Lava Electronics HD-600 Indoor/Outdoor HDTV Antenna Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Let me first start by saying you haven't seen true good television HD (unless you watch Blu-ray or HD-DVD movies) until you get it "over the air." Cable and satellite compressed their signal before you receive it, "over the air" does not - the result - a gorgeous picture - the reason why you bought a HDTV. If you can find the right place for the signal (signal strength greater than let's say 65%) - the picture is beautiful. But that is where the problem lies and is why I rated this as average. I spent hours (and I do mean hours) trying to find the right "direction" even with my compass and compass heading directions from antennaweb.org. NO DIRECTIONS IN THE BOX, no documentation on the company's website and no idea which way is up, down or sideways (despite the picture on the box). Use in the house - forget about it - never could get it to work. I was forced to move outside (luckily, I could sneak a cable underneath my sliding door to the patio) where I spent more hours trying to find the right way to point this antenna. Even up high (underneath my roof) - I could not get a signal. When I finally find a spot, than experiment with another spot and then go back to that "found" spot - I can't find a high signal strength again. FRUSTRATING!!. Right now, I have it placed 2 feet above the ground, pointing horizontally with the right side of the antennae (the side that has the coaxial connection) pointing towards my compass heading. My signal strength averages about 60 to 80%. Oh, and I forgot to add - the antenna advertises UHF and VHF - I can not get the two VHF stations in my area, only UHF.
Let me finish by saying, I am 32 miles from my stations antennae array, I have only homes around me for a couple of miles, no large buildings or towers around me and yesterday when I was setting this up, it was raining and very cloudy - still very cloudy today. Does the weather have an effect? I am not sure and can't answer that.
In summary,
1) UHF signals work great. VHF does not work at all;
2) Could not get it to work indoors;
3) Outdoors works great;
4) No instructions or manuals on website or in box;
5) Positioning difficult even with a compass
6) 17 UHF channels found with good reception; 4 found with bad reception; 2 vhf channels not found.
I downgraded this review from three stars to two stars because of the VHF clearly not working - don't advertise it, if the feature doesn't work. Other than that, this is an average product at best. Be prepared to spend some time getting a good signal. Hope this helps.
UPDATE: 11/2/2010 - After having used the product for a few weeks, here are some more observations. While outdoor reception was good, without it being anchored down - a small wind easily moved the antennae and then I would have bad reception. After a couple of weeks, I got annoyed trying to re-align the signal - so I brought it back into the house to try again. After a couple of hours (again) - I found one spot in my living room - 7.5 feet off the ground up on a decorative pillar with the antennae pointing in a horizontal direction facing towards a large glass patio doors. RECEPTION IS GOOD - I average 60 to 75% reception. Will I change my rating - no - but it does reaffirm my initial review that the reception is good IF you can find the "sweet spot."
- Thomas

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