What does www.tvfool.com indicate? Are both of these stations hi-vhf?
If so a flat antenna might not pick up hi-vhf at 38 miles. Does the mohu site indicate that this antenna supports hi-vhf and at what distance? But there are other antennas that might. Many of these don’t come with a power injector but you can buy an amplifier.
I’m not sure my landlord would let me install one of those. Any suggestions for something I can mount on the side of an outside wall, outside a window?
This photo is from an Antop promotional brochure. I do know one person who has done this successfully using flat coax to get under the door. I suspect that the success of the Antop antenna is in part due to the pleasing design of the antenna’s case which makes balcony mounting look fine.
It is a FAKE photo showing a poorly Photoshopped cutout of an Antop pasted to a stock photo of a balcony. Look no wires! Look at the shadow at the bottom of the Antop - Not real.
If you go to their website it seems all their photos are done this way “for illustration purposes.”
I did a reverse image search and here is that balcony shot without the Antop on multiple websites:
I do have a small landing at the back door of my apartment that leads down to the shared yard where I could probably install something like this. I actually would be perfect since it would face right at the broadcast towers. But it would entail a long cable run, which I was trying to avoid. So, more food for thought on the best way to install an antenna.
The Antop comes with a preamp so a 100 foot cable run would be nothing for it. Here’s an interesting video of someone trying it in several places including a garden patio. From Tablo to router, are you using a wired or wifi connection which would influence your antenna placement?
I know y’all are all about the Antop, but I am on a bit of a budget, and I’m concerned about cable runs. I haven’t written the Antop off, by any means. Just exploring options.
At least the have a real photo of the antenna installed.
I think the Yagi is very directional. If your antennas are spread over a somewhat wider area you will need a multi-directional antenna like the Antop.
I have the Antop connected to my Tablo. But I have my old Winegard FlatWave Air FL6550A Amplified Digital Outdoor HDTV Antenna sitting on a bookcase in my office and hooked directly to a TV. Surprisingly it gets excellent reception and receives almost all the channels I get on the Antop even though it is facing a wall.
Talking about internal flat panel antennas, Antennaman had a good review of the Mohu Supreme Pro ($80). He was pleasantly surprised how strong it was in his apartment. It has the shape required for VHF which is @Michael_Allbritton’s problem.
I may have solved my problem with my present antenna.
This morning, just being curious, I mounted the antenna to the window frame of my laundry room which is at the other end of my apartment and faces North. I ran a coaxial cable to my Tablo, did a channel scan and all of the Big 5 popped up in the list, including the ABC and Fox affiliates.
It looks like I did need to give it a more unobstructed view of the towers 35ish miles away. Now I just need to figure out the best way to run the coaxial cable around all the door jambs. (I think I’m gonna need more coax.)