I just got a new HDTV, so I ran out to Radio Shack first and bought the best antenna they had for about $40. I plugged it in, did a channel scan, and only got three stations. "I need more power" I thought. So I bought the TV55 at Best Buy for $99.

I hooked it up, did a channel scan...nothing. I moved it to the other side of the room and I got one station. I went to double-check that the amplifier was turned on and found the switch was broken off. It's like half a millimeter wide and plastic, so it's no surprise.

It seemed odd that this antenna costing 2.5x the Radio Shack one wouldn't pick up as much. I have a reception meter on the TV, so I put it on a station that the Radio Shack antenna picked up and walked around the room with the Terk to try to find a good spot. I noticed occasional spikes of good reception. Then I found that if I hold the connection from the cable to the antenna tight and push just a bit, the signal strength doubled. Odd. So I thought maybe I didn't screw the cable on all the way. I went to tighten it with my fingers and the glue holding the connection on the antenna broke...now the connection spins when I try to screw on the cable.

Even when I held the cable "just right", I only could get one station consistently and another occasionally. The Radio Shack one was getting signal strength about 10% greater than the Terk according to the meter on the TV.

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