Winegard FreeVision FV-30BB Indoor and Outdoor Digital HDTV Antenna (4K Ultra-HD Ready, ATSC 3.0 Ready, High-VHF / UHF) - 30 Mile Range High Performance Digital HD TV Antenna

Update: 06_03_14. I did not integrate the second of these antennas since I decided that I would try a different preamp first. My Viewtv DVR was indicating significant fluctuations in signal strength for many of my favorite stations. Therefore, I switched out the Winegard LNA-200 Boost XT Digital HDTV Preamplifier for the Channel Master CM 7777 TITAN2 UHF/VHF PREAMPLIFIER CM7777. This made all my signals not only stronger but steadier as well (as measured by Viewtv signal fluctuations). See my review of the Channel Master CM 7777 TITAN2 UHF/VHF PREAMPLIFIER CM7777 here on Amazon as well. I am saving the second antenna to pick up other stations in different directions when I get around to it.Update: 05_16_14. I was so impressed with this antenna, I just bought another one. I am going to use this one to combine it with the first to get a bit more gain for my DVRs. Now I actually have an antenna array to point! Having fun now :).Original Review: I bought 2 other antennas from Amazon and they both worked well for UHF. The problem was that both ABC and CBS [channels 7 (WJLA) and 9 (WUSA)] in my area, and I suspect many other areas as well, have moved back to High-band VHF. In all cases, I was 30 miles from the TV stations and set the antenna on top of an 8 foot high Tall Boy facing the direction indicated by TVfool.com. Luckily, that direction faced towards an outside wall of my home.The first antenna was the Mohu Curve 50 Designer HDTV Antenna. This small antenna actually worked well for all UHF stations and in general I would pick up about 40 stations including the two VHF channels as well. However, I had problems with VHF channels 7 and 9. I then purchased the Winegard LNA-200 Boost XT Digital HDTV Preamplifier from Amazon and installed it to see if it helped pick up VHF channels 7 and 9. I then picked up about 43 channels including the two VHF channels. This was due to the LNA or Low Noise Amplifier which set the Noise Figure (NF) for my new Sony TV at about 2 dB. The problem was that VHF channels for ABC and CBS (Channels 7 and 9 in the Washington, D.C. area) would still fade in and out and never be reliable enough to record using Viewtv or Simple.tv (both of which I purchased at Amazon). The remaining channels were very reliable since they were all UHF channels. I find it amazing this antenna actually worked so well for its rather small size.The next antenna was the Antennas Direct C2-V-CJM ClearStream 2-V Long Range UHF/VHF Indoor/Outdoor DTV Antenna with 20-Inch Mount also purchased from Amazon. The was a larger antenna that actually used a VHF Dipole as well as a UHF antenna to supposedly pick up the UHF channels as well as the VHF channels via the dipole augmentation. Of course there was only one dipole with the length matched to the high-VHF band. I was hoping this "rabbit ear" augmentation would be enough. But, no such luck. Not only did I have the same problem as the Mohu, but now via fading in and out, I was losing some UHF channels as well.Luckily, Amazon accepted this antenna as a return for my current antenna, the "Winegard Free Vision FV-30BB HDTV Antenna". This antenna has three dipoles for VHF channels and is simply amazing! I am now pulling in channels not only from Washington, D.C. reliably (including 7 and 9), but also some from Baltimore, MD. I actually received 54 channels, many of which I simply disabled since they were either Baltimore repeats of D.C. Channels or others I was not interested in. I am completely amazed. This antenna (along with the single tuner version of Simple.TV and Viewtv) has allowed me to completely cut the cord. My additional purchases of two Roku 3's allow me to put Simple.TV live or recorded video on any HDTV and this version (only this version) of Simple.TV has a no cost free guide that allows me to select just "New" recordings if I want. I can also watch TV on any popular phone or pad device via the internet at any location with free Wi-Fi. I will review these other devices separately later. Suffice it to say, I am now finally extremely happy - no more Direct-TV or Comcast Cable or ....!

I live about 8 miles from most of the full power tv stations in my city, but the location is not line of sight. There's terrain and tree clutter between where I live and the transmitter sites that make indoor reception more challenging, especially for the two VHF-High stations here. A basic rabbit ears/loop antenna wouldn't even register any of the stations in the room with my TV on the main level. Using the Winegard Freevision, I was able to get stable enough signals on all but the VHF-High stations. Moving the antenna into the next room facing the transmitters using a long RG6 cable, I was able to also pull in the two VHF-High stations I had planned to put it in the attic, but discovered there was a radiant barrier up there blocking the signal. Eventually, I was able to find a location for it on the upper floor facing the transmitters that connected into the house coax (approximately 100+ ft plus 7 couplers) that provided a stable signal for all the channels in the market. After adding a Winegard indoor amplifier, the signal is much improved and sufficiently stable for all 9 RF channels in my area. That includes a UHF channel 30 miles away that was a bit of a stretch goal to get.This is a great antenna and it does a pretty decent job with both UHF and High VHF reception. This is well suited for an attic antenna or outside on a j-mount or small mast in good signal areas. Indoors it can be challenging to orient since mounting it on the wall isn't always the optimal location for reception. It helps to have something to prop it up against or to have a pole or a tripod to attach it to. Esthetically, it's not the best home decor, but it works really well for improving indoor reception in reasonably good signal areas short of a rooftop antenna.

- First of All, I install several outdoor tv antennas each year, so I have plenty of experience with antennas and cable. I wanted to try this model, as i'm always looking for small, good working antennas to install and recommend.. This one cost under $40 with free shipping, great deal.. This was pretty straightforward to assemble.. It comes with 1 u-bolt for mounting, I would recommend using 2. The antenna is very lightweight, but it would stabilize better with a top and bottom clamp.. And speaking about the u-bolt and the design of mount, it is difficult to access the two bolts to tighten everything down. The bolts are tight against the antenna so need to have an open end or ratchet wrench of the correct size to make it a bit smoother.. Getting a standard plier into area to tighten is almost impossible. I mounted this antenna on my radio tower of my house, about 20 ft above ground level.. I had 40 ft of mini RG59 from another project so I used that to connect to antenna and run into basement.. I did a quick channel scan and ALL of our locals came in clear. Some of our stations are close by, others are more than 80 miles away. I am very impressed with the receive capabilities of this little antenna, and for the price, it is hard to beat. I docked 1 star for the way the bolts are situated when tightening, but that is not a deal breaker. I would more than recommend this antenna to a friend of customer. I would also recommend using a good quality coax cable for your line feed. RG6 is the standard today, but RG59 is fine for shorter runs, as long as it is good quality cable. Located the antenna is one of the most important things for reception.. Using this indoors will significantly reduce your range, usually in half. This antenna is so compact and light weight, that almost any type of outdoor mount will work. Mount it on the gable of house, or eave soffet etc.. A dish mount works well for this as well.. If your home has an old dish no longer in use, take off the dish and mount this on the post, if the old cable is still there you should be able to use it for your cable feed, and it probably is already run to where you want your tv.. It is also a good idea to use a grounding block outside to ground your antenna in case of a lightening hit.. This is a great antenna for the money.. Unless you are in a fringe area, I would think this will work well for most applications..

Despite the description saying this antenna can be wall-mounted, it actually isn't easily wall-mountable. The coax cable that connects to the supplied 75 Ohm transformer of the antenna sticks out the back, and prevents the antenna from being flush with the wall. You'll need at least an inch of clearance to feed the coax out the back, given how stiff most coax cables are. I ended up mounting it indoors on a post, which turns out to have been a good thing since the antenna is also very directional and the post allowed me to turn it the 30 degrees needed to pull in a station.

After a LOT of "playing around" with setting this up, I now get channels that I didn't think I could get.* DO replace the extremely thin coax that comes with this with a thicker high-quality coax cable.* After finding the area that provides good reception, DO spend a lot of time playing with the positioning of this antenna. (Mine works best when secured by the top to a beam, with the bottom moved sideways at about a 45 degree angle.)

A little expensive for some plastic and metal but overall works great. Installed it indoor, badly aligned for initial testing and yet it caught more channels than my previous amplified antenna! Could include a coax cable but that's not a dead breaker.

Easy to assemble and took me a short time to get it up and running. Found it best to replace the thin coaxial cable that came with it to something thicker. Would recommend for sure.

This antenna is wonderful, I could receive 14 channels. some of the channels are HD. I will strongly recommend it to you.