Home - Attic Mounting of Great Antenna - Worth the price and trouble
Winegard HD8200U Platinum HD VHF/UHF Antenna Reviews
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$117.30
$189.95
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Availability: Usually shipped in 24 hours if sold by Amazon.com***Attic Mounting of Great Antenna - Worth the price and trouble by V. Morgante "Vince M @ Jul 6, 2009
We lost half of our eight local stations in June, 2009 when the switch happened to Digital Broadcast only. So, we knew our TERK indoor antenna (OK for 20 years) was not adequate. Did research on indoor ones and purchased four only to return them because of no improvement or worse. Did much more research and decided on trying an outdoor bigger one in the attic before going the most difficult route - roof mounting. Chose the Hd8200 because of the rave reviews.
The very long (11') box arrived and we realized this was turning into a huge project to assemble and install in the attic above our living room where the 25yr. old TV is - Toshiba - works great.
We carefully carried the five pieces to the attic and began assembly. All the parts arrived safely. This antenna is so huge - 15' by 11' - that ground assembly was clearly impossible. The directions could have been clearer! But, there's only five pieces and opening up the many rods went quickly enough in the hot and cramped attic. Hung it with nylon rope from the roof rafters. Got the best cable (RG6) and put the 50' down the inside of the wall into the basement and up through the living room floor.
It's quite directional. We rotated it 30 degrees to get the maximum reception. Because of the enormous size, rotation space is limited. But that's OK, it turned out.
To our amazement, we now get an unbelievable 47 stations - up from eight, all brilliantly clear on a 25 yr. old TV. We also purchased the Winegard AP 8700 preamp which did not seem to make any difference. We now receive San Jose, (50 mi. away), and Cotati, (45 mi. away).
So, roof mounting is not necessary and the 8200 is definitely worth the $$ and effort. Glad we did the research and got good speedy free delivery service from Amazon.