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Review on ๐Ÿ“บ Antennas Direct VHF Kit - Enhance Your TV Antenna with VHF Capability (Channels 7-13) - Indoor/Attic/Outdoor - Includes 3 ft. Coaxial Cable - VHF-1 by Mike Snedeker

Revainrating 5 out of 5

The Chord Cutter's Best Friend

It didn't take long for me to become a fan of this dipole. I have been using my homemade antenna for many years. Google shows many websites that explain how to do this using very cheap materials. Channel 7's 175MHz signal was strong enough that I didn't have to buy something more professional just for that smelly channel. It was easy and fairly cheap to build. I used a PVC pipe as the base and some steel rods as the antenna elements. Make sure the rod length and spacing are as recommended, then solder a 50 ohm cable to create a true dipole in the center of the reflector rods. It was far easier to install in the attic than any store-bought antenna. This home scalper measured the voltage on channel 7 to be around 52dB. Not bad. Anyway, I got fed up with this setup because I couldn't securely solder the ground of the cable to one side of the dipole, so I attached an alligator clip that I had to wiggle every few months. Well, the clamp eventually came loose from the cable and I had to fight again and fix the situation. I wanted something more reliable. So I found this Revain dipole doing a curiosity search on google and decided to pay $30 to see how it works. I measured 54dB which is a lot better than my custom work, also the UHF/VHF combiner was very handy. But what I was able to do with this antenna was just attach it to a vertical PVC pipe with the zip ties provided and mount it somewhere else in the attic where a homemade scalper couldn't get through. This allowed me to get a signal of 63dB! I also found that channel 11 was being received from a different location, about 75% from where channel 7 was being sent, and I was able to split the difference in alignment and get both channels with the same values. 60 dB signals! Also, 10 more channels appeared on channel 12. However, the value of these 10 is very small for me because all 12 are religious television. In confusing terrain I recommend you spend the money and get a decent signal meter. The more expensive ones allow you to view all channels at once, so you can see how all channels affect changing antenna direction. For me, the Digiair Pro gauge still pays off, although many of you can get away with much cheaper and less functional gauges in very simple situations. If you have signals bouncing off nearby buildings, around hills and mountains, more expensive meters can save you a lot of time. They keep you from spending hours tinkering to get the best possible results for your DIY system. For example, I found that the best direction for my VHF is very different from the UHF direction, even though the transmitters were in the same place. Signals bounce and the strongest don't always come from where you think they should be! My Digiair Pro has a frequency sweep mode that allows me to see the effects of all channels at once or focus on a few if needed. I will for sure buy a few more antennas like this one. constant cable cutting expert instead of OTA and streaming services. Long live Tablo and AppleTV. Now I'm saving $72 a month and my friends are starting to drool over my monthly savings. I should get my investment back in about 6 months and everything will be fine from then on.

Pros
  • Great Price
Cons
  • Big and Bulky

Comments (11)

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May 04, 2023
Solved the problem for me!!!
October 29, 2022
Solved the problem for me!!!
October 26, 2022
Works great with my mohu leaf, not the most attractive thing to throw on the wall though
October 25, 2022
Minor tweaks and adjustments may improve your reception
October 21, 2022
Small but fixed my problem of getting only VHF channel in Chicagoland.!!
October 20, 2022
WAY better than I expected
October 16, 2022
Picks up VHS and boosted UHF!
October 14, 2022
No VHF reception
October 13, 2022
Good VHF antenna if you don't follow the instructions.
October 12, 2022
A chord cutters best friend