FlatWave Amped

Works exactly as described! Although the cable length is rarely long enough for many rooms/homes, I SIMPLY ADDED MORE CABLE. Did a little tech research and purchased a 20ft. Monster Cable (Just Hook It Up! Series). This is an RG6 double-shielded digital video cable with F-Pin connectors, CL3-rated for running thru walls. Sure, any digital video cable will attach to the Winegard. But a double insulated cable protects the amplified signal from degradation. So choose one wisely. Mine cost $15 at Menards. I believe you could go with longer runs; I bought the minimal length needed. The signal will weaken as the overall length increases. 10 ft difference is no big deal, 100 ft is. To connect the cables I purchased a Male-to-Male F-connector block. Threads on both sides. Again any connector will physically connect the two cables. But we don't want to damage the signal. These connectors have bandwidth ratings, and I purchased one with a 3 GHz rating for $3 at Menards. Keep it all apple-to-apple and you'll be a happy camper. I also needed to extend the power cord. Winegard is using a small AC power block with a USB 2.0 cable attachment. This cord is a whopping 36". USB 2.0 specs allow for 16 ft max lengths. So we're safe in using a 6, 10 or 15 ft cable. Make sure you get a USB 2.0 Male-to-Male Type A to Type Mini-A (not Micro, thats's even smaller). This cable type is used with a lot of Tablets. If you just need 6 ft you could possibly find one at a dollar store. My 10 ft was $3.82 at Amazon. These add-ons allowed me to run the antenna out of the living room, thru the hallway, and thru a bedroom to it's outer wall. I drilled holes to route the cable, running along the wall/ceiling corners. (1st hole behind the TV, so no cables showed in the living room). You need to position the antenna close as possible to the Broadcast Antenna's general position (relative to your house). Just do some googling. And yes, the sticky tape provided for antenna attachment might last 6 times. So look for some high quality double-sided tape (like 3M stuff) or just press a couple of push-pins or tacks through the dead stickless tabs. My Broadcast Antenna's located on the far side of the next town, maybe 30 miles. I'm getting 9 beautiful channels (cause that's all they're transmitting). All for a one-time purchase under $100. Of course, you COULD go to BestBuy and spend $300...

Performance is excellent but before you buy this or any OTA antenna you need to check a few things first. 1.) Check on one of the TV station websites to find the locations of TV stations in your zip code. 2.) Make sure you have a place in your home with a direct line of sight towards the physical location of the TV stations. You can use a compass or an App on your phone to determine which side of your house faces the stations. If you look out that window & see a building blocking your view in that direction (or) you do not have a side of your home facing the right way don't bother buying this or any other indoor antenna because it's not going to work. 3.) Once you've figured out you do have a clear line of sight form a window or wall the window is the best place to put the antenna but a wall will do. 4.) From the window to your TV then is the antenna coax cord long enough? The Antenna cable on this unit is 18.5 feet and is the longest of all of them. Consider having to go around corners or behind furniture. If the distance is longer than the cable then plan on getting or making another coax cable to make up the shortfall. 5.) You'll also need to hook up the amplifier & that is inline on the last 5ft or so on the antenna coax cable. The amp power supply cable is only about 3 ft long so you'll need to have one long enough to get from the amp to the power outlet on the wall (buy on amazon if needed). 6.) The performance is directly affected by which side of the antenna is facing outside so start with the Black side. If the color white side facing into the house is a concern (do not) try to switch it around until you completed the reception tests. 5.) If you have answered everything so far to the good buy this one. 6.) Once you get it an are ready to install place in the window or on wall only using scotch tape with black side facing outside & connect your TV and the amp. 7.) Scan for channels & then check every channel you find for the picture quality. If you are getting all the channels you want & are happy with the picture you are done. If not then the long task to get the best reception must be preformed. 8.) To find the best signal you will need to start by placing post-its to mark the current location. 9.) Move the antenna (no more) than 1 inch upward on the y (vertical) axis & re-scan channels & check picture quality because both will be affected. 7.) If this 1 inch vertical movement makes thing better then mark new height and move 1 inch left & re-scan channels & quality. If the 1st vertical movement makes thing worse move back to the original height & try moving 1 inch left & re-scan channels & picture quality. If it gets worse move 1 inch to the other side. Getting better in any one direction means keep moving marking the position as you go until it gets worse then go back that one inch increment. So the process involves moving in only one direction until it degrades then back one. Then move on the other axis one inch until it degrades. The signal is digital so you'll either see the channel or not. But you can measure how good the signal is by how many pixels you get.If the signal is real weak you'll see blocking in the image constantly. Eventually you'll find the sweet spot & the best possible reception. Now if you really can't stand the white side of the antenna facing inward now's the time to flip it around so the black is facing in & re-check the stations & picture quality. If you lose any of your stations or picture I'm afraid flipping it back around is your only option. Again black side facing out gets best reception.

I purchased this antenna about 6 months ago and it works pretty well. I live within a 35-40 mile radius of downtown Chicago area and this antenna was able to receive 40 channels (out of 67 available based on antennaweb.org for my zip code) from my upstairs bedroom on a 1080p Vizio LED television. I have the antennae hung up behind a picture frame above the television so only the white cable shows through. This didn't seem to enhance or degrade the reception at all. Most stations are super crisp and of HD quality but there are some that are not broadcast in HD so they're a little grainy. I had initially hooked up this antenna to my 780p Panasonic television which is directly downstairs from my upstairs bedroom and I was only able to get about 27 channels. Downstairs, I just couldn't seem to find a good ideal spot for the antenna and no matter where I placed it, it just didn't receive as many channels. This could be that my television just couldn't read/pick up signals beyond 780p unlike directly upstairs where the cheaper television was a 1080p and able to read those signals. I used the included USB cables for both televisions instead of the 110v adapter because it seemed more convenient so I can't say if testing with 110v would have helped with the amplification/signal. In any case, I don't believe the problem rests completely with the antenna because it was able to receive more or less channels based on my location and my own television's capability. Once in a while, the signal will burst and get pixelated but it's not as often as I thought it would and it only happens for certain channels or during a storm or inclement weather. For the $60 that I spent on this device, I'd say it was money well spent because I was paying more than that per month for "200" channels that I barely watched but only a handful - NBC, CBS, ABC, WTTW, PBS...although I do miss some channels like The History Channel and Discovery. What's interesting is that I could only get either 7-1 (ABC) or 5-1 (NBC) but never both. I could, however, get 7-1 (ABC) and 59-2 (NBC2) which is just as good. Overall, I would definitely recommend this antenna because it really does work in the Chicagoland area and has helped me to cut my cable cost a lot (i.e. $80 incl fees x 6 mos so far). I'd give it a solid 4.8/5.0! -09/22/2014

I live in South Philly about 10 to 15 miles out from most Major Networks and have tested other products in the past that had poor to no reception unless I went up 3 stories to get any type of reception. This product is currently taped on my Ceiling on the 1st floor and pulls in 22 channels when using the amplifier. I intend to move it to my bow window and now leave it on the 1st. floor. I would suggest you load the WINEGARD APP and test to see the best location to place the FlatWave Amped indoor TV Antenna as it works GREAT and will make the installation easy . Outstanding product.

Do keep in mind when reading reviews that the same antennma that is great for one person may not be for another. There are so many variables. Even a person next door could have a little better or worse reception. Wineguard is pretty highly rated and it was almost a keeper for me. There is one station that is really important to me and this antennas was not quite able to keep the weak signal. All of the other stations were pulled in adequately. A significant downside is that the coax cable is permanently affixed to the antenna. That means that you can't use a a 90 degree adapter. In some cases that would be very handy. That cost the antenna a star. For my location, and all the variables that come with it, the Winegard came close to being a keeper. I am trying 4 different antennae and this was third place, but forth place was extremely close to third place. The main reason that I would not recommend it is the affixed coax cable. If that doesn't matter to you then this antenna may be worth a try.

Update: I just wanted to add that I was able to reduce/eliminate multipath interference from passing cars by moving the antenna from the window to the very top of the wall next to the window and having the white side out. If I either put it on the window or have the black side out, I get interference from passing cars. Bottom line is keep trying different things and eventually something will work. I lost MeTV when I did this but it was worth it for the rock solid signal I now have. Alright so I’ve spent the last 2 months putting this up with command strips in various locations in my second floor apartment and I’ve figured out a few things that people might find helpful. The antenna itself is amazing especially for a flat antenna. It somehow has really good vhf reception which most other flat antennas don’t. This means that 13 miles from NYC, I can get basically everything, even ABC, PIX, PBS, and finally even MeTV after some trial and error. I assume a lot of people will think the antenna is bad if it doesn’t work for them or has interference, but the actual problem with it is the permanently attached coaxial cable is thin and cheap and I assume probably RG59. This means if you bend it too sharply or if your cable falls next to something electrical or otherwise, it can disrupt your signal or make it seem as though cars are messing with your signal. For example, if I put the cable on the floor in one location I completely lose ABC, but move the cable somewhere else, it’s back. I wish winegard had either made it detachable or even not included the cable so we could buy our own high quality quad shielded RG6 cable. Still I think I have figured out how to lay the cable to minimize interference and am happy with it despite how challenging it was to get right. The other key for me was putting it in a window. I got a lot of channels on different walls but finally got everything possible in the window even though my window faces west and not east towards NYC. Good luck if you purchase this antenna, it’s a quality product with an unfortunate cable, and requires some patience but ultimately rewarding if you get it right.

Pretty much the same as what I wrote last month on my first Winegard FL5500A. I used 2 little pieces of Scotch double sided tape to stick the antenna to the wall, behind a framed picture, (to hide the antenna). This antenna replaced an old cheap one which had an adjustable amplifier. I had to get up to adjust the old antenna for some stations due to poor reception. I didn't rescan the TV because I get plenty of stations already. The Winegard FL5500A antenna has been working fine on all stations without any pixelating. It's nice not having to get up and down to adjust or fiddle with the ears. Very happy with it.

I am using this in upstate New York, nearby Lake Champlain and the Canadian border. There is a local PBS station here that will come in well wherever I place the antenna. But other stations come from Vermont and Quebec. For a while, I had some difficulty getting all the Vermont and Quebec stations in one location. Since the television is on the first floor near the stairwell, I finally decided to run the antenna up the stairwell as high as I could bring it. Because I was trying it out in different locations, the sticky tabs supplied with the antenna eventually lost their stickiness, and the antenna fell down and wouldn't stay when put back. So I applied some velcro strips with sticky backs to it and the wall, and it has held up since. When I had the television auto-program the channels this last time, it got all the Vermont and Quebec channels I was expecting to pick up. The velcro strips created space between the antenna and the wall, which might have improved reception by allowing the signal to bounce off the wall to the antenna, but I don't know for sure. Most channels are coming in well. It is picking up ABC, CBS, NBC, CW, Fox, PBS, CBC, CTV, and a couple French stations. But some have problems. The NBC station, which ironically used to be local and still carries the local news, has some problems coming in, and CTV comes in poorly. Maybe reception for these channels will improve when leaves fall off the trees. Considering that this antenna is supposed to have a range of 50 miles, and the Canadian stations are further away than that, 3 out of 4 coming in well is not too bad. The main drawback to this antenna is that there is no way to extend the cord length by attaching another cord to it. One end of the cord is permanently attached to the antenna, and the amplifier, which needs to be near the television to plug into its USB port, is built-into the cord at the other end. It also isn't helpful that the cord for attaching the amplifier to the television's USB is shorter than the length of cord between the amplifier and the television. So, if you plug the amplifier into the television's USB, you can't even make use of the cord's full 15 feet. I bought this from the Amazon warehouse for about the price the unamplified version was selling for. While amplification seems to be necessary to pick up most stations at my location, getting an unamplified version with a separate amplifier could have allowed me to extend the cord length.

We got great signal, even through reinforced concrete. Hides behind curtain. Just make sure you know where the transmitter is and align accordingly.

I like many others am tired of the Canadian Cable companies and steep pricing. I refuse to order cable through Rogers or Bell, as the cost is just outrageous for what you get (67 channels and nothing on). I live in Scarborough on the 27th floor of a highrise near the 401. I have another highrise blocking my direct line of sight to the CN tower. I have tried the antenna on the only window with a W/SW direction, and now I am testing on a South facing wall directly behind my tv, next to the W/SW facing window. I have been able to scan up to 18 channels (some are duplicates, i.e. Global), and I get CBC, Global, CTV, CityTV, TVO, a couple buffalo stations, Bounce, a french station, and a couple religious, etc. ones I think. I get Fox, but it is coming in with interference. I am going to test one more spot on the south facing wall higher and closer to the window to see if it will help the signal. My consensus is I get better signal strength & reception with my antenna on the wall. I tried a Phillips Passive w/20km range antenna prior to this ($19.99 @Best Buy) and was able to get approx. 7 channels but it was hit and miss if they would come in. Someone suggested I try an amplified antenna with longer range so I did my research and it brought me to this. Andr kudos to Amazon, I paid shipping to have my item delivered next day (a Friday) and it never arrived. I followed up and they promptly refunded my shipping charge, and was told it would arrive Monday. It ended up being delivered on Sunday. Overall this is really a fantastic product, well worth the price and a the feeling of freedom it gives you from being hosed by another cable company.

Llevo 4 años con esta antena y estoy muy satisfecho con ella. TIene buena recepcion (recibe todos los canales en mi zona) y es muy facil de instalar. Tiene un buen diseño..

lo volvi a comprar por que definitivamente funciono de maravilla. nunca habia tenido exito con alguna antena. Si tuve que moverla unas cuantas veces pero capto mas canales de lo qye esperaba!

I've had antennas instead of paying for TV for 7 years now. This is by far the best antenna I've had, at least for now. I've had it for a week and had nearly zero issues with it, consistent signal with minimal interference (aside from a storm where it was understandably choppy). I had a different brand off Amazon for about 4 years when it stopped working, and I'd opted to purchase one in store from a major Canadian retailer for $100 hoping it would be so much better and worth the extra money. It was not, it was the worst one I've ever owned - we'd walk through the room and lose the signal, it was huge and obtrusive, it regularly dropped channels. I took it back and got this one instead, saving money, and I didn't even have to run a channel scan - it immediately picked up the channels with ease. It keeps the channels really well, and I had always tried to reach the antenna to the window for the best reception. This one is so discreet and so good, I have hidden it behind some items on a shelf and I don't even know it is there. I've never been able to get such good reception, let alone not next to a window! Very impressed so far. I'd have given it 5 stars, but I'm just slightly concerned about the longevity with how flimsy it is (I think it should be fine as long as it stays in place, but I have kids that might pull it down). But overall, so happy with this purchase and hoping it proves me wrong with longevity!