Mohu Leaf indoor antenna

Jimbo18

Anyone out there have any experience with one of these? For financial reasons, I need to cut the cable, except for internet, and need a reasonable replacement for at least local channels. I live about 20 miles north of Charlotte and should be able to get their channels at least.

I am in a townhouse and can't add a rooftop antenna, and since we may end up moving, don't want to go to that trouble anyway, so thought indoor antennas for each TV might be the answer and the Leaf seems to get good reviews.

I did try out a relatively cheap flat antenna from Wallyworld and got mixed results - one room okay, one weak and downstairs nada. Just wondered if anyone has tried the Leaf or do you have a better indoor suggestion to help me save $75/month.

I have a Roku and a couple Sony blurays with Netflix and figure I will add Hulu+ for more recent TV, so really it's just some news stations we will be really missing without some kind of antenna.

Jimbo18

Thanks, DSkip. We have a small attic where I could set something up if it wasn't too large but the cable box is outside the house and it will still be carrying my internet. I do think I might be able to isolate the cable that carries the signal to my router, though and use the other cables going to the TVs upstairs, but the cable feeding the TV downstairs is inaccessible except from outside.

And of course, unfortunately, that will be the one that is hardest to get an indoor signal on also.

codyc1ark

Have any family local that you could hook up a sling box?

http://newwatch.slingbox.com/

thsmith

I have not used the one you referred to but I have used the RCA in my basement in KC and it works great.

http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT1650R-Digital-Amplified-Antenna/dp/B0027FGW3K/ref=pd_sim_e_21

iskandam

I'm using two of these leaf antennas with great success. Just position them where you get the best signal and that's it. It pulled way more channels than the Phillips directional VHF antenna it replaced and the signal strength is stronger too. The Phillips was very picky. Point it one way you get ch. 2-7 but not 9-13. Point it the other, you get 9-13 and not 5 & 7.

With the leaf antennas, once I found the sweet spot I get everything without any dropouts. Plus the white side blends perfectly with the wall. People didn't even know I have an antenna Highly recommended!

Jimbo18

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I am going to have to do some more research.

I am not sure that DSkips idea will work for my one television but it could be I just understand it correctly. I think I will probably get one and test it out on several different TVs to see if it's good enough before cutting the cable. Really hate to do this because I love some of the series on HBO and Showtime, but times are hard and a big pay cut.

cowtrimmer

I use a cheap 19 dollar one from monoprice and get all my locals that are 35 miles away.

Jimbo18

Sorry, DSkip, I didn't mean physically cutting the cable, just cutting away from the cable company.

Don't want to jump the shark, but just got a new problem today. "The HD protection of you display has been compromised....". I can't get the Motorola cable box to talk to the receiver or the TV anymore. Had to switch to component cables for now.

Sometimes I hate this electronic stuff.

Jimbo18

Jimbo18 wrote: »

Sorry, DSkip, I didn't mean physically cutting the cable, just cutting away from the cable company.

Don't want to jump the shark, but just got a new problem today. "The HD protection of you display has been compromised....". I can't get the Motorola cable box to talk to the receiver or the TV anymore. Had to switch to component cables for now.

Sometimes I hate this electronic stuff.

Found the solution for the handshake issue online. Basically just disconnect the HDMI cable from the TV, unplug it and then reconnect. It resets the protection circuit when the TV is unplugged.

98Badger

I've had mixed success with the Mohu. I can get all the OTA HD channels I am interested in watching, but I have to reposition the Mohu to get two of them. Most of the broadcast towers are 35-40 miles away. Something you may not be aware of is that if you still have cable Internet you may still be connected to their OTA antenna for hd channels. The free hd channels my company offers are actually OTA broadcasts. The drawback is the change the carrier frequency once in a while and you have to rescan for channels.

Jimbo18

98Badger wrote: »

I've had mixed success with the Mohu. I can get all the OTA HD channels I am interested in watching, but I have to reposition the Mohu to get two of them. Most of the broadcast towers are 35-40 miles away. Something you may not be aware of is that if you still have cable Internet you may still be connected to their OTA antenna for hd channels. The free hd channels my company offers are actually OTA broadcasts. The drawback is the change the carrier frequency once in a while and you have to rescan for channels.

Good to know, thanks. I was actually hoping I might get something off the cable still, but if not, the antenna will be the fallback. Still not sure I can drop cable, just think I am going to have to soon. I don't watch that much TV anyway, and have gotten back in to reading a lot, but I will miss the HBO and Showtime series that I like so much.

Jimbo18

John Megadeth wrote: »

Check out the HTGuys' review of the DTV Green Dish: http://www.htguys.com/podcasts/2012/7/13/podcast-539-dtv-green-dish-dishtenna-review.html

I called and spoke to someone there for nearly an hour a couple months back. Ultimately, I decided to go back to AT&T U-verse, but see what you think.

Thanks for the suggestion, John. I looked at the website and I will check it out some more. Still not sure about an exterior antenna on our townhouse. And the comments about the wires being an issue is a concern.

Jimbo18

I just received one of the Mohu Leaf antennas from Amazon. It was sub-$40 and doesn't not have an amplifier on it. The first room I tested it out in was downstairs on an inside wall and it found 27 channels. Three of which are HD doubles of others. I was pretty surprised to get that many downstairs.

I next tested it out on an inside wall in the upstairs bedroom on the side of the house towards Charlotte. Here I got 26 channels on one wall and 23 on the other wall. I was kind of surprised to get fewer channels there than in the family room downstairs.

While looking through my mess of wires in a closet, I found a thin, wire antenna that was meant for a radio, I think. I tried plugging that in to the coaxial input on the TV and I got 23 channels with it, so I can't say the Mohu was any better than a cheap wire, however I didn't spend time reviewing how clear each channel was with the two different hookups.

The last place I tried was in a bedroom on the other side of the house, but the antenna was against the only outside wall that I tried and it got 30 digital channel, and one analog which didn't display.

I was satisfied enough with the results but might try out a cheaper antenna from Wally World to see what I get there. Either way, I am going to drop my cable except for phone and internet. My TV/internet/phone bill will go from $185 a month, including the cost of Netflix, to $80 a month including Netflix and adding Hulu Plus.

There's no doubt I will miss channels like AMC and FX though. But I am still hoping to get some channels through the cable.

Jimbo18

Okay, so I checked out the picture quality between the cheap wire and the Mohu and there is no comparison. The wire may have found the same channels but they don't come in nearly as strong or clear as with the Mohu. I think a few more of these cheap antennas may be in order.

sarvic

This looked pretty interesting as well. Not sure if anyone has tried it out yet.

https://store.gomohu.com/sky-hdtv-outdoor-antenna.html

Jimbo18

Well, I took out the HD cable boxes last Friday and the TV service was shut off yesterday. I kept cable internet. Turns out I still get about 30 - 40 channels over the cable. On 1 tv there are 5 analog channels but they are all very weak, the digital channels that we receive all come through pretty well, including CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, so really I don't even need the antennas after all.

Just updating in case anyone else is thinking of dropping cable TV, YMMV.

Aragon8008

Mohu leaf is garbage...goto best buy and get a $20 one. I cut the cord and couldn't be happier.