Labgear LAB450T Very High Gain TV Aerial, Silver/Black

Thank goodness for Labgear aerials especially their LAB 450T Very High Gain TV Aerial . I chose a Labgear aerial because they have been in the business for 40 + years I think they know what they doing ! I live half way up the wrong side of a valley , in a fringe reception area ! , 40 Kms from the Crystal Palace Transmitter . I received the well priced , for the quality , made and packaged aerial and 24 hour delivery on Dec. 4th. After unpacking the aerial and reading the very good easy to follow instructions . I assembled the aerial in the loft and attached brand new Webro WF100 75 ohm aerial cable - useing the 'F' type connector supplied . I just laid the aerial resting on a box , to level it , pointing towards Crystal Palace Transmitter going by other aerials on the loft floor rafters , just to try it out , ran the cable down to the TV fitted a new coax plug to the cable and pluged it in to the brand new TV did an auto tune and BINGO 148 TV channels including 5 HD - NO pixallation ! ! , 38 Radio and 16 Data ! ! Well done Labgear ! ! Time taken 1.5 Hours , including reading instructions ! I have a 3 foot right angled loft aerial fitting kit to which I will fit the aerial and align properly , by compass , this afternoon . Considering my position for reception I think that is recommendation indeed for LABGEAR .

Having had 3 aerials professionally fitted on my roof, none of them stood the test of time so having spotted this one and taking advice from the good reviews I decided to give it a go. It arrived without a cable so ordered 3 mtrs of double screened quality cable complete with F connectors pre fitted. I mounted the aerial in the roof space with no problems at all, connected it to my existing Labgear 8 way splitter amplifier and BINGO, PERFECT PICTURE WITH ALL CHANNELS BACK. Highly delighted with the results therefore highly recommend this aerial as it will not disappoint, it’s well constructed and easily assembles with no tools required. Update added, I told my mate about this aerial and how good it is so he decided to do the same and fitted it in his loft, PERFECT full signal strength and no errors. I was sceptical with the outcome as my mate lives in a bungalow so it just shows how good this aerial really is.

I probably bought this too quickly without checking what was available locally. (I only learned afterwards that I could have bought an aerial locally for €25, though probably not with as good a spec). It's easy to assemble, but one of the "lock" features on the aerial I bought "unlocks" very easily;-that said, not a problem once you've the aerial in position. (Still a reason for 4 stars instead of 5). For the benefit of people checking reviews with key words related to the ROI, this aerial does work in the Republic of Ireland (or Southern Ireland as some people say) and picks up all of the Saorview channels (RTE, Virgin, TG4, radio channels, etc). I put it in the attic (loft) and it just sits on the joists. If putting in the attic, you might have to part-assemble there too as it will just about get through a trap door when fully assembled.The picture is perfect. However, don't make the mistakes I made initially! Get and use a good coaxial cable and connectors. Find and point aerial in direction of nearest transmitter (easily researched online). And get assistance from another person if you're in the attic (loft) as I was; this saves a lot of legwork when making sure it works!!!

(reviewed a couple of months after I got the aerial) this thing is awesome! I have Freeview in the UK with the aerial in the loft (don't want to spoil the conservation area...) and a fairly weak signal. Previous 'high power' aerial from Maplin was giving a blocky signal on some channels, which seemed to get worse when it was hot / muggy, so really annoying if I recorded a movie and discovered half way through it had failed. I bought a 'masthead amplifier' Vision Optima 4 Way TV Aerial Masthead Amplifier to use with this aerial (I was determined to fix the issue properly) but after testing with just the aerial I got a decent signal on every channel and kept the amplifier 'in reserve'. Anyhoo a couple of months on and the aerial has been performing like a champ, every channel is problem-free, including the HD channels (actually my issues before were more with the Freeview cheaper channels that seem to use lower quality transmission than the HD). Antenna comes flat packed, and kind of unfolds / connects to produce the tripled / reflector arrangement as shown. I do think this is equivalent to a straight aerial of maybe treble the length (my old one was at least double) so the advanced design has its merits. From memory, the aerial has a screw on 'cable TV' style connector (F-type?), not the old-school British aerial co-ax connector, and I nearly knocked off a star for this extra work it caused me, but that connector is probably better if this is installed in the more usual outdoor/chimney setup so I decided that was a bit harsh and kept the review at 5 stars. Not sure I've given a five-star review before.

Works well in the loft space, producing a high quality signal. If I needed a stronger signal it could be mounted on a mast outside the house. There is minimal assembly and clear instructions, in English, with diagrams. Be careful when stripping the coaxial cable and connecting to the aerial. I made a mistake with this when I put the weather protector over the connection which weakened the signal I was receiving to start with. A fault with my skills rather than the product which still picked up a signal. Its light and would be relatively easy to mount outside, if necessary. There may be slightly cheaper high gain aerials that work equally well. I have an SLX aerial, also available from amazon, which I believe to be just as good. Most TVs and set top boxes have a signal strength indicator somewhere in the menu system, I would advise using that rather than spending money on a separate signal strength meter.

To start off i used this aerial on its own as I live in a fringe area and the only available transmitter is a lite one with only the basic channels witch is a disgrace when you pay for a tv licence you would expect the full services instead you get a cut down transmitter anyway there was decent reception of a main transmitter only some channels were too weak so I then went for a masthead amplifier and a distribution box to share it through the house these pieces really made a difference some of the muxes were 100% x 100% that left only a couple of channels too weak to receive in bad weather but most of all the other channels came in pretty strong even in the rain it only left a couple of channels to really fine adjust in the rain so as to get optimal reception now all the channels are watchable ,I read in a few different places that the triple boom type were rubbish so i bought a few different type aerials that were supposed to be a match for the transmitter but the signal was too weak plus im using the aerial in the loft so the amp is a LMA113R with a LDA2061LR so all labgear equipment this aerial was the only one capable of getting all the channels with good signal strength and quality so im happy with the purchase

Looked to be well made and was easy to assemble and install, also produced a great picture despite being 23 mile from the transmitter. An immediate problem in the locking function of the horizontal or vertical polarisation was a bit annoying but not a major problem. A major failing is in the balancing of what is a fairly large construction whereas the main frame where it fixes to the mounting bracket completely ruptured and left the aerial hanging by the coax. This was during a fairly standard strong winter gale so I could not recommend for windy areas, also despite being erected for less than a year some fairly bad corrosion had already set in so not for seashore areas.

A previous buyer said this aerial pick up a squirrel fart in the Nevada desert... mine picked up the one stood behind him... this is a brilliant aerial, I now get sound straight away on the Freeview high channels.. very well worth the money.. - there is one thing to note please do not mount it from its very back, it will start to drop down.. - you can use the mount on the bottom arm right it the back where the three receivers meet, and the mount has an angle adjuster on it, adjust till level.. it makes no difference to the signal... but it is well balanced on your mast !! - without doubt this is the best aerial I have bought yet - but if the signal is too strong and gives a little over colour or pixel breakup - buy a indoor amp with an adjustable signal strength (attenuator) on it and adjust to picture perfect.. and you have just tuned you aerial exactly to the TV.. Now enjoy..