Winegard FlatWave FL-5000 Multidirectional Indoor TV Antenna

I bought the FlatWave FL-5000 antenna (no amp) after I cut the cord in January, which has worked quite well. Now it is true that OTA digital antenna may work differently in each case, I hope my review (with some detailed parameters) can help the next buyer make an informed decision: - I live in a metro area of a large city where the main broadcasting towers are ~15 miles away - Based on TVFool.com, majority of the stations have a NM rating above 45 - I only need it for one TV - Combining above three factors, I bought the non-amp version. My research indicates most non-amp antenna is capable of handling this range. Amped version can both boost signal, but as well as noise Result: - Set up is easy, takes 5 minutes - The reception quality is amazing. I was blown away by the full HD quality, it does appear that some OTA channels has BETTER quality than cable - Channels: I am able to receive ALL channels listed by TVFool, including major ones such as NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, etc. (all in HD). I counted 35+ of them (there are others but unlikely to watch on regular basis) - DVR Function: one of the areas that today’s OTA market is still struggling is TV listing. I have seen people finding different solutions including 3rd party DVR, or subscribing to a listing service with a monthly fee. Personally, I have a Samsung SmartTV, which has built-in turner. It also allows me to add certain channels to “Favorite” and create a customized filter to show favorite channels only. The remote has a TV Listing button that will show you TV listings the same way your cable set-top box does. Granted, it has some lag time (normally between 5~10 sec), but given all these are for free, it is something I can definitely live with As internet streaming services, tablets, smart phones, smart electronic devices become more and more popular, and tech giants like Google, MS, Apple start to offer integrating your home computer, game console, TV, and other electronic devices with internet streaming, the decline of traditional Cable TV has begun. More and more people find their way to enjoy contents via Streaming + Digital OTA, for two main reasons: cost and freedom. Gone are those days you were “served” with 200 cable channels which you pay premium but never watch …

I live near Minneapolis, and was using two antennas, a Terk indoor http://www.amazon.com/Amplified-High-Definition-Antenna-Off-Air-Reception/dp/B0007MXZB2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401071991&sr=8-1&keywords=terk+antenna and a Antennas Direct outdoor. http://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Direct-C2-ClearStream-Television/dp/B0017O3UHI/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1401071943&sr=8-8&keywords=antennas+direct Both worked relatively well with amplification. The Terk did as well as it could because I had to point it through my apartment from my bedroom TV; I wasn't able to receive some of the more difficult channels (Fox 9.1, NBC 11.1, 45TV 5.2...), which was OK because I could get the lower quality 480i Fox 9.2, and only watched NBC for sports. My outdoor Antennas Direct antenna obviously performed better, but I still occasionally had a problem with Fox 9.1 and NBC 11.1. I was lucky, as all stations I wanted to watch were in the exact same direction (both of these are directional antennas). I've just recently moved further away, and to a location that wouldn't give me the ability to use my outdoor antenna. I wanted to see if there was a better option for me to try, and stumbled across this Winegard antenna. I liked the idea of a paper thin multi-directional antenna, but wasn't sure how well it would perform at my new address. Since it had good reviews, I ordered three: one for the living room TV, one for the loft TV, and one for the bedroom TV. So far, I have connected two off the three antennas, and was floored by how effective they were. The one I attached to a new TV, which is on the first floor, picked up almost every channel I had at the previous address, but also received Fox 9.1 flawlessly. It didn't pick up a channel group that was much further away, but I rarely ever watched those. The older TV received all of the channels I had at the previous address without a channel search, and I'm now curious to find out what else it may find if I do one (it's on the second floor). I like that I can put the antenna anywhere, and it still performs well. The one on the first floor is attached to the back of my entertainment center, and my antenna on the second floor is currently lying awkwardly on a box, LOL. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a reliable and versatile antenna. Update 07/06/2014: I'm still happy with the antennas, but felt that I should add a few things to my comments. Even though the Winegard is multi-directional, you'll still want to make sure that as much surface area of the antenna as possible is pointed in the direction of the TV signals for the best reception. I had some issues after attaching it to the wall with 3M strips that were mostly because the paper-thin edge of the antenna was pointed at the TV stations. Once I moved it to the perpendicular wall, reception improved a great deal. I also added amplification to the antenna, which dramatically increased performance. Because of this, you may want to consider the amplified version of this antenna, depending on where you live relative to the TV stations.

For my precise environment. location, & reception sweet spot, I find this antenna slightly better than the Mohu Leaf or the AmazonBasics Extreme. I find it significantly better than the RCA "tile" looking antenna which was good but much less useful due to its greater weight and related less flexibility of use. In general, all of these thin indoor antennas work well, the bigger the better. I think what makes this one one effective for me is that this FL-5000 is larger than the Amazon-Basics versions and both are bigger than the Mohu Leaf. Surface area of any antenna and not amplification is what makes the difference. The general finding among outside antennas is regardless the fancy design differences, 30 inch is the cut off point. Know this: any outdoor antenna is superior to any indoor antenna, simply due to the fact that the signals have no walls or indoor electronics to pass through. Height is a factor. No indoor antenna can defeat the real gains obtained with significantly greater height. Also, when a major brand indoor antenna produces little to no results for you, this doesn't mean the antenna is no good or that the other 90% of pleased owners are demented. From all three antennas I mentioned I got at least 9 channels. With the AmazonBasics I get very good signals from 6 towers that are 50 miles away in another state (Toledo, Ohio). With the FL-5000 I get 9 from Toledo and three from Ann Arbor. Here is what I do. I make a "tower" out of cardboard boxes so my antenna is equal to the top of my walls. I then begin methodically testing positions, running a channel scan with each move. Once, I find the sweet spot, I try all three flat antennas. I did this for my main living room and the family room. I can not get the same channels in both rooms. Between two rooms, I receive a total of 30 channels. In one room I get CBET 9 Canada and both Toledo and Detroit PBS stations, 6 total. We have Roku & cable TV. The picture quality of the HD channels is significantly better with over the air than with HD Cable TV. This spring I'm getting a Winegard outdoor antenna. From my precise location, I figure I can get 50 channels when I add Ann Arbor, all of Toledo and Detroit and channels in line with us & Lansing - Flint. Tip - try different antennas. Begin with the least expensive one that has a good buyer rating & locate your sweet spot. . Keep the shipping materials and keep the antenna in pristine condition so you can return it and try the next cheapest antenna. ..

Like many people, I've been doing some reading about ditching cable and being able to solely subsist on over the air channels and get rid of the cable bill. I watch very little TV - mostly I'm into documentaries and what little TV I do watch is news. Obviously, turning off cable and going it alone with just an antenna I realize I'd lose all the cable TV news channels. But I wanted to at least do some testing to see what I'd be able to pull in. Also, being that I live in Florida on the coast, one of the other goals I had for this series of tests was to find a decent antenna to see exactly what channels I'd have access to in the event of a hurricane. Before I post results and conclusions of the tests, here is some information on what I've tested and with what devices: Antennas: I tested four: Mohu Sky HDTV Antenna The SKYHDT is designed to be mounted although it can easily be hung in a corner of a room or in an attic. My tests using it, to be fair to the antenna and to Mohu, were not done with the antenna mounted and no doubt better results will be obtained if that's the case. Other reviews here on Amazon can attest to that. My goal was to see how well it performed compared to the others and under similar conditions and from similar locations in my apartment. Winegard Company FL-5000 FlatWave HDTV Indoor Digital Flat Antenna - Made in USA Mohu Leaf Paper-Thin Indoor HDTV Antenna - Made in USA The Wineguard and Mohu Leaf are very similar in design in that they are both flat and thin and can easily be hung from a wall or window. RCA Basic Indoor Antenna The RCA Indoor Antenna is your basic set of what we used to call "rabbit ears" as it has protruding dipoles. I tested these antennas using two TVs: LG 42LD450 42-Inch 1080p 60 Hz LCD HDTV Viore PLC7V96 (not purchased from Amazon) TELEVISION The LG is a standard 42 inch LCD TV and the Viore is a small portable - exactly the kind of TV you'd use if power goes out and your limited to battery operated devices. During testing, I didn't notice any difference in the ability of one TV to pull in more stations than the other which indicates I have functioning tuners in both for UHF and VHF. That's why you'll see only one set of results. When indicated during testing, I used the following coax cable to connect the TV to the antenna(s): Mediabridge Coaxial Digital Audio Video Cable - (50 Feet) - Triple Shielded, F-Pin to F-Pin with Easy Grip Connector Caps This is an excellent cable with solid connectors. It's a bit stiff which is to be expected. Any Mediabridge product I've purchased from Amazon has always been of high quality (HDMI cables, etc.). Note that the Wineguard antenna has a 15 foot cable that cannot be detached. In my testing I added the 50 foot Mediabridge as ultimately it had to perform using the 50 foot cable as the 15 foot cable simply wouldn't be long enough to reach my TV(s). The Mohu Leaf comes with a 6 foot antenna but again, I tested with the Mediabridge 50 foot cable for the same reason. The RCA antenna comes with a 6 foot cable as well (non detachable). Here are some somewhat surprising results. Although these tests only show 3 physical locations I experimented with various locations to find these three which yielded the best results overall. Like others I found that moving the antenna even just a foot or so could mean a big difference. Weather also influenced the results. One day I did some testing during a huge rainstorm and the number of channels dropped considerably. SkyHDTV: Outside - in front of my apartment: 30 channels (tested with included 30 foot cable) Inside - hung from south facing window: 25 channels (tested with included 30 foot cable) Inside - hung from the center of south wall: 25 channels (tested with included 30 foot cable) The SkyHDTV brought in more channels than the others, but I was surprised to find out that it didn't outperform the others by much and in fact, in some cases, depending on location it didn't outperform the other antennas at all. It's important to note as I've mentioned elsewhere that this antenna, by design should be mounted on a mast which I did not do - I merely wanted to test it against the others in the same exact conditions where I'd be using it. One other item to mention: the rubber gasket that is used to join the two of the halves of this antenna was not installed properly on the antenna I received. In fact, I consider it a defect on the unit I received. While I don't think it affected the antenna performance, I returned it solely because I realized that if indeed I ever did want to mount this antenna outside, the gasket wouldn't protect the insides of the unit. I don't see this as a reflection on the device, but simply as a problem with the unit I received. All in all I gave this antenna 5 stars as it did ultimately pull in more channels than the others and I suspect mounted on an mast would do even better. Winegard Company FL-5000 FlatWave HDTV Indoor Digital Flat Antenna: Outside - in front of my apartment: 25 channels (tested with included 15 foot cable) Inside - hung from south facing window: 25 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable and included 15 foot cable and connector) Inside - hung from the center of south wall: 25 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable and included 15 foot cable and connector) Mohu Leaf Paper-Thin Indoor HDTV Antenna: Outside - in front of my apartment: 25 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable) Inside - hung from south facing window: 27 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable) Inside - hung from the center of south wall: 25 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable) The Wineguard and the Mohu Leaf performed almost identically. I would say any difference in how many channels they pulled in is probably an anomaly. I would consider both of these pretty good antennas and it would be a draw as to which one is better. The one advantage of the Mohu over the Wineguard is that the Wineguard's 15 foot antenna cannot be detached - 15 feet is either a long enough for your purpose or - like what I had to resort to, you'll have to add a connector and more cable. RCA Basic Indoor Antenna: Outside - in front of my apartment: 24 channels Inside - placed in south facing window: 28 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable) Inside - hung from the center of the south wall: 25 channels (tested with Mediabridge 50 foot cable) The big surprise: The cheap, inexpensive "rabbit ears" performed as well as the Wineguard and the Mohu Leaf. I was nothing less than astonished to see these results. Of course, the aesthetics of the Mohu Leaf and the Wineguard are somewhat better as you can hang either of them on a wall or in a window and they are mostly unobtrusive. Since these "rabbit ears" sit very well behind a curtain on my south facing window and can't be seen, that's where it sits right now - and where I'll probably leave it. If you're looking for a cheap, simple solution to give you an antenna for a portable TV for a hurricane? You can't go wrong with the RCA Passive Indoor Antenna. I fully expected this antenna to be subpar, but in retrospect I'm glad I got one to test. I'll be keeping it. I also wound up keeping the Mohu Leaf and sent back the Wineguard and that could have been a coin toss as to which one I was going to keep - they are both very good. I'll also probably get another set of RCA "rabbit ears" and keep those for a backup as well or to use on another TV. Other notes: 1. Reading the results of what other people have discovered and the number of channels they pulled in, I expected better results based on my location and other factors. While not unhappy with the results, it seems I'm not located close enough to the source transmissions or my location in an apartment on the ground floor doesn't allow for the kind of reception I need to pull in distant stations. By the way, I'm located about 30 miles north of West Palm Beach in Stuart, Florida just in case anyone is from my area. They may be able to have at least some findings to test against or use as a comparison. Note that 95 percent of the broadcasts I was trying to pull in are located almost due south of me or due south west. You can find the stations that broadcast in your area by going to TV Fool DOT com or Antenna Web DOT org and several other sites easily found online. 2. I did do limited testing from a second floor outdoor staircase just to see if my results would change substantially but they did not. I didn't include those results simply because they were almost the same as the testing I did outside from the front of my apartment. In the end I don't think I'll cancel cable just yet, but I'm pretty happy knowing I can get at least 25 or so channels in the event of a hurricane. How many of those will remain up during and after a storm? Those tests I hope I don't get a chance to report back on!

This was recommended to me by Gemini (always my go-to). I selected 4 different antennas, went to Gemini, posted the options and immediately Gemini said by far pick this one. I had mentioned to Gemini before that previous antennas had a hard time picking up our CBS affiliate which is VHF. (Football is starting, got to have CBS). I just hooked the cable to the input, didn't do anything fancy just took a piece of Scotch tape and taped the thin lightweight sheet part to my front door and scanned. 46 channels and most importantly one of them was CBS. Now some of those other options may have also picked it up, but how many antennas do I want to order and hook up and scan or just get this one. So easy and the picture is beautiful and I'm ready for football. Other reviews mentioned how many channels they got but they did not say whether or not some of those channels were hard to pick up, so I want to make it clear that if you are having a hard time picking up certain channels give this one a try. And it's a good price, it's lightweight, it's easy to deal with. I hope this review helps you because I had a hard time making an informed decision.

Like many others here, I was skeptical even as I was ordering this thing. How in the world is this non-amplified, flimsy, *internal* antenna going to be any better than the amplified external antenna I have on a mast on the roof of my two-story home? However, we'd just experienced some of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in the Midwest (obviously, NOTHING like the coast, but we did get some pretty stiff winds). The antenna mount broke off of my chimney sending the Phillips antenna crashing 10 feet to the top of my flat roof. While things seemed okay, OTA TV reception was never the same. Prior to the storm, we were able to receive Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC, and PBS digital stations. After the storm, the only station that was reliably coming in was ABC (at least we got to watch Castle!). Even before this, though, I was never fully happy with the external antenna. It was VERY sensitive to direction, and we would momentarily lose signal whenever a helicopter or airplane went overhead (which is pretty often... we seem to be on a common flight path for medevac helicopters in one direction, and we are on long final for a business jet airport in another). Invariably, our commercials would be interruption-free, while just at the moment a show was coming to climax, a police chopper would loiter in just the right spot to screw up our picture. ლ(ಠ益ಠ)ლ First world problems, right? So then I unbox the Winegard Flatwave. What? This is it? This flimsy little sheet with a few lines running through it and a wimpy little coax cable (seriously... it's not much thicker than an iPhone charger cable)? How in the WORLD is this is supposed to be better? These other reviewers must be smoking something. Whatever. So I plug it in and run my channel scan on the Samsung tuner. At the end of it all... 25 channels. Wait... what? 25? But... I only started with around 14! Sure enough... this thing freaking works. I don't know how. I don't know what kind of black magic Winegard has blessed this with. I hope I haven't sold my soul to anyone to get crystal clear OTA from channels I saw on AntennaWeb but never thought I would receive. I am absolutely astounded that this thing works, despite being slapped haphazardly near my TV in the general direction (not specifically aimed... just kinda sorta aimed somewhat in the right direction) of our local transmitters. On the bottom floor of a two story brick home, absolutely surrounded by other two story brick homes and large, mature trees. I've spend a ridiculous amount of time aiming, tweaking, and otherwise messing with the amplified external antenna. I literally spend all of 90 seconds installing this, and that included unpacking it and snipping the wire ties from the coax, disconnecting the other antenna from the digital tuner and connecting this antenna. Another few minutes to run the channel scan. Then another few minutes sitting with absolute amazement in front of my TV at how well it was not only pulling in the channels I had to work so painstakingly to get before the wind storm, but also channels I never thought I would get. For those in the St. Louis area, I am in the South City area near Tower Grove Park. Aiming the antenna in a generally southern direction (as it is draped right now, more of a SSW direction), I receive the following digital channels, as well as all of their subchannels: 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 24, 30, 46, 51. Don't bother with huge aerials, messing with needing to ground masts on your roof, trying to find the EXACT aiming point, running coax all over the outside and inside of your house... just buy one of these Winegard FL-5000 FlatWave antennas for each TV you want to get OTA on and save yourself the time.

I have a 32 inch Samsung smart tv and the end of the antenna would not screw onto the tv. It’s just a hair bigger than the antenna that was on there.

How well any HD antenna works is dependent on 4 things; design, location of antenna in house, strength of signal or proximity to signal, and obstacles between you and the signal source, such as tall buildings, mountains, or electrical towers. I have had 3 experiences with HD indoor antennas. The first two were with Terk style indoor antennas, the kind with one arm and several varying sized cross pieces. In one instance, in a house in the middle of a subdivision in suburban St. Louis (Creve Coeur), I only pulled in 8 stations, and had to adjust the antenna for half of them. In the 2nd instance, I was in Lake St. Louis, MO, where there were no tall buildings, and even though I was farther away from the signal towers, I pulled in 13 stations, and did not have to move the antenna once I determined it's optimal position. The design of the Winegard Compan FL-5000 FlatWave HDTV Indoor Flat Antenna has been described as looking "like a place mat at a table setting." That's accurate, it's just a coaxial cable attached to thin rectangular pad looking piece. Despite it's flimsy and non-techy appearance, this antenna works very well for me. I presently live in Bridgeton, MO, a northern suburb of St. Louis. I am in the middle of a subdivision and our house is on the crest of a hill. It is surrounded by 60 foot trees, but they don't seem to interfere with the signal. Installation is easy. You attached the end of the cable to your TV or monitor, go into the channel setup and scan for channels. I installed this in my basement. I have a Sanyo TV/Monitor that I have attached to my computer, and I attached the antenna to it. Initially, I hung the antenna from the ceiling of the basement. The antenna comes with 15 feet of cable, which is more than most of them have. I used cable connectors and added 2 more 6 foot sections to it so I could place the antenna in one of the basement windows on the other side of my basement. After I did that, I was able to pull in 20 stations, of which 16 come in strong and steady. I highly recommend this antenna, but with the qualifier that as stated in the beginning of my review, be mindful of the other variables affecting reception. It works best if you can install it in or near a window. I bought this one used for $20 and consider it a bargain.

Good antenna, looks good, gets all the 8 digital high resolution channels available in my area where the other antenna I tested got 2 channels, it is white or black depending on what you want to be seen from the outside of the building, has a 16 foot cable to connect to the TV and everything is quality made.

Me funcionó de lujo, lo usé en un cuarto sin ventanas, aunque lo tuve que ajustar para que algunos canales me funcionaran bien, pero ni siquiera estaba seguro si me serviría la antena por lo que estoy muy contento. El cable de la antena es bastante largo y ayuda mucho si lo quieres poner en algún lugar discreto o si no tienes buena recepción junto a la tele.

did not work for Australia tv's and returned

Excelente recepción de la antena, incluso dentro de un edificio de departamentos sin aparente acceso a señal, de buen tamaño y fácil de colocar.

I decided to give this antenna a try in the hopes of receiving about 4 or 5 channels after deciding to finally cut my cable. However, after a number of different configurations in my living room I could never end up receiving more than 2 channels, one of which was an analog mess. Now, taking into account I live in a region with limited reception (having done my due diligence by checking my local signal strength via tvfool), I was still hoping for more than one channel. If you purchase one of these please keep in mind that there will be much trial and error to acquire the optimal configuration. Pros: Very clean and elegant design. Cons: Expect mixed results, depending on where you reside, and even where you place the antenna within a given room. Overall: This is probably a pretty good antenna in a dense urban area however, if you live out in the sticks like I do (Southwestern, Ontario) I would pass. [...]