 Decent HDTV antenna until local channels are carried by satellite Strengths: Simple to mount, eliminates the need for an additonal house or pole mounted antenna, somewhat inconspicuous, better reception than most indoor HDTV antennas
Weaknesses: Fair reception overall, little ability to adjust for better reception, user needs to be reasonably competent to make hookups using multiswitches and diltiplexers
Summary: Purchasing an antenna to pull down off-the-air HDTV signals is not for the timid. I've purchased and exchanged no less than 6 different models, starting with the indoor antennas and ranging presently to this model. In defense of the TV-44, this is the first antenna that has been able to receive any off-the-air signal. That being said, of the available channels floating out there, this brings in 3 or 4 on a good day. I have come to realize that the ability to receive off-the-air programming has as much to do with location, geography, distance to a tower, etc. as it does with the quality of the product itself.
I purchased this product because I was not anxious to bolt yet another ugly contraption to my house. The DirecTV dish is bad enough. This product was great in that it attaches directly to the dish itself and inconspicously sits there. This is opposed to mounting another seperate antenna out there or running cable into my attic for an attic mounted solution (that may or may not work). The downside of this type of installation is that your ability to adjust or fine tune for better reception is limited by the fact that the antenna is fixed in the same direction as the dish, which means you are missing some of the channels that it can't "see".
Hooking up the TV-44 was not a big chore for me, but having been through a few indoor antennas, it is not as easy as running the coaxial cable into the RF antenna connection on the TV or satellite receiver. All of the required cables, diplexers, etc. are included for a variety of setups (with or without a multiswitch, multiple TV installations, etc.), but I'd have to say that this is not an antenna that my Dad could hook up.
My reception is okay. I say that because it's better than what I was getting previously, which was nothing at all. Reception is definitely poorer than what I get from the dish, and often times during a program the image artifacts and gets pixelated.
I'm going to use this for the next 6-7 months until my satellite carrier upgrades their equipment, at which time I'll decommission the antenna in favor of the better reception from the dish.
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