Flatwave HD antenna has the temperament of a 15 year old chimp on crack

lol odd title I know, but its basically truth. I am hoping some of you are familiar with HD antennas and how to get the best out of these quirky things! I just moved into a new home and found what I thought was the best place for my indoor Wineguard Flat Wave antenna. I received around 40 stations with it, maybe 30+ or so view-able. Fast forward five days later, and the exact same spot is yielding crap results. The 30 stations I could view before have significantly dropped in number and the ones that gave me full bars now look like trying to play Doom 4 on a Riva TNT 2.

How could the same spot work great, and then suddenly go south? Any tips on finding the best spot in your home for a flatwave HD antenna? I tried the window (which I thought would be best), and it was among the worst!

 

Just came here to say that you rule because you mentioned the TNT2 and your name is DSparil (even if it doesn't have the apostrophe).
Both brought tears to my eyes.
<runs to install Hexen>

 

^ lol, Its cool to see someone recognizes the user name. I was a huge fan of that series and did another play through of Hexen 2 recently. Also just for the record, I tried to use the apostrophe but the forum code wouldn't accept it

 

In my experience, these HD antennas are very temperamental to weather conditions. When I tried an HD antenna, how many channels I got and how clear they were depended on whether or not the wind was blowing, whether or not it was cloudy/raining, what the temperature was. It was just ridiculous. They are also dependent on wall thickness/material, siding type/thickness, etc. You're best off with an outdoor, amplified antenna.

 

^ Ahh damn, this explains a lot then. The area I am in just experienced the aftermath of tropical storm conditions and, even when it wasn't raining with high winds, it was overcast and sketchy outside. Also, I am not entirely sure what the wall material is in my new home. It's an older house, so its not your traditional dry wall, insulation, etc etc.

Given I've already picked this one up, I am wondering what my best option is for permanent placement. I'm going to do some more research online as well.

 

https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps

 

According to that reception map, I should be getting a very strong signal across the board. That was illustrated by the reception I got at my last home as well. I had a boatload of stations that came in clearly. There is just something about this house or the positioning that is giving me garbage reception. I am still on the lookout for the best placement for what is supposed to be a good quality Wineguard Antenna with good reviews.

 

i just bought one from micro center hd antenna and have the same exact problem as you.....1st day I had over 50 channels , over the course of a week iam down to like 5 lol. I TRIED moving the damm thing nothing changed, I live in chicago burbs aka windy city and we have some lovely weather here.I might try an outdoor antenna next season.

 

There is no such thing as a digital Aerial, it was used to hype the sales.

http://www.atlasaerialsystems.co.uk/no-such-thing-as-a-digital-aerial.html

there was a program on tv years ago about people being scammed they will need an new digital aerial, if I remember correctly it was on Watch dog.