Customer Ratings & Reviews

Hello Sally - Sorry to hear that this antenna did not work as expected at your specific location. Hopefully you did run a channel scan through your TV menu settings. That is the most often over-looked step after connecting your antenna to your TV. Keep in mind, there are several other factors that can affect your ability to receive the broadcast signal at your specific location. The biggest factors in whether an antenna can receive a signal relates to the broadcasters power and the signal strength at your specific location, the surrounding terrain, whether or not there is an actual line of sight to the broadcast towers, meteorological conditions, large nearby structures and the construction materials used in your dwelling. If you can send us a quick email to RCAAntennaHelp@voxxintl.com with your zip code we can take a look to see what other specific information we may be able to provide to help you determine a proper antenna for your location and further assist you on your path to watching free over-the-air HDTV.

Hello Bobby—signal strength depends heavily on your exact location and distance from the boradcast towers. We recommend checking tower locations and signal strength for your address here: https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps. For best results, place the antenna as high as possible, near a window facing the towers, fully uncoil the cable, and run a new channel scan each time you move or adjust it.

Reception will be affected by distance from towers, trees, hills, buildings, and home materials like metal siding or roofing, Low-E windows, steel framing, or older walls with metal lath. Indoor signal strength often differs from online “ratings” since those are measured outdoors at 30 ft with zero obstructions. Even two rooms in the same home can have different results, so trying multiple locations and rescanning after each change is key.

Hello OscarGrouch - The signal strength from your local broadcast towers, at your exact location inside your home, is the major factor on whether an antenna can receive a signal. No antenna will receive a signal that isn't there. There are some locations where it is difficult to secure a watchable signal due to a lack of strong signals and other factors in the surrounding environment that can potentially (negatively) affect those signals. Some of those other factors include things such as the surrounding terrain, whether or not you have a line-of-sight to the local broadcast towers and even the materials used in construction of your dwelling have an impact on the signal strength indoors. Typically, if you can place your antenna high up, near a window that faces the direction of your local broadcast towers, you will likely have better luck getting a signal. Reception can vary from neighbor to neighbor and even from room to room within the same house. Always remember to rescan for channels through your TV menu settings any time you move your antenna. If you did not rescan for channels after relocating the antenna, any new and expected changes in channels/reception would not be accurate and would likely be much worse. If you can send us an email at RCAAntennaHelp@voxxintl.com we would be glad to assist you in determining which antenna would be best for your location.

Hello Jackie - Have you performed an Auto Program, or also often referred to as a Channel Scan, using your TV’s menu system as noted in the Owner's Manual as-well-as the Quick Start Guide of the antenna? This is the most important and most often overlooked step after physically connecting the antenna to the TV.  Your TV will not recognize any channels unless this step is performed. Unfortunately, each TV manufacturer has a different process on how to get to the channel scan function. The channel scan is typically found within your TV menu settings, so please refer to your TV owners manual for those specific steps on how to perform a channel scan as it is a function of your TV and not the antenna. The FCC has constructed a chart that provides step-by-step instructions for several television brands HERE. The channel scan on some TV’s will take some time so please be patient. One the channel scan is complete, you should be able to view channels on your TV.  After performing the channel scan, make sure your TV input is set to "Air/Antenna" or something similar and not "Cable" within your TV menu settings. If you can place the antenna near (or in) a window facing the broadcast tower general direction, the better your chances are of receiving a signal. Also, make sure you completely uncoil the antennas cable before running the channel scan. If you have cable that is coiled up, uncoil it before rerunning a channel scan. The signal strength from the broadcast tower at your particular location, inside your home, is the single most important factor on whether or not an antenna can receive a signal. No antenna will receive a signal that isn’t there or pixelation/dropouts will typically occur if the signal is weak or intermittent. Also, keep in mind that you will have to perform a new channel scan each and every time the antenna is physically moved or adjusted. If you did not rescan for channels after relocating the antenna, any new and expected changes in channels/reception would not be accurate and would likely be much worse.

Keep in mind that there are also several other factors that can negatively affect your ability to receive the broadcast signal at your specific location. Each antenna installation location is 100% unique and typically presents its own set of challenges. Objects such as tree foliage, building construction type and materials, metal roofing materials and the physical terrain (mountains & hills) of the land all play significant roles and may severely block the incoming signals at your specific location. If using an indoor antenna, aluminum or steel siding, metal lathe used under older plaster walls, and metal mesh under exterior stucco all can also impact the incoming broadcast signals. When looking at signal strength ratings online, keep in mind that those signal strength ratings are taken at a height of about 30 feet with zero obstructions. As no two antenna installations are 100% identical, reception seemingly always varies from neighbor to neighbor and even from room-to-room even within the same house.  Also Mileage ratings placed on antenna packaging are merely provided as a general guide to antenna performance and those ratings can vary substantially based on all of the above mentioned items that affect incoming broadcast signals.

If you still do not see any channels after performing a channel scan and you have also made sure your TV is on the correct “input” it is likely you will have to check to see if your TV is compatible with today’s digital broadcast signals. Listed within your TV’s specifications (somewhere inside your TV owners manual), there will be a type of “tuner” listed. Your TV must have “ATSC” listed as the type of tuner. Most TV's built after 2007 have this type of tuner.  An easy way to find out is by entering your TV’s model number and performing a Quick Google Search for your TV model number. Again, the type of tuner listed should be an “ATSC”  and NOT an “NTSC”. If your TV does not have an ATSC tuner built in, you will need to purchase a digital converter box.