few amass much feedback. Still, reading through the professional and user reviews gives some guidance to which ones please most that have had a chance to try them out.

Though it has some flaws, the Winegard HD7698P (*Est. $135) draws some kudos for those who need a deep-fringe television antenna for coverage of both UHF and VHF. This is a large (168-inch boom length) Yagi or beam-style TV antenna. Like the log-periodic, this style television antenna -- which features lots of equal-length, closely spaced receiving elements -- has been a popular outdoor antenna design for decades, long before anyone heard of digital TV or HDTV. The major downside of the HD7698P is that it's not designed for low-band VHF (channels 2-6), but those channels are only in use in a few markets. Otherwise, AntennaHacks.com says, "If you need both VHF and UHF in a single antenna, the HD7698P is about the best you can do."

Another consideration is the Channel Master CM-3671 (*Est. $135). This is a very large (173-by-110-inch), deep fringe log-periodic television antenna with good reception across the whole VHF band. Performance for UHF is also "fairly good" according to HDTVPrimer.com. User reviews are limited, but most that we saw are positive.

For UHF-only reception, the Winegard HD 9095P (*Est. $70) Yagi antenna is a good choice for those who need a TV antenna with tons of gain (to make the most of weaker signals). However, while HDTVPrimer.com says it is a top performer, Ken Nist adds that it is big, hard to aim and hard to keep up in bad weather.

If you are located a little closer in and want something that's considerably more petite, the Terk HDTVo (*Est. $80) might be worth a look. Measuring 40 inches by 23 inches, the HDTVo is an amplified log-periodic outdoor TV antenna similar in concept to the Terk HDTVa discussed in the section on best indoor HDTV antennas. It receives a good amount of user feedback and generally solid grades. ModSynergy.com provides one of the few professional reviews we found, but Michael Phrakaysone is only moderately impressed, saying that the television antenna is on the expensive side and not at all suitable for deep-fringe reception.

We saw good feedback for the Antennas Direct DB4 (*Est. $45). This is the big brother of the Antennas Direct DB2 that many use as an indoor antenna and discussed elsewhere in this report. While the DB2 uses two bow-tie elements, the DB4 ups the ante to -- you guessed it -- four bow-tie elements. HDTVPrimer.com calls it a good medium-range antenna. Although it is somewhat directional, the arc where reception is strong is wide enough that pointing the antenna is not as much of a challenge as with the Winegard HD 9095P. User feedback is plentiful at sites like HDTVAntennaLabs.com, and generally pretty good. The DB4 is UHF-only.

The Antennas Direct ClearStream4 (*Est. $100) is another medium-range UHF antenna that gets some mention. It's the top choice at ModSynergy.com, where Michael Phrakaysone recommends it and adds that it does a decent job in pulling in some fairly distant signals. It also gets a recommendation at HDTVPrimer.com, with one caveat. Unlike the Antennas Direct DB4, the ClearStream4 is highly directional. That makes it a good choice if you have issues with multipath interference, and a poor choice if you need a television antenna that can pull in stations located at different headings. Ken Nist is also not as enamored of its ability to pull in distant signals, adding that for stations over 30 miles way, adding an external amplifier is probably a good idea.

Television antenna amplifiers

While some TV antennas (indoor and outdoor) include built-in signal amplifiers, you can add an external amplifier to just about any passive (unamplified) antenna. In fact, the Consumer Electronics Association says that adding an amplifier to a large directional outdoor television antenna is the surest way to receive violet coded digital TV signals.

That said, adding an amplifier to a large TV antenna isn't always the best course of action. An amplifier can actually harm reception in areas were signal strength is already decent. That's because too strong a signal can overload a digital tuner. Also, amplifiers amplify noise along with the intended signal. As a result, in the case of very marginal signal strength, there might not be any real improvement.

If you need an antenna amplifier, we noted several good choices while researching this report. The Channel Master CM7777 Titan2 VHF/UHF amplifier (*Est. $60) is one example. This mast-mounted high-gain amp is cited at enthusiast and expert websites such as HDTVExpert.com and EV's Indoor Antenna Round-Up at AVSForum.com. User reviews are generally solid. However, it has very high gain (23 dB VHF, 26 dB UHF) and can easily overwhelm a tuner in areas with even moderate signal strength before amplification. The Winegard HDP-269 (*Est. $40) dials things back a bit (to 12 dB gain) and might be a better choice in some locations. That amp is reviewed at ModSynergy.com. Feedback in user forums is generally good, though we've seen more mixed reports at retailer sites.