Customer reviews from antennasdirect.com
Antennas Direct - Db8-e 8-element Bowtie Uhf Outdoor Hdtv Antenna, Multi-directional, 70+ Mile Range, 4k 8k Uhd Nextgen - Silver
Average customer rating
4.6
(234 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 234 reviews
5 Stars
177
4 Stars
33
3 Stars
14
2 Stars
2
1 Star
8
93%of customers recommend this product.
(
198 out of
213)
Customer Reviews for Antennas Direct - Db8-e 8-element Bowtie Uhf Outdoor Hdtv Antenna, Multi-directional, 70+ Mile Range, 4k 8k Uhd Nextgen - Silver
Customer Rating
3
OK Antenna cannot get all stations I wanted
on December 15, 2017
Posted by: Whistlepg1
from Springville, NY, United States
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] The antenna is ok. I only get 1/3 of the stations that I should get. With the high winds I get in my area I am having to actually over tighten the brackets to hold its position. My older cheaper antenna worked just as well.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Written by a customer while visiting antennasdirect.com
Customer Rating
5
Believe the hype!
on December 17, 2017
Posted by: Mr Nunsuch
from Orient, NY, United States
Gender:Male
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] We live in an area that struggles to pick up distant stations. I had a massive Winegard that did a good job until it aged out, and was looking for a replacement, finding Antennas Direct after researching online. Cannot recommend them enough! For best results do yourself a favor and call them up, they cannot be friendlier or better informed, and will spend all the time it takes to make sure you get the best product. It made a difference, as I would have chosen another of their antennas, but was shown that the DB8e would fit my needs better.
This is a quality, well made product that is backed up with superb support, both in sales and installation advice. The DB8e has superb UHF dB gain and pulls distant stations with surprising strength. I paired it with a little VHF retrofit kit for $19 (which amazed me with it's effectiveness - a Clearstream5 would have been overkill), and a Juice preamp. All told it made for a clean and simple installation that effectively pulled in every station within 60+ miles. One nice thing about the DB8e is that it's two independent units on a frame that can be aimed individually towards stations that may lie in geographically different angles. You can fine tune your directions to grab the stations you want most.
This is a quality, well made product that is backed up with superb support, both in sales and installation advice. The DB8e has superb UHF dB gain and pulls distant stations with surprising strength. I paired it with a little VHF retrofit kit for $19 (which amazed me with it's effectiveness - a Clearstream5 would have been overkill), and a Juice preamp. All told it made for a clean and simple installation that effectively pulled in every station within 60+ miles. One nice thing about the DB8e is that it's two independent units on a frame that can be aimed individually towards stations that may lie in geographically different angles. You can fine tune your directions to grab the stations you want most.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting antennasdirect.com
Posted by: dc303
from Big Lake, TX, United States
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] it does get a great quality signal, but I was just able to get 12 channels , I believe my area is pretty far from any strong signal, will keep trying
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting antennasdirect.com
Posted by: Bubba
from North Carolina, United States
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] i just retired and my boys helped me install this. it is amazing and saving me $$$ .... in 2 months it will pay for itself because i cut the TWC bill out of my budget. I live in a one story home in the country with lots of trees, etc. The antenna along with the JUICE amplifier (installed in my attic) is getting 17 channels very clear all the time............
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting antennasdirect.com
Posted by: RD400
from Dunnellon, FL, United States
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] DB8E Review
Installed Environment
The area I live in is somewhat rural with the closet TV station transmitters ~30+ miles away. Most major stations are 60~90 miles out. The neighborhood has much mature tree growth with many trees 50ft and higher, so foliage is an issue (UHF). Only a few stations have direct line of sight with trees beyond 600ft. This is a challenging location for signal stability.
Installed Environment
The area I live in is somewhat rural with the closet TV station transmitters ~30+ miles away. Most major stations are 60~90 miles out. The neighborhood has much mature tree growth with many trees 50ft and higher, so foliage is an issue (UHF). Only a few stations have direct line of sight with trees beyond 600ft. This is a challenging location for signal stability.
Antenna Placement
The antennas are on a guyed mast secured to the chimney. The lower antenna is ~6ft above the chimney cap. This is a gas log fireplace, so soot is not an issue. Nor is the fireplace used much as this is in N Central Florida. The chimney has been
reinforced on the inside and metal strapping installed in an X array to improve mechanical stability. The second antenna is 2ft above the lower one. Antenna height is 40ft above ground.
reinforced on the inside and metal strapping installed in an X array to improve mechanical stability. The second antenna is 2ft above the lower one. Antenna height is 40ft above ground.
Antenna Connections
This installation uses two DB8E to span ~230 degrees. The two antennas are combined using equal length coax cables into a Channel Master JOINtenna CM-0500. The output of the CM-0500 is connected to a Channel Master CM-7777 pre-amp (w/LTE Filter), then to an eight channel D/A of unity gain. The coax run between pre-amp and D/A is ~60ft. Each room coax run is between 30~70ft to the D/A.
Antenna Aiming
This is a somewhat daunting as both antennas can contribute to a common signal. Albeit, each antenna covers ~100 degrees. I did this to improve stability and increase signal gain. I cannot see how aiming and peaking the antenna duo could be accomplished w/o a spectrum analyzer or equivalent. Without it, it is blind luck.
Antenna Performance
I receive about 30 channels. This is actually good considering the dense foliage and the location. There are times when multipath is an issue. Either small dropouts of complete loss of signal on the TV. Fog and wind are the biggest issues. Wind being a cause for multipath (60ft tree within 50ft of antenna). I believe multipath is the cause as the measured signal strength varies little, day, night, rain, fog or windy conditions. Nice signal symmetry as well.
Conclusions
Best antenna setup I have assembled for the environment. I had tried a 91XG with mixed results. In the winter, the 91XG was able to receive stations beyond 100 miles. But this was fleeting and not stable or constant. I tried additional lengths of the intermediate section on the 91XG. The gain improved slightly but the tighter directional attribute made it difficult to aim (rotor) and maintain a stable signal for distant stations. Trees are the issue again.
So if you have a difficult environment as I have outlined, two (or one) DB8E antennas might be your best choice. Plus it eliminates the need to educate family members on operation of aiming a directional antenna correctly. Directional antennas are for those who understand the dynamics. Most TV viewers just want to flip through stations without issue.
Recommended Improvements
If you can get away with it, remove obstructive trees or trim, or at least thin them. This to reduce multipath, if your UHF antenna has trees within 600ft and between the transmitter coordinates.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting antennasdirect.com
Posted by: jerk
from Utah, United States
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
This customer did not provide a text review.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting antennasdirect.com
Posted by: Jerry437
from Covington, LA, United States
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This antenna works as described; however, I can tell no difference from the 91XG antenna that have used in the past and it cost $60 more.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting antennasdirect.com
Posted by: Bob48
from Ocklawaha, FL, United States
Gender:Male
Verified Purchase:Yes
[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Works better than I could have hoped for, brings in stations over 70 miles away
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting antennasdirect.com