Radio Shack Indoor VHF/UHF/HDTV Antenna with RF Remote Control

"Product did not come with an owner's manual. I only get a few basic channels and the reception is not reliable. Don't waste your time with this."

"I wanted to get FREE TV via a TV (not just the Internet)! Don't like Satellite, Cable not available in my Subdivision and ATT's brand for Advance TV without a Satellite is taking too long to arrive. Since I had to purchase equipment, I wanted one that would give me the most available stations (bang for the buck)! This one did the Job! I was able to place it upstairs where all the wiring starts for the other TVs with the CATV5/6 wiring. This way I will be able to get Over the Air reception to all TV's with one Digital Converter.



I didn't need the documentation to even hook it up (I like to have it and found that mines was in the box). I wanted the amplifier built in (since I have more then four outlets in the house) and a remote (rotor) to move the antenna around for fine-tuning. With the Remote (I have to fully test this range) no running back and forth upstairs to adjust the antenna for reception (which I did test). My first attempt at this for an antenna was a bummer (got reception not as well this one since that amplifier sucked — but the issue of making the adjustments and fine tuning came to mind). The reason I wanted the remote.



I purchased it to be used for testing at least four TVs (2 STD Analog, 1 HDTV Monitor and 1 HDTV with the ATSC, 8-VSB and Clear-QAM Digital tuner). I have been able to receive reception on 3 of these TV's! The one TV with the Digital tuner built in has EXCELLENT reception! I received one Analog station so I was able to test reception to the STD TV's via existing CATV wiring in this manner with out the use of Digital Converter.



I think I am one of the most blocked Homes in the Subdivision! I don't know or have any idea of when anyone last attempted to receive FREE TV Reception! However, I found one (and for those who need to place it in an Attic – or a second story area (i.e. Higher is always better…less possible obstructions) with out it looking out of place this is the Antenna to get! The remote will eliminate the exercise you have to do for adjusting it for Fine Tuning!



By the way this Antenna is NOT JUST for an HDTV, what was important is that is provided a COAX connection, with an amplifier and remote! I attached The Manual Directions in English in PDF Format!"

"OK folks...When you take it out of the box and place it on/near the TV, hook it up, extend the ears, and turn it and the TV/converter on, DO NOT just let your converter box or TV do a scan for available channels. Why? Because the antenna is at its default setting (direction, intensity, channel). I found that if you do a scan for available channels, you will NOT pick up many, and you cannot add channels manually if you know that they are out there!

So, do this: Place your hand on the top or base of the antenna (thus using your body to help pull in the most signals as possible), and do the channel scan with your hand still touching the antenna, and voila...lots more channels should be found during the scan. This method worked for me, and now, when I move away from the TV, sit in a comfy chair, I can use the remote to fine tune if one of the scanned channels is not picked up using the antenna's current configuration. Then I program that information into the remote, and BINGO...I'm a happy camper.

If pixellation or signal cut-outs occur, look outside to see if the wind is blowing limbs of trees into the path of the digital signals (sorry folks...digital signals do not transmit like analog. They are line-of-sight, so even limbs moving in the breeze can cut/freeze the signals momentarily.)

I hope this helps non-techies get the most out of this antenna. I like the fact that I do not have to get out of the chair to adjust the antenna to view certain channels! And you don't have to set the gain to level 3 for all channels...experiment on each channel. Some channels may perform better at lower settings.

' Hope this information helps you before you give up and return a perfectly good product!"

"This antenna is fantastic. When I first bought it, I used it to pick up over-the-air HD signals in San Jose, CA. Despite the fact that the vast majority of stations in the Bay Area are based out of San Francisco (and over 40 miles from where we lived), all the major stations came in great, other than NBC being finicky from time-to-time.



We just moved to the Washington DC area in Ashburn, VA (probably around 25 miles from most broadcast towers) and are able to pull in over 80% signal on every major station (leaving the antenna on one setting, without having to adjust it). If I fine tune the antenna with the remote each time I change a station I can easily get 95% to 100% signal on the major networks, but there's really no reason to do so. Great for those who want to set it and forget it.



In CA we set it up right next to a window for to pull in the best reception, but in VA I have it next to the TV a few feet from the windows and if I'm correct on where the locations of the towers are, this is still pulling fantastic reception through quite a few walls.



The only thing I miss is ESPN, but I can't justify paying for cable for one station. Can't recommend this enough for those wanting to switch to (or continue to use) over-the-air TV. Great product!"

"At first, I was afraid that we wouldn't get any decent signals, and I was disappointed that there was no owner's manual in the box. We are 28.7 miles from most of the city's signals, and there are lots of big trees close to our south suburban one-story ranch house.



I had already experimented with a Phillips SDV2210 and was able to pick up 4 PBS channels, 2 WGNs, and a FOX channel with very good reception. When we set up this antenna, we had a lot of snow which surprised me, since I thought that digital would either give an excellent picture, lots of pixels, or "no signal." And we had lots of loud hissing noises at first, too.



But when I changed the input from 3 to 4, everything cleared up nicely. After playing around with it, I am now able to pull in several versions of NBC, PBS, FOX, and a variety of Independent stations. It is plugged into a Zenith DTT901 converter box, and it does an admirable job of scanning. The last time I scanned, I was able to pick up 33 channels ~~~ not bad for a small analog Goldstar TV that is decades old!



We still can't get CBS channel 2 (expected for the Chicago area) ~~~ but ABC channel 7 won't come in, either. However, the multiple NBC channels are as clear as a bell, and so are several PBS channels, FOX channels, the WGNs, and lots of Indys, including the Me and MeToo channels with vintage programming.



I am very pleased, and would suggest that people keep tweaking this antenna and trying different options before giving up on it. Some folks may not like the design, but I really appreciate the Starship Enterprise look and the convenient remote!"

"I will never pay for cable TV and all their commercials -- I get my entertainment over-the-air for free. I live in Phoenix 19.7 miles from all relevant digital and analog transmitters. There are two small mountains in the way, which doesn't help. As of 4/09, most signals are in the blue or violet zones -- a few are in the red zone per [@]. On a compass, the transmitters are 178 degrees from magnetic north. I've tried several omni-directional antennas. They grab some channels, but rarely the weaker ones. And I'd spend 15 minutes trying to find just the right position to get a signal of any kind. It is so aggravating making sure that the coax is in this position and the loop was in that position. After reading up on the subject, I decided that a directional antenna was the way to go. Man was I right on this! I plugged in the Radio Shack 15-1892, found the best setting, and now I get every channel easily. And I don't need to get up all the time and fiddle with anything. I can just change channels and enjoy the show. Best of all, this antenna is multi-directional, so I can pinpoint other, more distance, transmitters and see if I can pull them in too -- all without getting up and moving the wires and the unit. If you live in a weak-signal area, don't waste your time and money on ommi-directional antennas, get a good one like the Radio Shack 15-1892."

"I have read all of the negative reviews here of this antenna. Having just re-located one of our two Olevia screens to another room, we wanted to have the option of OTA HD in that room (we currently have a non-HD box there). I had purchased a Terk HDTVa a few years ago and was constantly frustrated by its design -- the base was always toppling over and you couldn't adjust the rabbit ears beyond a certain angle. Reception on the Terk was OK, but you had to get up and re-adjust the darn thing.Which is where this RS miracle comes in. I don't understand why other companies have not adopted this design. It eliminates the need to manually re-adjust the antenna position. Although in some areas you may have to adjust the rabbit ears slightly, the ability to use a remote to lock in to the optimum setting for each channel changes the whole picture (literally). Very simple to set up -- just scan your channels, then go through each one, adjusting for best direction and amplification on the RS antenna. Even if day to night reception conditions force an adjustment of any of your channels, you can easily do that and re-memorize the setting for the specific channel.I don't usually praise RS products, but this is a winner -- I have seen some of these appear on [...]if you don't want to drop the [$] at your local RS for it.My only concern would be the sturdiness of the antenna motor over time. And the RS antenna suffers from the same sort of limited rabbit ear movement that the Terk does. However, this is outweighed IMHO by the tremendously-helpful auto antenna adjust."

"This was the fourth antenna I tried because we wanted to get rid of cable TV now that the number of channels on free over-the-air TV is growing with the new digital signals. It immediately scanned in 34 channels. I took the time and programmed the antenna for each channel. I monitored the signal strength using my DTV remote for each channel and programmed the exact antenna position for each channel. I believe this is the problem with other fixed antennas, because what was a good position for one channel was a bad position for another channel. Now we can use the antenna remote to rotate the antenna to the position which gives us the strongest signal. No more cable TV."

"We live in rural Michigan--46 miles from the nearest television station. Before purchasing this antenna, I was trying to get digital reception with a converter box, my 7 year old analog set, and a dipole (rabbit ears) antenna with a UHF loop. One station sometimes came in. So, my expectations for the new antenna were pretty low...I was hoping for maybe better reception of that station.



When I installed this antenna last night (and really, if you read the two page insert, it's pretty much plug-and-play) the reception blew my mind. Not only did I get that one station crystal clear on my old t.v., I also received 21 others beautifully--some from as far as 60 miles away. The weather wasn't even pleasant (it was snowy and windy out)--and the reception was not affected in the least.



I would definitely buy this one again, and recommend it to anyone."

"After trying the apartment roof antenna (1 channel), passive rabbit ears (4 channels and signal wobble), the Radio Shack 15-1878 (8 channels but signal would not stay focused and heck to try and tune), i bought this one - right out of the box at setting 0 12 3 - it brought in 23 channels with excellent signal strength...both HDTV (with Dolby Digital signal) and regular broadcast - 4 PBS stations - trick is NOT to extend the rabbit ears but keep them short....



Very Pleased and Very Simple to Operate....i now just leave at that setting 0 12 3 and you don't need to be a technie to work.....



Only bad was when I turned it on at first it was set at 26 4 3 - which means that someone else had used it, perhaps bought and returned or the store had used, since the default setting is 0 5 3 - but that is easy to reset it to that and then program yourself....but since it is working and is far superior then any other antenna tried....i am very satisfied.....i had been suffering with only 6 channels with the apartment roof antenna so this is a vast improvement....picture is crystal clear even on a 3 year old JVC Analog Set...



Using the Apex DT250 box and S-video setting..works great as a pair..



And, of course, if you are a Star Trek fan...."