Channel Master Masterpiece 100 – Directional Outdoor HDTV Digital Antenna – 100 Mile Range, Yagi Design, Heavy-Duty, Pre-Assembled, Extra Long-Range Reception Power, UHF/VHF Support for Free OTA TV

Recently bought the Channel Master -Masterpiece CM-5020 antenna. The intention was to cut the 'cord' ( stop paying for Satellite TV) Did research on the Channel Master website, which is very well constructed. Followed instructions to easily plug in my zip code, and located 54 TV stations available in my location. This included all networks (ABC,CBS,NBC, Fox, CW, PBS) as well as Grit,Antenna , Justice, Ion, Bounce,My TV,Laff, Escape, Cozi, Comet TV sub stations. PBS, is only 7 miles away, however rest of station towers were 33 miles or further away. I opted to also purchase the Channel Master CM7778HD preamplifier to strengthen these signals, as well a Channel Master Rotor to direct the antenna to each tower location. Installed the antenna on a pole mount app. 22 feet off the ground. I used the RCA Tower finder app. to get a good idea which way to point the antenna towards stations I wanted to recieve. This also enabled me to see what obructions may be in the way. The majority of station towers are located north west, which I located halfway down a hill, with an open haylot (35 acres) facing another hill with a heavy forested tree line. I also have an Oak tree that is just periphery catching the the edge of the visual signal line of sight. Installed the antenna during Memorial weekend. Connected all the cables, put antenna together (very easy) tested the amplifier , rotor, and turned on TV ( Antenna was laying on ground) ran a scan, and pulled in 16 stations ( mostly PBS,Ion, shopping network channels) Encouraged by this , mounted antenna and rest of hardware on mast, raised the mounted pole / antenna, using my John Deere tractor. Buried pole 4 ' deep. Completed all cable connections, Powered amplifier up, Rotor, TV, ran another channel scan and located 46 stations. To say that the wife was very pleased and I was a hero is and understatement. The picture quality is razor sharp, better than the HD channel pictorial quality with the satellite. We find that the sound quality is better and don't have to turn volume up as loud with the satellite. . We've eliminated a $60.00 dollar bill per month , getting rid of the satellite. Antenna has been operational for about 10 days now, we've had rain, wind, fog and have experienced no signal loss. We did have a bit of pixelation on two of the channels and that was corrected by moving the antenna direction using the rotor. I cannot thank Channel Master enough for the high quality of their product. We are 100% percent satisfied. The neighbors have been checking out our system and quite impressed. My wife said that I might have started a new fad in the neighborhood. Thanks Amazon & Channel Master!

In general, TV antennas are installed at about 30 feet above ground. Assuming no obstructions, Line of Sight out to 50 miles requires the Transmitter Sight to be at least 1000 feet above ground. Most people don't realize how much the curvature of the Earth comes into play beyond 50 miles. The nearest non-PBS TV station to my location is 70 miles away. Luckily it is at 2000 Feet, but that still required me to raise my antenna to a height of 50 feet. At a height of 50 Feet, you are now putting up a Lightning Rod, so you also need to look at proper lightening arresting. I installed the CM-2050 about 60 feet away from my house.It takes more than just a very good antenna like the CM-2050 to get a solid Digital Signal. I added a Low Noise Amplifier with 20+ db gain at the antenna to boost the signal through the 125' of RG-6 going to the Distribution Amp (10 db) in the house. This provides an excellent signal out to 70 miles and a very good signal out to over 90 miles. I now receive over 80 stations. Cheap antennas advertising ranges of 150 miles, basically don't exist for reliable reception unless you live on a mountain top, and that's questionable.The CM-2050 is an Excellent Antenna for long range reception when properly installed. When looking at the data from RabbitEars.Info, the CM-2050 with a pre-amp was able to turn most Poor Stations into Fair Stations and Fair stations into Good Stations. Many of the "Bad" Stations all the way down to a -95 dbm level were also receivable as Fair stations. This is due to the combination of the CM-2050 Gain and the LNA gain increasing the signal at the TV to above the -65 dbm needed for "Fair" reception. To do this you need to start with a Solid Antenna like the CM-2050 which has enough gain and good rejection of interfering signals to allow a good amplifier to do it's job.

This antenna works most excellent. I recommend this product to anyone and everyone that needs an outdoor antenna