Antenna for cord cutters - Leaf vs large aerial attic Antenna 

You mounted it wrong !! TV receiving antennas need to be "horizontally polarized" meaning the metal elements need to be horizontally parallel to the horizon. You mounted it to your sloping roof gables which are at a 45 degree angle to the horizon, reducing your signal by half. Remount it on a vertical mast inside your attic with correct horizontal polarity, and notice the difference !!

I plugged the attic antenna I bought into my tv to check it out and even with it in my living room I got the major networks except for 6abc. I got that when I stuck it outside my door but definitely the weakest of the major networks, hoping it;s better in the attic.

Why not switch the coax in your attic to the Omnidirectional and compare based on a channel scan, then we have a good comparison between the two antennas?

I bought the Sky 60. I live in Raleigh N.C. less than 18 miles from the nearest tower and cant get that channel. It's mounted 45 feet up on the peak of the house (tried it in 5 different places from ground to peak.) I get better reception with a home made strip of plywood and coat hangers. I'll be returning it to the home office tomorrow

There's a lot of advantages of having an antenna in the attic but be aware that if you have solar panels or metal roofing you are going to have issues. Something else that we have to deal with these days are cell phone towers. Yes cell tower transmissions overlap some overlap some of the TV band. If you're having issues with a specific channel, it may not be the antenna or the location. The solution to this is to install an LTE filter inline with your antenna right from the get-go as they're inexpensive. You can find them at most of the big box stores where antennas are sold. Some of the higher end antennas have this built in along with a powered amplifier. As previous commenters stated mounting a yagi antenna at the 45 degree angle is a totally amateur mistake but if you're okay with your signal and need the room in your attic nobody's going to stop you. I've seen people us wire hangers as antennas and if you're close to the tower then you're good.

I bought an antenna like the one shown and was very surprised at how many channels I got, more than the antenna I had on the outside of my house. I think it depends on where you live and the location of the antenna. When placed on my window just a few inches lower or higher I didn't get as many channels so I highly recommend moving it up-down to see which location works for you. Mine was under $20.

Where at near Philly? I'm in Lower Bucks and thinking about an attic antenna. Did you ground yours? I've read different opinions. I'm thinking of grounding my mast to the bare copper ground wire that runs thru my attic from the cold water pipe to the breaker box. Thanks.

Try mounting the Leaf in the attic for an apples-to-apples comparison. I was planning to buy and install an attic antenna but decided first to put an existing Leaf up there just to see, and was surprised to find I received every local channel crystal clear.

Antennas like the leaf are okay if you live close to high powered transmitter, but in this area you need an outdoor antenna or you get poor reception.

First problem that you have is your mounted the antenna in the attic cockeyed, the antenna was meant to be mounted on a vertical shift so that the antenna itself is horizontal. This is to match the signal the way this transmitter from the television tower. Second problem is that you said the paper antenna is Omni directional. It is not, it is a dipole that needs to be rotated to the direction of the television transmission tower.

Can you use the big attenna on the roof for your cb home base

Yes, it does work in my Area, put pick up 15-18 Channels. Then I bought a 360 Rotatory Antenna, not pretty and not even using the Rotator and I pick up 45+ Channels and it's $25.00.

Do you get philly channel 6 with the cockeyed attic antenna? You didn't tell us.

long high gain antennas were used in the analogue world for gain in a given direction. Gain alleviated part of the problem of ghosting caused by the TV signal arriving at the antenna from different directions. Digital signals are just plain ones and zeros and all that a digital TV cares about is whether or not they are strong enough to decode. If the signal is not strong enough you get either a lot of ugly pixels or nothing. Although a high gain yagi (as shown) may be the only antenna the only solution for you, I get by very will with a leaf antenna sitting in the window. It's worth $20.00 to try it first. Just point it broadside as best you can in the direction of the stations you want.

You installed the big antenna incorrectly due to polarization. Better if you installed it exactly in horizontal position.

Where can I get a wire antenna like he has in this video? I have the Leaf and it's reception is poor at best. Cannot clearly get FOX or CBS.

nice infomercial, the huge vhf UHF antenna has small UHF elements, he's got it at a 45 degree angle to the signal antenna needs to be horizontal. plus it's indoors. it's hindered in many ways.

I bought two leaf for $10 each at BigLots. Stations are 20+ miles away from in-laws. they pick up 21 stations , all major, from the first floor window!

Your elements should be parallel to the ground, so you ned an angle mount on the rafter.

I have 2 Channel Master 4228 bowties in my attic. Connected to Channel Master Antennconnect adapter. TV Fool said aim antennas at 2 o clock and 4 o clock. I get 85 Channels from the Ruskin FL and Ft Myers FL broadcast towers each aboyt 40 miles away.

Can you try unplugging your big antenna and plugging the leaf in the attic to test please.

I liike using tvfool.com for finding my stations. It even gives signal strengths, which antennaweb.org does not. As for the Mohu antenna, that type of antenna, like you said works for UHF, and the stations have to be close enough to pick up, & with enough signal strength. I have a trucker's antenna, & it only picks up some Chicago UHF stations, & except for 2 UHF stations, all are on the Sears Tower, including the sole full power VHF, & it doesn't pick up digital VHF stations (did pick up analog VHF before June 12th, 2009).

I think the leaf antennas are pretty amazing. I would have like to seen the leaf hooked up to the coax at your big antenna, with and without a preamp. Thanks.

Leaf does ok, but I can build a coaxial loop with the same feeder line coax that will outperform it.

Good Job ;)

Did you pick up the Philadelphia locals that are broadcasting on VHF with the antenna that you already have installed in the attic? I remember having trouble picking up Boston locals with the Mohu Leaf in the Boston suburbs and I ended up returning it for a full refund.

This is a unscientific comparison. You need to use a RF signal meter to get any meaningful data. You also need to understand the proper way to mount the antennas and to understand the impact of the type and length of the feed line you are using. There are a lot of variables with antenna selection, mounting and setup. The more you understand the variables, the better results you can get.

Are you able to receive 6abc using either of those antennas

Didn't notice if he rcvd both vhf AND uhf channels. If not, there's no reason to pay for a combo antenna like that. In the old days before digital, you could put up big antennas and pull in watchable channels w/a good amp from 150+ miles out. And it was fun. Now it just isn't worth it to spend that kind of money. You usually won't get a consistently watchable channel. Not a digital fan.

Dear Sir, Your large array Yagi will of course give more gain than a smaller antenna, due do "Capture Effect". This may, or may not be important, depending on how close you are line if site to the transmitter. Notice I refer to the transmitter site, and not the actual studio, which is often in a different location via Studio to Transmitter Link (STL). In the case of "old" Analog TV, you will get a noisy, snowy picture if you are on the edge of a service area. But you would get a picture. With new "Digital" TV, it's "All or Nothing", meaning that you MUST reach a minimum threshold of signal, and anything past that doesn't help you. But Below that threshold? Absolutely no picture at all. The Dirty Little Secret of Digital TV? It doesn't carry as far as the old analog signal did. Which now places on the edge before but with general satisfaction before, out. Completely. Therfore, for those folks, its important that they get adequate gain, and for others even further out, maximum gain from their respective antenna. Now, television signals are Horizontally Polarized. FM radio is Vertically Polarized, to match the antenna on your car. This is so you don't need an unwieldy vertical at home, or an impossible horizontal on your car. Which leads me to my observation about your antenna installation. Mounting it at a 45 degree angle will result in significant signal loss. Folks close by or at s medium distance won't even notice this, and they'll be fine. But more distant receivers may not be able to use the 45 degree setup at all... They instead should mount their antennas Horizontally for maximum gain.

What kind of channels can you get with this antenna?

did not show any tests of the huge antenna you bragged about....

Just use a Range Xperts HD-T200 attic tripod and you'll get a much simpler install and by far more channels because you can actually aim it property and the height is telescoping and it doesn't touch home materials (which add loss). The way it is mounted in the video is the absolute worst way to mount an antenna in the attic. When you tilt the antenna like that is no longer horizontally polarized when mounted like that, which ruins range.. You also shouldn't mount it right on home materials as that adds loss.

30 miles is not difficult to achieve or believe. I'm using a 13" wire bowtie that came with my VCR back in 1984 and if well placed it can get signal from tower 30 miles line of sight.

I was waiting for your mother to yell what are you doing down there

urban or suburban areas, leafs are great. Dont let this guy's complaints sway you.

9 thousand people subbed lol handy guys lmao

Here in the Chicago market you can get 60 channels for free.

This sound like an add for the Leaf. So what about if you don't have a window? Why didn't you put it in the attic were the big antenna was at? Not everyone wants to have an ugly square antenna attached to a window with a coax cable running down across the folor or wall.

Ever heard of polarity ?? lol

Frees

mounting an antenna where the aluminum elements are not parallel to the ground is not optimum, elect changes the "electrical length"

You need to have correct polarization. Look it up. At the very least you should mention that your setup is wrong.

The box says 30 miles which is $39.99 but your amazon link goes to the 50 mile unit that cost $59.99

Do you now understand the concept of verses??? You did not compare the Leaf to the roof antenna to show the difference. Besides that, your roof antenna is mounted wrong. The Clumsyguys might be a more accurate description for your channel.

Mohu Leaf is so cheaply made it is literally two tiny metal connecters and one wire. Make a homemade antenna for less then you pay for this. Mohu Leaf charges 40 dollars for an antenna made from less then five dollars worth of junk take it apart and see what I am talking about.

A 30-mile antenna in the Smallest state is nothing.

This must've been paid for by Mohu! No way doTV chanbels come in that clear on a Leaf! I just sent my Leaf 50 back, all I got was pixilated pictures, nothing watchable.

You guys would have more subs if you would just let him have the damn antenna when he grabs at it! Cringe...

I didnt like this review. Not enough time was even spent comparing reception

come on guys get in psync

You had nothing to offer. Everything you did was common sense.

Pointless.

I CAN'T HELP BUT LAUGH THIS CLOWN DOES NOT HAVE A CLUE HOW TO MOUNT A ANTENNA IN A ATTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!