Winegard Flatwave indoor antenna

[Chuck Wintle]

I want to get rid of my cable television as the prices have gone up for a very little increase in service. I have been looking at the winegard flatwave antenna. I have no idea if this one works as advertised so as usual I defer to those in this forum with more knowledge than me. :) Thanks in advance. :D

[Matt Meiser]

No one can really answer that question for you unless they happen to live in your neighborhood, and even then. Real-world antenna performance will depend on terrain, trees, buildings, transmitter location, sources of interference, etc, etc. Indoor, add the materials your house was made of.

In general Winegard seems to be pretty good. We had one of their antennas in our camper and it tended to pull in signals from pretty far away--unless we were in a low are, next to a giant RV, in thick trees, etc, etc. ;)

[Sean Troy]

We've been thinking of the same thing. I see the prices are all over the place between the indoor and outside versions on Amazon. I've heard good things about there reception but as Matt said, it depends about your local terrain.

[Myk Rian]

The best antenna is still going to be a tower or tripod/rotor mounted yagi outdoors.
They now call them HiDef antennas, but they're the same ones as 20 years ago.

[Chuck Wintle]

The best antenna is still going to be a tower or tripod/rotor mounted yagi outdoors.
They now call them HiDef antennas, but they're the same ones as 20 years ago.
Yes I agree but for me I cannot use this option. I want to get rid of my cable tv which is overpriced for what it is...i plan to use more streaming video from the internet and get my news and such from the internet. As long as i can get some local station then i will be happy.

[Art Mann]

I already went down the path you are going. I now use a home made antenna built from a design I found on the internet for network reception. I subscribe to Netflix streaming video and occasionally buy content from Vudu. When I started doing some research, I found www.antennaweb.org to be a useful website. Also, if you have an Android phone with a GPS, get the "TV Antenna Helper Free" app. Both of these programs use your geographic location and terrain information between you and the towers to estimate ease of reception and recommend an appropriate class of antenna.

[Chris Damm]

I built one that was supposed to be a good one. It doesn't work very well here but I'm about 50 miles from the transmitters. I gave it to my son and for him it works quite well but he is only a few miles away from the transmitters.

[Frank Trinkle]

Amazing how times change. I remember when every house in a neighborhood had an antenna attached to the roof. Then came cable and satellite TV.

Now, with prices going sky high, I wonder if we won't soon be seeing a resurgence of the roof mounts for local TV.... but not everywhere, because my HOA, for example, prohibits outdoor antennas. DirecTV and similar are allowed, but positioning on the house is in the covenants.

The OP might take a look at his Cable Co's most basic service. It is usually very cheap for mostly local channels and no premium services. Here in my area, that would cost about 18.00/mo.

[Matt Meiser]

but not everywhere, because my HOA, for example, prohibits outdoor antennas. DirecTV and similar are allowed, but positioning on the house is in the covenants.

Not legally. http://www.fcc.gov/guides/installing-consumer-owned-antennas-and-satellite-dishes

[Sean Troy]

I purchased one of the Winegard antenna's this past week and I pick up 16 channels. We live in a small community. Picture looks great. I'll probably get one for the bedroom tv and drop satellite at 105.00 per month. We have Netflix for 8 a month and will add Hulu plus for another 8. saving almost 90.00 a month.

[Mike Cozad]

I was able to pick up all the digital HD stations once I moved my cheapo antenna to the attic. Once it was up there I got stations that were local to Toledo and then as far away as Detroit. Prior to moving it up there, I could only get half of the local stuff and it was choppy. To Matt's point earlier, it really has to do with the "view" your antenna has to the transmitter....

[Sean Troy]

I was able to pick up all the digital HD stations once I moved my cheapo antenna to the attic. Once it was up there I got stations that were local to Toledo and then as far away as Detroit. Prior to moving it up there, I could only get half of the local stuff and it was choppy. To Matt's point earlier, it really has to do with the "view" your antenna has to the transmitter....
I'm lucky in the sense that I have line of sight to the three towers in this area. We get the digital locals including ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS. All in HD

[Stephen Pereira]

We just got rid of our cable also..$170.00 month is just too much. I could care less, I don't watch much TV but my wife is going through withdrawal.

Thanks to Art Mann for the antenna website.

[Burt Alcantara]

We dropped DirecTV for all of the above stated reasons. Our OTA antennas are about 30 miles line-of-sight away. We bought this (http://www.amazon.com/Mohu-Leaf-Paper-Thin-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B004QK7HI8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387731671&sr=8-1&keywords=indoor+antenna) and keep it near our front window. Most of the time it works well but on some days I have to, believe it or not, hold it in my hand to get good, clear reception. Essentially, we just watch collage and pro football and not much else. Netflix is our drug of choice along with a few Roku stations. I've hooked up my PC via HDMI to the TV and occasionally play a video game (GTA4) or watch assorted stuff located on my PC. Don't miss commercial TV one bit.

[Curt Harms]

I wonder how long it'll take Comcast, Verizon, AT&T etc. to notice this trend. More internet traffic, less revenue from traditional T.V./Cable services. Less revenue? Hmmm, that's unacceptable. Let's start metering wired internet usage (like wireless internet now) so people using streaming services save on one of our services but pay more for another.

[Chuck Wintle]

I just received my Winegard antenna and it works very well. However my location is not that good so some stations are not there. Hope to change/improve my location very soon!

[Eric DeSilva]

+1 on www.antennaweb.org.

From reputation, Wineguard makes good gear.

[Matt Meiser]

AntennaWeb is designed for use with United States addresses only.

AntennaWeb isn't going to help Chuck from Montreal much...

[Eric DeSilva]

This should work in the frozen north: http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29

Should help in determining gain/directional orientation for antennas.