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Antennas Direct DB8 8-Element Bowtie Indoor/Outdoor HDTV Antenna Expired

$50
+ Free Shipping
+54 Deal Score
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AntennasDirect.com has Antennas Direct DB8 8-Element Bowtie Indoor/Outdoor HDTV Antenna on clearance for $49.99. Shipping is free. Thanks Slugbait

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This antenna is intended for suburban and rural areas where heavy foliage or roofing materials can reduce the incoming signal. It has a rated range of up to 65+ miles. 34 reviews on AntennasDirect.com give this 4.5 stars overall. -Corwin
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Edited October 1, 2018 at 05:39 PM by
Antennas Direct DB8 8-Element Bowtie Indoor/Outdoor HDTV Antenna, on clearance, $49.99 shipped [antennasdirect.com]

I just installed this on Saturday, and it pulls in the local NBC affiliate much better than the Clear Stream C4 that it replaced. Unfortunately I lost PBS, which broadcasts in the VHF range in my area...probably because of the angle where their broadcasting antenna is located. But I'm more concerned about watching SNF without massive breakups and freezes, so I'll just watch PBS on the web as needed.

Assembly took about 20 minutes, but mainly because I wanted to get it right. Others should be able to get it assembled in 10 minutes.

Note: You will receive an email receipt for your payment, and then you will not hear from them again. If you ping them asking for a tracking number, they will not reply. But it arrived for me after 8 days.
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People living 45+ miles away from the transmission towers in their area should get in on this deal. I have a 4-element version from AntDir. At $50, this is probably 50% off.

Of course, lots of people don't understand that a quality antenna cannot fix problems like buildings or mountains in the way or trying to use a UHF antenna to get VHF-Lo channels just won't work.

Always visit TVFool.com to see what might be possible for your location. If you aren't sure what antenna is needed, use the tvfool tool to create a URL, then post that URL into the tv-fool forums for expert advice. The only people you can really ask for antenna advice without using a tool like that are your 4 closest neighbors. Someone the next neighborhood over probably has different reception than your house.

And if all the transmitters are south of your apartment and you have a north-facing balcony/windows, forgetaboutit. Buy the CATV package or move to the side of the apartment building facing the transmitters.

Mine actually has problems in the winter when all the leaves have fallen with the local CBS station coming in too strong. The rest of the 85+ channels we get are fine, just CBS (and 2 subchannel) have the problem.
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Joined Apr 2010
L6: Expert
> bubble2 1,633 Posts
371 Reputation
yoFu
10-01-2018 at 02:14 PM.
10-01-2018 at 02:14 PM.
People living 45+ miles away from the transmission towers in their area should get in on this deal. I have a 4-element version from AntDir. At $50, this is probably 50% off.

Of course, lots of people don't understand that a quality antenna cannot fix problems like buildings or mountains in the way or trying to use a UHF antenna to get VHF-Lo channels just won't work.

Always visit TVFool.com to see what might be possible for your location. If you aren't sure what antenna is needed, use the tvfool tool to create a URL, then post that URL into the tv-fool forums for expert advice. The only people you can really ask for antenna advice without using a tool like that are your 4 closest neighbors. Someone the next neighborhood over probably has different reception than your house.

And if all the transmitters are south of your apartment and you have a north-facing balcony/windows, forgetaboutit. Buy the CATV package or move to the side of the apartment building facing the transmitters.

Mine actually has problems in the winter when all the leaves have fallen with the local CBS station coming in too strong. The rest of the 85+ channels we get are fine, just CBS (and 2 subchannel) have the problem.
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Joined Mar 2009
L2: Beginner
> bubble2 32 Posts
36 Reputation
duke167
10-01-2018 at 04:20 PM.
10-01-2018 at 04:20 PM.
I am in need of a stronger antenna, still struggle if I should pay $22 for Fios or just get an outdoor antenna.

Tried a traditional Philips $20 from Target, which I could get one stable channel when Windows open. And then I tried another flat
antenna from Amazon, my TV could scan 6 but most of them breaking up. Second floor apartment with a tree right outside living room window.

I may give this a try to put that antenna in the balcony. Does it come with mounting kit?

Dk
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Joined Jul 2014
L6: Expert
> bubble2 1,260 Posts
379 Reputation
JakDavenport
10-01-2018 at 04:50 PM.
10-01-2018 at 04:50 PM.
as said before, check the stations in your area on antennaweb or TVfool. If you want to watch stations that still use high band VHF or especially the less common low band VHF frequencies, a bow tie style antenna is not ideal. Bow tie style antennas excel at UHF, which is most stations these days, but not all. CBS in my area is on a high VHF frequency, and even being just a few miles away from the transmission tower, my outdoor bowtie was sometimes giving a choppy picture, especially during weather. I got the RCA ANT751 LINK [newegg.com] and put it in my attic and all the channels are rock solid. I used to use a channelmaster amp with the bowtie but don't need it with the ANT751 in the attic.

I think the FCC is continually moving stations from VHF to UHF so check that too, antennaweb has that info.
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Last edited by JakDavenport October 1, 2018 at 04:54 PM.
Joined Mar 2012
L5: Journeyman
> bubble2 619 Posts
104 Reputation
nichos
10-01-2018 at 05:00 PM.
10-01-2018 at 05:00 PM.
If you're living in the fringe range, consider getting a directional antenna instead of this.
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Joined Apr 2010
L6: Expert
> bubble2 1,633 Posts
371 Reputation
yoFu
10-01-2018 at 05:09 PM.
10-01-2018 at 05:09 PM.
Quote from duke167 :
I am in need of a stronger antenna, still struggle if I should pay $22 for Fios or just get an outdoor antenna.

Tried a traditional Philips $20 from Target, which I could get one stable channel when Windows open. And then I tried another flat
antenna from Amazon, my TV could scan 6 but most of them breaking up. Second floor apartment with a tree right outside living room window.

I may give this a try to put that antenna in the balcony. Does it come with mounting kit?

Dk
Nobody can help you here. You need to use tvfool link above, fill in your address and see how your specific location is for reception. If your balcony doesn't face any transmitters, NO ANTENNA WILL HELP.

And this thing is larger than you think, I bet. Check the size, it would cover over 50% of any apartment balconies (above the railing) where I lived.
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Joined Jan 2015
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> bubble2 315 Posts
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compnurd9
10-01-2018 at 05:10 PM.
10-01-2018 at 05:10 PM.
Wonder if this is worth the discount vs the newer version
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Joined Nov 2003
Living in sunny Florida!
> bubble2 925 Posts
470 Reputation
Trekboy
10-01-2018 at 05:35 PM.
10-01-2018 at 05:35 PM.
I have a DB8 antenna (although not this specific one) and love it. Great deal for an antenna like this! I live in the Tampa FL area about 32 miles from the antenna farm and this also with an RCA amplifier gives me 70 channels. Sometimes there are breakups during lightning but overall I'm very pleased!
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Joined Nov 2004
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> bubble2 1,186 Posts
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B34N
10-01-2018 at 05:50 PM.
10-01-2018 at 05:50 PM.
I used to use the 4 element in an attic when I was about 5-mile close to the source. It worked great. Where I am not at ~40 miles I'll be best with this on a roof mount. If I could do in attic I'd be all over this. The cost of the Antenna is only part of my expense to do it right on the roof. I'll need an amplifier, plenty of cable and proper grounding for lightening strikes. I'm close to pulling the trigger and I will when Comcast stops offering the $14/month "antenna service" which I use on my HDHR Prime with cablecard.
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Joined May 2005
L3: Novice
> bubble2 274 Posts
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Original Poster
Slugbait
10-01-2018 at 05:55 PM.
10-01-2018 at 05:55 PM.
Quote from yoFu :
And this thing is larger than you think, I bet. Check the size, it would cover over 50% of any apartment balconies (above the railing) where I lived.
The DB8 is about 40-50% larger than the ClearStream C4 that it replaced. The size is fairly big: 29" x 43".
Quote :
Wonder if this is worth the discount vs the newer version
The key difference between the DB8 and the newer DB8e is that the newer one can be adjusted to point in two different directions. As a result, it's considerably longer. I don't know if any gain is lost pointing in two directions, tho. Also, it costs over three times as much.
Quote :
Does it come with mounting kit?
If you mean the clamps for mounting it to a universal J-mount, yes. If you mean the J-mount itself, no.
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Joined Apr 2008
L6: Expert
> bubble2 1,104 Posts
139 Reputation
jbwhite99
10-01-2018 at 06:25 PM.
10-01-2018 at 06:25 PM.
Keep in mind OP's comment about VHF. More and more channels are moving to VHF. Don't be fooled with what the dial says. In Raleigh, we have channels 5 (on 49 today, moving to 17), 11 (on 11 today, moving to 9, can't get with most antennae), and 17 (on 17 today, moving to 8 I believe). I am expecting that I may not be able to read any of these...

https://rabbitears.info//market.p...lsign=wncn but you can plug in any local TV station in your area.

Look at the column labelled physical channel - note the 17-> 8 Just a heads up that what works today may not work in a few years.
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Joined May 2013
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> bubble2 2,610 Posts
567 Reputation
RacinReaver
10-01-2018 at 07:05 PM.
10-01-2018 at 07:05 PM.
Looks like the typical price on Amazon is $65 for this unit, so not a bad deal. I have a smaller version of this guy and it works well. I'm tempted to get a larger one to hope it'll help with the days where my reception fluctuates in and out.
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Joined Apr 2010
L6: Expert
> bubble2 1,633 Posts
371 Reputation
yoFu
10-01-2018 at 07:34 PM.
10-01-2018 at 07:34 PM.
Quote from B34N :
I used to use the 4 element in an attic when I was about 5-mile close to the source. It worked great. Where I am not at ~40 miles I'll be best with this on a roof mount. If I could do in attic I'd be all over this. The cost of the Antenna is only part of my expense to do it right on the roof. I'll need an amplifier, plenty of cable and proper grounding for lightening strikes. I'm close to pulling the trigger and I will when Comcast stops offering the $14/month "antenna service" which I use on my HDHR Prime with cablecard.
I was where you are years ago, but Comcast was charging $29.95/month for 12 channels. That made the incentive higher, even with professional installation (so I didn't kill myself on a 30ft roof). Say everything costs $300 to get and install, that 1-time cost will last 10-15 yrs whereas you'll recover that cost in 22 months by NOT paying Comcast. And the satisfaction of that is priceless, IMHO.

The newer HDHR devices support DLNA clients, BTW. That makes almost any computing device able to view live TV, though some cheap tablets can't handle mpeg2 decoding for HiDef streams.

And in 2021-2023 the ATSC standard will probably change from MPEG2 to AVC1, so all our existing tuners will break. Thank you FCC for breaking all our cable ready devices last time.
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Joined Mar 2016
L3: Novice
> bubble2 184 Posts
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riles246
10-01-2018 at 08:45 PM.
10-01-2018 at 08:45 PM.
Had one of these for a while. Great range, but the lack of VHF meant no ABC. Not even fuzzy or poor picture- just zero ABC. Had to sell it and go with a different antenna so that I could get all stations.
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