Winegard Platinum Series HD7694P Long Range TV Antenna (Outdoor / Attic, 4K Ultra-HD Ready, ATSC 3.0 Ready, High-VHF / UHF) - 45 Mile Range HD Antenna

This antenna was bought to replace one of those silly 200 mile amplified antennas with the built in rotor. The older antenna had signal issues when it was windy and pretty much lost CBS although I think that was due more to CBS trying to get more subscribers for their "All Access" channel. The funny thing is that the antenna is mounted in the attic and is shielded from the weather. I realizes that I needed a bigger antenna and was deciding between this one and the Clear View model and this one had slightly better reviews and about half the price.The antenna came in good shape but one of the nuts on the U bolt was missing. Luckily, it was lying in the box. The first thing that I would check prior to assembly is the coax cartridge. It is separate from the antenna and comes in its own box. Make sure that the housing is not cracked and that the 4 forks that connect it to the antenna elements are not damaged or missing because the antenna is useless if this part is damaged and it is not easy to get. It would be easier just to exchange the antenna and that is MUCH easier to do while the antenna is still folded up and refolding the elements after extending them is not easy to do. Assembling the antenna is not difficult but you do need to be careful extending the elements, especially the small UHF ones in the front of the antenna. They are sharp on their edges and can cut you if you are not careful moving them. Also make sure that the active elements are making contact with the connection wire that runs down both sides of the boom because if they don't touch it, they don't work.The only issue I see with this antenna is the attachment of the coax cartridge. I really don't know why they needed to make it a two piece unit but they did and you need to be careful assembling it. If you look at it, you will see that it has two pairs of forks attached to a PC board. These forks connect to the two pairs of signal wires that connect to the antennas active elements, the UHF elements in the front of the antenna and the VHF in the rear. If these forks do not make contact with both pairs of these wires, then the antenna will not work properly or possibly not at all. The directions say that the direction of the cartridge is not important since both pairs of wires extend to both sides of the upper cartridge but I found that how you install it is. Make sure that the two pairs of wires in the cartridge are straight and parallel with each other. I found that putting the coax connector side in on a 45 degree angle with the wide pair of forks toward the back of the antenna easier. Make sure that the cartridge locks are properly seated and then tilt the cartridge down toward the front of the antenna until the front cartridge locks engage. You should feel some resistance as the forks seat on the signal wires. and you are done with assembly. You will notice that this cartridge assembly is not bullet proof and I suggest that during hookup, I would secure the coax to the mast prior to connect it to the antenna to prevent an accidental coax pull ripping the cartridge apart and possibly damaging it which would render the antenna useless.I was impressed with the improvement of signal strength with this antenna. I went from about 45 channels to 60 with every channel I tested coming in strong and clear, including CBS. Keep in mind that this type of antenna is highly directional and needs to be properly aimed at the stations you intend to receive signals from. If the stations you want to receive are in multiple directions from your home then this might not be the best choice of antenna for you. This antenna is also not amplified so if you have a long coax run between the antenna and the TV or distribution splitter, you might want to add a good pre-amp as close to the antenna as possible. Mine is about 5 feet away from the antenna but remember, the amp does not pull in more signals, it will only increase the strength of the signals the antenna has already picked up which is sometimes needed with long coax runs or multiple splitters in the line which all cause some signal loss.

I have had this unit installed in my attic for about a year by now, and it is working beautifully. I live in a suburb between two small cities (one situated about 18 miles to the south of us, and another situated about 25 miles to the north of us - both in terms of the "heart" of the city...outskirts are more like 10 miles and 20 miles, respectively) and we were having trouble getting channels successfully from either of them (digital TV...gotta love it).We had tried all manner of powered indoor antennae and had basically given up. We literally had more success with the cheapest set of un-powered rabbit ears I could find than we had had with any of the powered indoor units (be they rabbit ears, cones, or the funky arrow-shaped ones). I decided to give the rooftop type a try but didn't really want a big, ugly antenna on my roof. This one suggested that indoor (attic) installation would work so I went for it. Boy what a difference! My main focus was the city to the south of us, since that is where we all work and play, and their news stations are most pertinent to us. So I grabbed my compass, climbed into the attic, and aimed the business end of the antenna right at the city. We previously could only get one station from that city but with this unit we got EVERY station from the city to the south of us. I hadn't really cared as much about stations from the city to the north of us, but when I ran a channel scan I found that the rear of the antenna was actually able to catch most of the northern city's stations as well, despite their being about 25 degrees off of the axis of the antenna. So this baby works and works well.Just remember that you will have to boost the signal. I run my entire house reception off of this unit coupled with two inline signal boosters (one "Channel Plus DA-500A 18 dB RF Amplifier" which works quite well and one unknown unit that the cable company installed for the previous home owner - I have long since canceled cable service so I re-purposed the old signal booster). I have the Channel Plus unit situated in a bedroom about 8 feet down line from the antenna and the other in the basement another 20-25 feet down line from that, which hooks it into the existing cable TV splitters run throughout the house. I now get clear reception throughout the entire two-story house using the old cable wall jacks.I will offer one point of caution for users intending to install this in an attic... The antenna is pretty darn long, and when unfolded it's actually pretty tall as well. In most attics, you will be facing a tight squeeze. If you will need to aim this unit down the length of your house (roughly along the direction of the ridge of your roof) you will be fine, however if you need to aim it across the width of your house you may have trouble fitting it between the rafters while still getting the unit aimed correctly at your desired broadcast source. Measure twice if this applies to you. Set up test with a broom stick and some coat hangers or something, just don't let this take you by surprise. I planned mine ahead of time and knew I had to follow the roof ridge anyway, but if anyone out there hasn't thought of this it could put a real damper on their purchase.