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(More customer reviews)I bought this antenna for the purpose of receiving a single TV station: WTNH in New Haven, Connecticut. WTNH broadcasts on physical channel 10. The effective radiated power is only 12.4 kilowatts in my direction, and I am 48 miles from the transmitting tower on a line of sight. At my location, TV Fool rates the noise margin at 28.3 db and the power at -62.5 db.
Most of my channels are received via a Winegard 9095 UHF antenna. The 9095 has the unusual feature of having a VHF input to its balun. I have 12 feet of RG6 quad shield from the YA-1713 to the 9095, then 100 feet of RG6 quad shield from the 9095 to my Panasonic plasma. The YA-1713 is mounted only eight feet above ground level inside of a detached garage. The YA-1713 "looks" at WTNH through an exterior wall consisting of clapboards over two by fours. My detached garage does not have insulation or an inside wall. I'm not using an RF amplifier.
The result is a perfect, glitch free picture. Of course, the trees don't have leaves yet here in Western Massachusetts. I'll post back later if the reception degrades when the leaves come out.
I've given the YA-1713 five stars for its extremely impressive performance. However, I do have concerns with its build quality if you intend to use it as an outdoor antenna. First, the rivet that attaches the reflector to the boom was loose on arrival. This allows the reflector to wobble and there is no way to tighten the rivet. Second, two of the latches that hold the elements open were damaged just from unfolding the elements gently during assembly. Third, the elements are easily bent during careful mounting and have to be bent back into alignment after the antenna is in its permanent location.
I suspect that a YA-1713 that is used outside will have to be repaired or replaced after every heavy ice storm. Fortunately, heavy ice storms are a rare event even in western Mass. Given the excellent performance and low price, the YA-1713 would still be a good choice even if you had to replace it every five years or so.
Update 5/24/2011: The leaves are out and the run of RG6 quad shield cable to my TV has grown to 162 feet. Still no RF amp in use. WTNH remains glitch free at all times, which is more than I can say for my local UHF channels on a Winegard HD9095P. I previously described the YA-1713's performance as "extremely impressive," but I would now describe it as "superb."
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