Stellar Labs Deep Fringe VHF TV Antenna Review - The Best for High VHF?
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- Опубликовано: 27 авг 2024
- This is my antenna review of the following antenna: "Stellar Labs - 30-2476 - Antenna, Deep Fringe Directional, VHF-Hi HDTV, 174MHz to 230MHz." This is a large outdoor antenna designed for high VHF TV stations that broadcast on channels 7-13. A dedicated VHF antenna is likely to perform better than a combo one. How well will this antenna work?
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Love how you’re getting many sponsorships from Ridge wallets! So glad your channel has this much awareness! Keep it up!
My compliments on the accuracy of your RUclips channel. As a now semi-retired TV design engineer (I am a P.E. and worked for 32 years at an engineering consulting firm that specialized in AM, FM and TV station engineering design and the associated FCC technical filings), your channel is the only one I have come across where I keep saying "right on!" to your videos. The problem with VHF TV is that when the FCC went from analog to digital the protected contours for VHF high band (TV Channels 7-13, 174-216 MHz) went from 56 dBu to 36 dBu (a 20 dB drop) and for VHF low band (TV Channels 2-6, 54 to 88 MHz) from 47 dBu to 28 dBu (a 19 dB drop). But the noise limits at VHF for unlicensed FCC Part 15 devices, both incidental and intentional, did not drop by two orders of magnitude, and so VHF low band became compromised, and VHF high band, once "beach front property" spectrum wise, became tarnished, because potential interference from brute force overload by 88-108 MHz FM stations, which were likewise not reduced by two orders of magnitude. So VHF high band also became problematic, with many TV stations abandoning that band for UHF (now TV Channels 14-36, 470 MHz to 608 MHz), as a result of the repack shrinking TV spectrum from Channels from 2-51 to 2-36. Ironically, the "UHF handicap," at one time allowed by the FCC because of the horrendously poor efficiency of early klystron TV transmitters, has largely been mitigated by Inductive Output Tube (IOT) and solid state transmitters, and now it's UHF, and not VHF, which is "beach front property."
Thank you for the technical background information on this subject. Very informative.
Dane, thank you for the overview! I've been on the programming side of broadcast radio & tv for years and enjoyed the details. Tyler does a great job helping people cut the cord and pick up the free signals over the air.
We have all low VHF channels used in my area except ch 6.
They work ok most of the time except during lightning storms.
The audio cuts out with every lightning strike.
Sometimes the audio will pop with the flick of a light switch also.
Annoying issue.
Also, many VHF stations have gotten a power increase from the FCC to deal with the noise as there is little room left on UHF.
What do you mean by "Beach front property"? Is it slang, or literal?
After watching several of your videos, I ditched my old flat antenna and purchased a ClearStream MAX-V with a pre-amp and mounted it outside. I went from having 28 channels to having over 70.
Thank you! Your channel was a tremendous help.
Must be nice as I only get 2 channels with that antenna
@@trainmaster0217 Really? I get a clear signal at stations over 70 miles away. My buddy has a similar model from them and it also performs pretty well. If you're still working with the same antenna, I'd suggest returning it for a duplicate and trying again before giving up on it. It's also worth double checking any preamps you have on the line. I used a cheap onn one from walmart. Surprisingly, it performed pretty well despite being an onn product.
I should mention that I live in a relatively flat urban area, but provided you mount it outside with reasonably high elevation, you should be getting a good signal for channels in your area. Checking whether or not you have UHF or VHF channels is also a good idea--since this antenna seems to be geared more towards UHF. Good luck lad.
@trainmaster0217 I only get 9 and not very stable. I'm definitely looking at a different antenna than the V4
Wow, this antenna is a beast for high VHF. Those gains are serious. You also literally gave the scenario I am using this antenna for (Q13 Fox, Seattle area)
me too with q13 located on gold mountan
So I really should aim towards Bremerton?
@@peters8758 try towards the Manette area , I used to live near down town on Pleasant Ave and I I did some testing in my back yard with a good vhf uhf outdoors antenna 20 feet up attached to a steel fence with gates hose clamps and when I would point it towards the Manette bridge it was good reception on all channels I hope this helps you out .
I'm in the Olympia/Lacey area and had this thing up trying my hardest to pull in KCTS but even it couldn't pull it off. I'm just a tick too low in elevation with all the conifers around to pull it off reliably - it'll come in occasionally, presumably from oddball multipath situations. I went back to my HD Stacker which I don't love but it still pulls in Q13 just as well for me, still no KCTS, but does a far, far better job grabbing King5 and a few other UHF broadcasts with some reliability. The ridiculous thing is in our area, the KIRO translator in Olympia is located nearly 180deg the other direction and without a rotator it's hopeless to get that one - power is too weak - except when I tried a 4-bay & 8-bay bowtie type..... but the bow-tie did poorly with Seattle stations.
It's a crappy region around here for OTA, that's for sure. All sorts of challenges, location depending.
I had two VHF channels that I could not pick up consistently for the life of me. I was thinking I might just have to get RUclipsTV for $65 a month. After watching 1-2 hrs of Antenna Man. I found this antenna and I now get them great! Thanks so much for putting in the work to help out the general public!
I have this stellar labs, and it really is a great antenna (for VHF High). Without trying, this also picks up my UHF and Low VHF (not as good), but I recommend!
You gave my mother in Greensboro Ga a personalized recommendation. I appreciate you. She has zero chance of getting a signal but at least we know now
Why is their no signal in Greensboro?
@@ralphcrow3881 My understanding is it is 80 miles from broadcast towers in either direction and on top of that my mother lives in a valley which further decreases her signal
@@Integrity.is.everything Oh no. She is in an area that is way out of the way of TV signals. Can she stream and get a roku and get free channels.? Also the government is helping pay for cable internet according to income,. Just a thought.
@@ralphcrow3881 Thank you. Greensboro is a mainly rural area so she doesn't have access to broadband cable internet.
I did a setup in her home to get 15 mb/second through Cricket with a LTE router so she can stream and she has DirecTv satellite for TV
I use this antenna in combination with a 8 bay bowtie antenna and a single element bowtie. I bought it primarily to receive 2 VHF high stations in my area. It works great.
I have had this one for a year.It works great,70 miles from Nashville.
I'm 90 miles from Nashville and get wsmv with no problem.
@@eminence_front6043 I'm between Bowling Green and Somerset Ky and will be putting this one up in the spring! ;)
@@carltope9949 I really like that antenna. It's well built and does a good job for me.
One reason this antenna works so well, is it is especially cut to cover a smaller range of frequencies. Very narrow with a lot of elements, so getting high gain out of it is easier. 174-216 MHZ is much more narrow that the frequencies width on UHF. I love that reflector on the rear. I have a German made FM Yagi that has a similar set up. I would love to see Stellar Labs make a similar FM Yagi, much like the old Wingard and Channel Master. Great review!!!
Tyler, great product review. I've had this antenna for years. I pick up Seattle channels 9 and 11 from Sequim, WA. I couldn't be in a worse location for OTA reception from Seattle. I'm on the edge of the flood plane of the Dungeness River, surrounded by tall trees, hills and mountains. These VHF stations are the only Seattle stations I can pick up in any band. Alas, channel 13 is tucked too far behind the Olympic Mountains for reception in Sequim.
This is the long range VHF antenna I mentioned in my response to your recent Televes pre-amp video. Televes makes great stuff! I did modify the Stellar Labs antenna by adding a reflector screen to the back of the reflecting rods to maximize gain. I also added a support bracket from my old outdated Radio Shack long range antenna to strengthen the tubing that holds the folded dipole and director elements. This helps support the antenna from the heavy wet snow that we sometimes get in Sequim. Keep up the good work.
I used the Clearstream 5 for a few years and was very dissatisfied and was subject to a closer VHS channel overloading the amplified signal. Now with the Stellar Labs I can aim it to the lower powered Harrisburg channel and achieve an acceptable signal strength from my Lancaster channel. Along with the 2 UHF Clearstream with the Channelmaster Amplify on maximum winter viewing from Harrisburg and Philadelphia is great after the trees lose their leaves and acceptable in the summer. Thank you for your always right on evaluations.
I just bought the smallest version (30-2475) last month because my two VHF channels were too weak with my actual CM4221 (a big church ahead block my signal partially). Totally worth it. Fixed now, my signal on these two channels are passed from 42% to 60%, and it's rock solid since. Now I receive all channels available in my area except one but this one is stupidly low-powered (0,45 kw).
I just installed a 50 element RCA VHF/UHF antenna 23 feet up and aimed it at VHF station channel 8 in LaCrosse Wi. I live in Chippews Falls Wi. It is 60.6 miles away and I am picking it up perfectly, and and split it between four TV sets. I am getting all the surrounding UHF stations even 90 degrees and 28 miles away with no rotor. Keep up the great work Tyler!
I have been using my Antennacraft HD1850 since the analog to digital switch and I can still get tv stations from St. Louis, MO or Jefferson City or Columbia, MO and Kirksville, MO. I also get tv station from Springfield, IL.
I am SO glad to see you review this antenna. Recently with the pandemic, I've ended up living back with the parents for a bit, so I've taken on some projects to help out around the house. One of those was painting the antenna tower that was rusting away in the backyard and I figured while I was at it, why not put an antenna back atop it so they could have the option to get rid of their ever increasing cable (well, technically IPTV) bill. To say it was an easy project would be lying. The house I grew up in lies in one of the lowest points in the area next to a river with steep hillsides immediately in the direction of the two main broadcast locations (Nashville & Bowling Green, KY). Nashville is 65-70 miles away, but there's slightly more distance before you reach the hillside, allowing those stations to come in a bit easier. Toward Bowling Green, we are only a football-field length away from a 200-foot, steep incline, making those stations, which are only 30-35 miles away, next to impossible to receive. With the help of your channel as well as a real crash course into the "Voodoo science" (a term I ran across in my reading) of RF across many message boards, I learned more than I ever cared to learn about the many types of antennas and how radio frequency travels.
In the analog days, we always had one of the huge, VHF/UHF Yagi (or LPDA) antennas from Channel Master, but I initially thought I was going to achieve nirvana with an 8-bay bowtie antenna, one pointed at each of the broadcast locations. That worked somewhat, but no matter what I did with them (placement, amplifiers, etc.) they did not have enough VHF gain on them to get ANY of those channels. I later experimented with building my own Grey-Hoverman antenna as well as the Antop AT-400BV before building my own Yagi antenna, specifically tuned for channel 13 (210 MHz) to pick up WBKO from Bowling Green (the channel they watch local news from most often). Honestly, the Antop was quite impressive, albeit confusing at the same time. It picked up all the VHF channels outdoors very well and then picked up all the UHF ones inside, even from Nashville. I was pretty impressed with it! What blew me away most though, was this antenna. After experimenting with my makeshift, what I called my "coat hanger antenna," I bought the Stellar Labs 30-2476 for a great deal from Newark. Before, even the channels we were able to get, they only ever came in reliably at night, because we are not even close to being in a LOS, 1 or 2 Edge reception situation. Our antenna is at 35 feet above ground, but it would need to be almost 100 feet before we would even begin to get a few stations into the 2-Edge reception category. In fact, most of the antennas I tried picked up signals much better at ground level that atop the antenna tower. The Stellar Labs antenna is the glaring exception to this. It picks up channel 13 without fail, without amplification, every minute of every day, only occasionally breaking up in the middle of the afternoon at times, likely because it is to the northwest from us and the sun is creating some noise from radiation or heat effects. I tried to combine this antenna with another pointing toward Nashville, but that was something I never quite accomplished and honestly, I likely won't without a bandpass filter. With the reception here relying heavily on ground propagation, tropospheric scatter and reflections, it will be almost impossible to get two antennas, pointing in two different directions, to not interfere with each other.
One side note, I noticed you got good performance out of some of the channels in the upper 20's out of this antenna, which was the same experience here. This antenna reliably picks up a close ION station on RF 32 and one night during a rainstorm (and when I had the antenna a bit misaligned for WBKO) it picked up a station on the outer edge of Knoxville, WBXX on RF 31, a full 92 miles away. In researching a bit to understand why this was happening, those frequencies in the upper 20's and lower 30's are in the third harmonic of the frequencies this antenna has been designed for. So while this antenna is mainly intended for the upper VHF range, you may actually benefit some if you have close stations that broadcast in this range by only having to get one antenna, not necessarily intended for UHF, but by default, picks them up well anyway thanks to the laws of physics!
Just a note to anyone else who watches this video, this antenna is ideal for high VHF, not low VHF. I only mention that because I missed that in Tyler's video title. I'm looking for the best for both low & high VHF to use in conjunction with the best UHF antenna to have the best set up possible. Keep up the good work with the videos Tyler.
Now I know why you recommended this antenna for my situation. Will save me about $100 over what I would have bought based on my limited knowledge and experience with antennas. Probably saved my a lot of frustration too. Between your videos here, and you antenna recommendation (best $20 I ever spent), I feel confident that I have the best antenna for my needs as well as the knowledge to install it properly. Thanks!
I installed this antenna today at zip code 18657. It’s on a pole about 15 feet off the ground. Works great. Even the UHF channels are fine.
Thanks a million for this review. I have only one high VHF station in my area of western NC. It's 16 miles away but obscured by mountains and trees. After updating my TV's I was able to pull in that station with a GE outdoor pro antenna mounted in my attic with a GE distribution amp. I was getting 25% signal but it would hold. I also had a little trouble receiving one of my further away UHF stations from Greenville SC. I decided to buy this antenna and planned to combine it with a UHF antenna. I mounted it in my attic and not only did my VHF signal go from 25% to 70% but my other far away station also comes in perfect. Win win.
I'm glad my videos helped you get better reception. Feel free to give a contribution at the link below as I spend A LOT of time making the videos and responding to these comments:
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@@AntennaMan done. Thanks for your time helping others.
Another DXer-sized antenna!
Nice step up in production values !
wow. that's an impressive high VHF antenna. I ran some numbers on the Winegard Platinum in my attic, and I'm getting 53-55% signal quality on my mediasonic. That should be good enough for a solid signal. I just put in a Televes single input amp to see if that helps. It has a higher gain than the JUICE I have right now. Oddly enough, the signal quality didn't improve at all. I watched 11-Alive for about half an hour on high VHF, and I had zero drops or pixelations. so I'm going to run with it for a while before trying out this antennna. Good stuff. thanks for the review!
I'm using this. It's Awesome. Although it's very long, 83 inches, Its very light and easily mounted at its center of gravity.
Stellar Labs actually makes a slightly-smaller version of this antenna. If my memory serves, the one you are testing today is model 30-2476 and the smaller one is a 30-2475; but even the 2475 should have more VHF gain than the Clear Stream 5; but may have less gain than some of the very large combo antennas from Channel Master, Winegard/RCA and Antennas Direct. I bought mine at Newark website.
Correct, I attached a link to Stellar Lab's smaller VHF antenna in the description of this video.
I would be interested in the results for the same antenna from two different days. One during the day and another after dark when the lights start coming on. Signals can fluctuate from day to day, season to season and day from night, including weather events like wind, rain, fog, heavy humidity etc, etc. Thanks for the videos. Keep them coming.
I learn something from everyone of your videos whether or not it pertains to my antenna needs and it impresses my nerdy friends. Thanks for all the info.
great video . now if you could do a review of Denny's HD stacker combo antenna . everyone give this a thumbs up if you want to see antenna man review the HD stacker
I personally use and have installed many of this antenna and highly recommend it
Tyler, your enthusiasm seems to be waning of recent... Your videos are appreciated.
Can you do a segment on the difference (i.e. what do they do?) between bow ties, loops, dipoles and reflectors and unconnected elements on the horizontal bar?
This is the best VHF antenna currently made. I have an older Antennacraft vhf that works a bit better but not in production any more.
antennacraft that is exactly what I have and in the VHF UHF outdoor model
I recommend the Winegard HD7698P with a booster amp for distance pick-up.
I don't recommend that antenna due to a known cartridge defect that Winegard refuses to fix. The 75ohm cartridge is known to fail after a few years.
Awesome! I would love to see an antenna like this for UHF. Thank you again for all your work.
Stellar Labs makes a Long Range UHF- HDTV 91 Element Yagi Antenna
and sells it on their Amazon Store for a price of $49.99
I just purchased both the VHF Yagi and UHF Yagi Antennas but have yet
to install them.
we are at the bottom of a valley and reception is difficult. I have tried multiple high-end antennas in different locations including up the hillside. This Stellar Labs is by far the best VHF antenna we have used. Even better than the top of the line Televes. Televes DATBOSS mix remains best for UHF so we use that and Stellar Labs on separate masts and combine the signal.
Nice Review. I've been thinking about picking one of these up to pair with my Stellar Labs UHF Yagi.
Two stations near me transitioned from UHF to VHF back in July. Shockingly, I can pick them up about half the time with my UHF Yagi antenna.
This review makes me wonder about the Denny HD Stack antenna with its combined stacked UHF/VHF antenna.
I've had the Denny stacker for about 3 years, and from what you've typed it could be a good choice. I will say that its claims about "best long range rural" antenna are kind of b.s.... IMO it's a fantastic medium range, mixed band antenna that is built very well. But for true "deep fringe" I don't really recommend it unless you're in a very flat region with good line-of-sight toward your towers.
Great review as usual Tyler. I have this antenna as well as the Xtreme UHF only antenna that you reviewed a couple weeks ago, but my UHF-only is branded under a different name. I have not yet installed them. I currently have up an Antennas Direct model U8000, eight bay, that peforms well on UHF, but is no longer manufactured.
I've always had issues getting RF10; 83 miles from my home. I think this SL model will be my best shot at reliable reception to get Nashville's NBC affiliate, Cool TV and other good programming owned by Merideth Corporation.
Supposedly; if you live in a deep fringe area; your choices are to either go with a large combo antenna from Winegard/RCA, Channel Master, or Antennas Direct; if you need the full spectrum reception, which is a lot of mass; or split up the mass by combining this Stellar Labs VHF High-only antenna with either a large 8-bay such as Antennas Direct DB8 or the Xtreme UHF only that you reviewed previously. For deep fringe folks, currently, everything else is probably going to be an inferior set up. Deep fringers also often need a powerful preamp. I've got the old Channel Master Titan V; it has been said that the newer versions of those Channel Master preamps are not nearly as good. I know that with my preamp removed, I get no channels, but with it, I get seven signals reliably.
I just got the fringe model of this and installed it in my attic today, after figuring out my garage LED bulbs were interfering with it, it seems to work great at ~45mi, I can now pick up WTHR on channel 13, and channel 9 which has WISH-TV and WNDY channel sharing after WNDY chose to shut down their transmitter. WISH has always been pretty hard to get in Muncie since the DTV transition so I'm happy with it. I have it diplexed with my Winegard 7550 I got from the Ultimate Streaming Bundle using a Radioshack VHF/UHF combiner, the better model with the DC pass on UHF to power the pre-amp in the Winegard, I have an old Electroline CATV drop amp on the Stellar Labs antenna, I have it powered with an old DirecTV power inserter I had lying around that I hooked up to an outlet in the attic. I'd have sprung for the deep fringe model, but I don't think my 4/12 pitch hip roof wouldn't exactly play friendly with the 30in tall reflector. There's tons of mature trees around that love to drop limbs and this is a rental so outdoor mounting wasn't really an option even though I'd love to have a tall mast if I could get the Winegard above the tree line it'd probably pick up the VHF stations, which in the attic it'd only pickup during tropo events.
That's the setup I'm using now. The same antenna you tested with fringe type yagi and a quality combiner through a mast mount preamplifier.
I live about 90 miles from the vhf station and this setup works well for me. I get the uhf channels from two directions using a rotater.
Canada Approved
I have one I use for Ch 12 Erie Pa. It is an outstanding antenna for VHF high!!!
It is a great high VHF antenna!
Another stellar review ;)
Always appreciate your videos, thank you Tyler! I use the Clearstream that you showed at the beginning of this video. I'm 25 ft up and 50 miles LOS from the high VHF stations. It works pretty well one of the stations I always get 5 full bars and the other station mostly 5 bars but will drop down to 3 at times, still plenty of signal to pull the station in very good.
Tyler, in my area almost half the stations I watch switched to Hi VHF during the Repack including NBC 10 Providence NBC 15/10 Boston is on UHF it seems like almost an even split I am thinking about getting this antenna in the future and using it along with a long range UHF Antenna using an old fashion signal combiner splitter with a UHF VHF LTE filtering signal amplifier. That should work good in my case I think. ABC 6 Providence is on RF UHF channel 33 and Channel 4 Boston is on RF UHF channel 36. A lot of the others in my Market are all on VHF high band except WGBH channel two which is the old RF UHF Channel 58 Martha's Vineyard via a low powered relay. I have to point my antenna to slightly south east to pull it in.
I was just getting by with ancient VHF rabbit ears 30-miles S. of Seattle. This antenna added about 10% signal strength on all 3 VHF channels including 100% on 11. Another difference is the quality. My signal quality was 20% with the rabbit ears but is now 100%. Only negative ... when placed where it works best it starts to bother 2 UHF channels a tad but they're still at roughly 70%.
This antenna works great as long as you don’t have too many led lights on
I have both models of this antenna. I’m getting signal percentages on channel 9 in my area in the mid-90s with the smaller version. Model 30-2475. I’ll have to put up the 30-2476 and see if I can get 100% signal!
6:30 -- Your buddies on the Great Lakes missed the memo that longer wavelength VHF's performance is more upset by proximity to the ground or roofline. Put the VHF antenna as many wavelengths as possible from out of phase reflections from below by placing it highest on the mast, above the UHF one. That was common knowledge in the 1960's and it's still true today.
I'm my experience with this antenna pairing it with another antenna stacked with it. I have to agree that it preformed best on top with the corner reflector UHf antenna about 2.5 feet under it. With this vhf antenna under it I was still getting dropouts on vhf 10 which was the most challenging to get locked in. Leaving my Uhf antenna alone and going higher up with the vhf one aimed in the exact same direction I received the station at 95-100 %.
Worked great for testing KFMB 8 and KGTV 10 in front yard. 22 miles. La Jolla (San Diego) 2 edge. Back yard install with Telves amp no luck. However got a UHF station never got before. Channel 36. Wrong direction. Low on lists of stations. Everything is supposed to be weak except 8 and 10. Great for San Diego UHF. 35 miles. 1 edge.
About using VHF antennas to receive UHF stations, in general:
A UHF antenna will usually show peak signal strength when the antenna is pointed directly at the UHF station's transmitter (duh).
Using a VHF antenna to receive UHF signals is not unusual, but it can be tricky.
Quite often, a VHF station may show no signal, or an intermittent signal, when pointed at a UHF transmitter., though it may have a strong signal with the antenna NOT aimed at the transmitter site.
(Showing my age here, LOL).
In the late seventies, we had a TV station in Windsor, ON, across the river, that transmitted its signal on Channel 78.
Our antenna was a Archer (Radio Shack store brand) V-90 - not designed for UHF.
I gave that antenna a full 360° spin.
I counted twelve lobes and twelve nulls in its horizontal pattern!
I have this antenna & use it aimed at 169 degrees picking up 2 ABC & CBS broadcasters in Lafayette La. My UHF antenna is pointed at 21 degrees toward a tower in Ruston La. Because both Lafayette broadcasters are High VHF, on recommendation I bought this antenna. Tower is 78 miles away & reception is clear. This is the only antenna to have picked up both with the exception of freak night weather conditions.
I have it, I use it & also use the combiner sold by Stellar Labs plus have ordered the new pre-amp to replace a Motorola which I will reuse on another system.
Want to add while this antenna is large, it is well made & very lightweight. Best guess is maybe 3lbs.
Which station are you picking up 78 miles away? (I live in lafayette too)
@@telecomgear Channels 3 & 10 plus their extra channels. Want 15 but unable to pick it up. I am located on the edge of Alexandria.
Added a Clearview $149 multi & raised my pole to 26 feet. Put a X2 as a 3rd aimed at Monroe towers. Now getting Monroe, Ruston, Lake Charles, Natchez, Everything in Lafayette which is 24PBS, 10 CBS, 3 ABC & 15 Fox plus their ride along channels for a total of 56. Previously was getting 12 to 19.
Using it paired with a Televes DAT BOSS LR for UHF...killer performers together. This thing sees WVA at 200 miles many mornings. My experience is similar to the AntennaMan evaluation.
Good info as always! Thanks. 👍😊
High VHF has a lot less noise/interference than Low-VHF. High VHF is an optimal band for regional coverage, it's just too small to have all the tv channels. Low-VHF works very well too, if done right.
I have the smaller cousin of this Stellar Labs antenna, and got poor results until I removed its built-in balun and connected my own external one instead, which greatly improved the antenna. I don't know if this antenna uses that same balun, but it looks like it does. I also have a Stellar Labs quad bay bowtie for the UHF channels, which did not work at all until I took out its balun and used an external one, and then it worked fine. These baluns are just a simple piece of PC board with a pattern etched into them and an F connector soldered on. A regular cylindrical balun worked much better for me. Stellar Labs also sells a good combiner to put the signals from a UHF and a VHF antenna onto the same downlead.
Great advice and information!
Good review, and I'm sure that this is a good fringe antenna, but likely not enough for people who live in a TV desert who can't afford a tall tower, amplifier(s), rotor, the best coax, and installation of it all. I used to work with a ham radio tower and antenna installer when I was in high school, and I'm very familiar with all the hardware. I'm also familiar with the reception limitations that arose concurrently with the switch from analogue to digital TV.
If I can make a suggestion. Instead of using the last two antennas you reviewed in the format you have now. Have the top rated antenna in that particular category, for instance a combo uhf/vhf or stand alone vhf as your control antenna and when it gets beat replace it with the higher rated antenna so we can see just one antenna against the ones being reviewed? I think a best rated control antenna would be better for us to make a decision. I know there are different sizes and all but a best reviewed antenna makes more sense to me in the antenna category it belongs to. Thanks
I appreciate your suggestion but is not one I will take. My RUclips channel is mainly supported by views. I include the last two antennas on each antenna review. If someone wants to know what antenna performed best on a specific band they have to watch my videos. if they do not want to go through my channel they are free to sign up for a custom antenna recommendation on my website.
I wish Channel Master still made their 1160 Quantum antenna, the best deep/far fringe antenna made in my opinion.
Too confusing. I'm in Waterloo , Iowa. I got all channels when in a house with Wineguard antenna. Now in apartment Wineguard cannot get anything and bought 1byone omnidirectional antenna. I can only get Nbc 3 channels on 7 clearly but nothing else.
Help I've had antenna tv for 20 years in Miami, Fl and Denver, Co
I suggest you hire Antennaman for $20 to help you out. See my comment above.
Is comparing the current antenna to the last tested similar band antenna really the wat to do it? Or should you compare it to the best previous antenna of a similar type?
All of my antenna reviews included the last two antennas I tested out which I don't even have to include. If someone wants to see how a similar antenna I reviewed in the past performs they have to check out my videos.
A great VHF high DX antenna 😊👍
Danny Hodges just made a video about your video I actually started laughing when it started
I didn't watch the whole thing. Props to him for at least responding
Thanks for another great video
Yes, It is.
Wonder what a corner reflector would do to improve reception.
Thanks for sharing your information and videos. I always enjoy them.
I have that antenna for Ch 12 WICU and 2 deep fringe UHF antennas for UHF Erie and Buffalo...and work well. Note: Ferrid Beads of different sizes are a must for eliminating the LED street light issue, use on coax and power supplies of both distribution amp and pre amps!!! A must for the tool box!!!
Keep up the good work Kid!!!
N2JYG
Problems with VHF for me in the Poznań area are standard. VHF is a very disruptive band. There are places where the signal fades to zero and no antenna can cope. Best regards
I have a Wineguard FreeVision antenna on my roof. It is supposed to be a UHF/Hi VHF combo. But it's funny, the two stations in my area that are on VHF have the strongest signals. The UHF stations are at least slightly weaker but still very watchable..
Thinking about stacking a couple of these!
Wow impressive spec gains and great signal strength in your demo. • Gain: 10-14 dB
• Maximum Front/Back Ratio: 17 dB from the spec sheet! Nice antenna. Any idea how it would do on ranges longer than 40-50 miles?
I'm getting reliable reception from 90 miles with this antenna and a preamplifier.
Wish you would test a Channel Master 5020. I live in an area where I should get around 8 stations. With the 5020, when conditions are right I get over 100. Of course I use a preamp and rotor. These stations are about 80-115 miles
TYLAR, would adding another element next to the original active element for UHF make this unit do double duty Tylar ??? Thank you for the video Sir. 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀
The ClearStream 5 also pick up UHF, my signal got boosted for VHF too when I combined them. I doubt this was available over 8 years ago when I installed my antennas. The other is the DB4E. 40+ miles is pretty far. Even at 33 I only get that station day times, it is that Fox 13 in Seattle but they are also on 22.2 but only at 480 or 720 instead of 1080. PBS 9 is also VHF for Seattle as is CW 11.
Great video and information! Going check it out! Thank you for sharing!😁
HOWdy A-M,
Thanks
COOP
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What are the numbers at the top supposed to mean, such as 0% for WYOU? None of this makes any sense unless you look closely at the Quality level on the TV screen but that doesn't really mean anything since it's not in any kind of units. You really need to get a spectrum analyzer or signal level meter designed for measuring TV signals if you are serious about measuring antennas
Sky Blue makes a few VHF only antennas at various boom lengths. I think they use thicker elements that might uphold well in harsh weather environments.
I forgot about their antennas. They gotta get their stock on amazon
perfect for fm dxing and vhf dxing
Thank you fella for letting me know of this killer antenna for high VHF. I got one question for you about receiving digital TV signals with a TV that does not have a tuner built in the unit and needs a box to receive the signals that are on now ?? What would be the brand and model Tyler. Thanks fella too.
If you're trying to use an older TV to pick up digital TV channels you will need the converter box below. If you add a hard drive it works as a DVR too! amzn.to/3FjAsZx
@@AntennaMan Thank you Antenna Man for helping me out. Hope you had a great and Happy Thanksgiving fella. Peace to you too. vf
Thanks for the review - very helpful. It was useful to get an idea of the antenna dimensions and signal results. If I may suggest, it would also be useful in your videos to also confirm electrical connections and mounting arrangements with a close-up view? I've found I can buy these here in Australia from Element14, they ship from the US. They're a great price too :-)
there another version of stellar labs antenna. "30-2475"
30-2476 has a length of 82.7” nearly 7 feet max gain of 14dB
30-2475 has a length of 60.5 (5 feet) max gain of 12 dB.
I put the 30-2475 on my house in East Lansing, MI. It's alright, I thought I might be able to pick up a VHF station from grand rapids since I was able to get a UHF station from there and this was in the exact same direction but a mile closer. I could only get the station during tropospheric ducting. Pointing it northwest it will pick up channel 12 from Flint all the time now. The clearstream 2max wasn't able to do that.
Tyler, if possible could you make a video using a UHF & this high gain VHF antennas plus the combiner & a separate pre-amp like the Ness electronic model you recommended in another video. I ordered the Ness pre-amp & am waiting delivery.
I'm in the process of installing this antenna along with it's companion UHF Yagi along with
a combiner and mast mounted pre-amp although I have yet to get it up in the air. So I would
also be interested in seeing Tyler come out with a video.
you must live in NE PA those channels are from the Scranton Wilkesbarre area
@6:30 lol that looks exactly like my house roof and have that Exact HDB91X antenna from "Solid Signal". I'm located right off the SE fringe edge of Lake Michigan just south of Milwaukee.
Can something like this inside the attic if roof has Tecshield on the sheeting below asphalt shingles. HOA frowns upon external antennas.
Check out the OTARD FCC rule. www.fcc.gov/media/over-air-reception-devices-rule "Antennas covered by the rule may be mounted on "masts" to reach the height needed to receive or transmit an acceptable quality signal (e.g. maintain line-of-sight contact with the transmitter or view the satellite). Masts higher than 12 feet above the roofline may be subject to local permitting requirements for safety purposes. Further, masts that extend beyond an exclusive use area may not be covered by this rule." So if you are in the FCC designated viewing area for a station, say, 60 or 70mi from a station, you have a government protected right to install an antenna. HOA's have no choice. If they have a clause prohibiting antennas that you've signed, it's time to contact a lawyer as most likely is NOT a legal clause.
Tylar, would you be able to tell me what digital tv tuner have the best sensitivity and pull power Sir ?? Thanks for your help.
Using this combined with Antennas Direct db8e through Televes t force preamp. Gets the VHF from Tupelo but can't get VHF from Birmingham. Strangely both NBC channels are VHF. Waiting for pre ordered Range Xperts insane gain xps 1500 to come in next month.
the signal map illustration you used of the Seattle transmitter was interesting to see since I am just between Silverdale and Bremerton Wa what are the chances of that happening it seems like Kiro 7 CBS has a channel that is a translator repeater but I cant find any such record of one in the fcc data base or its location
I'm tired of direct tv and thinking of pulling the plug. When we went to DTV I never removed my antenna off my house. So it's still up there with the direction changing box that spins it around from inside the house. I would have to rewire it all, but that's no big deal. Thing is, year s back I remember the new reporting that these antenna would no longer work because all the station went digital and not longer transmitted like they use to. Watching a number of you videos you seem to say the stations are still transmitting the old way and my antenna should still work. I live in the zip code 22572 and even back in the day the best we could do was ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX from Richmond Virginia. I used the website you recommend to see what stations I would pick up and none are listed now. So has over air stopped in my area? Thanks for your help. MIke
Antennaweb.org is not accurate. I no longer recommend it. Use the FCC DTV reception maps or rabbitears.info. You can also sign up for an antenna recommendation from me at the link below. I'll tell you exactly what channels you'd pick up. antennamanpa.com/antenna-recommendations.html
I have this Deep Fringe version along with the UHF to match hanging in my garage. 65 miles from Transmitters 35feet in air and only received half of the channels that my Homemade Grey Hooverman Double Bay picks up. Return Shipping was half the cost of the purchase price so I just kept them.
I would spend the $50 for this if I were to move to Davenport Fl as WESH VHF signal is in Daytona Beach
For Tylers subscribers Danny Hodges has a rebutell on one of his antenna reviews on his channel I call the episode two and a half antenna men
So what is the UHF antenna you would recommend with this one for a dual set up? Have used your recommendation service and cannot recommend it enough! Well worth the money! Don't be shy people take the leap.
This one amzn.to/3677fOT
VHF needs at least 100 kw ERP. Abandoning 8VSB modulation in favor of COFDM modulation would help as well.
I agree. VHF isn't bad if there's enough power. I find most of the TV stations are severely under powered.
Do you think this VHF antenna would pick up FM Radio? Do you have an opinion for fm radio?
Yes! An antenna that performs well on the VHF band will perform well for FM reception.
Dear Tyler, I wrote to you about an omnidirectional antenna that was sold by Radio Shack way back when dinosaurs roamed my area. Lol. It worked great until the preamp broke. It looked like a huge frisbee. I got channels from as far away as S.Antonio, Del Río, Monterrey, Mx to the South. This was all the time. A friend of mine said that a steel bike rim worked well as an antenna but not quite as far reaching. Would you be able to create omniditrectional antenna that could pick up stations as far away as 60 - 80 miles w/o a preamp? I used to love mine. It also picked up fm frequencies well. Thanks for your time.
Makes me glad that Kansas City market is all UHF
It's physics.
Bigger and heavier the antena is, the more it will pick.
Go only for big antenas.
This antenna isn't very heavy but is pretty sturdy.
Not bigger, more elements give directivity and gain.
@@n3sjh More length and elements, better will pick
There are exceptions.
As I type this, I'm listening to a good signal from a radio station on 1.52 MHz, with a built- in ferrite bar/wire loop antenna, about 3 inches (7.6 cm) long.
@@1L6E6VHF radio picks easly..tv antenas ar more complicated