I finally got a better antenna for my TV. It’s a Clearstream 4Max, replacing one of those much cheaper flat ones.
I had been considering getting something better for years. I hadn’t been able to get Fox 8 for a long time. Retro TV 16 had been in and out, then stopped coming in completely more recently. The other channels could be choppy at times, especially with rainy or cloudy weather. I watched many a show / movie with bits cutting out, dialog getting missed.
The 4Max is expensive, but seemed to get good reviews. I hoped to eliminate the annoying cutting out and pick up as many channels as possible. It’s an indoor / outdoor model that’s supposed to have a 70 mile range, and handle a wider angle of signal direction than most.
A lowered price for Black Friday and frequent bad reception of late got me to pull the trigger.
I have it sitting in my living room currently. Having it for just a day so far, it seems to have improved things but not perfected them. It finally allowed me to pick up Fox 8, which brings 3 other subchannels. It also picked up channel 16. Both have problems with cutting out though, especially 8. Channel 19 strangely has been finicky with positioning of the antenna, coming in worse than the flat one unless positioned just right. The rest of the channels come in much better than they had been. Though do still get a tiny bit of chop sometimes, but it tends to be short enough that words aren’t missed like they had been before.
I’m hoping that better positioning will improve things further. I’m considering either mounting it on the wall, or in the attic, though the latter will take some work. For $130, I’d hope I can get a really solid signal on the nearby stations and maybe even pick up some that are farther away.