Home > Consumer Reviews > Winegard HD8200U Platinum Series High Definition VHF/UHF TV Antenna

I've been using the same rooftop antenna for nearly 40 years. Yes, I liked it so much that each time I moved I took it with me. But the dawn of the digital age and the distance to the transmitters revealed significant weaknesses in the old antenna.

I considered the Channel Master CM-3671, but found the reviews of construction quality not encouraging. So, I went with the Winegard HD8200. With the exception of one flaw, the antenna appears to be very well built.

I ordered from [...] and it arrived extremely fast and assembled quite easily. The only reason I gave the antenna 4 stars rather than 5 is due to one manufacturing flaw. A rivet at the end of one of the longest elements was not properly installed at the factory. Since I didn't notice this problem until I had fully assembled, and nearly completely installed it onto the roof of my home, I elected to repair it myself. A 15 minute repair was much more time-saving than a complete removal, disassembly, reboxing and a return for a replacement antenna.

The antenna's performance is exactly what I hoped for. I can now receive the low numbered digital channels from, Chicago, at my home in Hampshire, approximately 45 miles away. I am not using any amplifier at the antenna, and only a 10dB amplifier ahead of an 8-way splitter. If you are in a deep fringe reception area where digital broadcasts are going to be carried on low numbered VHF channels, you'll want this antenna. It works!

Works great

I'm using this with the Samsung DB260F Hdtv tuner feeding an lcd monitor. This picks up two stations from 45 miles out that I was missing with a homemade bowtie antenna. Inside the attic mounted, no amp. Tuned stations went from 15 to 23.

This unit was purchased to replace a 20+ year old antenna that was somewhat corroded and had several bent or missing elements. The old antenna was pulling in all of the local Baltimore stations well, but reception of Washington DC area channels (particularly UHF) was spotty at best. After reading the overwhelmingly positive reviews here and elsewhere, I had high hopes that the HD-8200U would improve my reception substantially.

As others have noted, the instructions do leave a bit to be desired. With careful review and some common sense, though, assembly is not too difficult. In general, the antenna appears to be well constructed. I did encounter one manufacturing issue, however, when attempting to join the front and rear sections. A bolt hole that had been punched in the tube had not been done so cleanly. The result was a large "burr" on the inside of the tube that needed to be broken off and filed down before the parts could be put together.

After completing assembly and mounting the unit in the same orientation as the previous antenna, I hurried into the house - anxious to check out signal strengths and rescan for any additional channels. I was surprised to find that I had in fact lost several stations. The receiver was no longer detecting DC channels 4, 5, 20, and 66 at all. I spent considerable time adjusting the antenna rotor, but to no avail. Signal strengths for all of the local stations (both UHF and VHF) are quite good but about the same as with the old antenna.

I am not running a preamplifier, but I really expected this unit to perform at least as well as my previous weather-worn, beat up antenna without one. This has been a waste of both time and money for me.

I Installed a Winegard GS-2200 antenna I had purchased a year ago for another location and tried to use it at the present location but could not receive almost half of the available Cleveland digital channels. Ordered the HD8200U from Amazon with FREE Super Saver Shipping on Labor Day 2009 and received it two days later. The package was open on one end but since all the bolts and nuts are already attached to the antenna sections there were no loose small parts to go missing. The cartridge housing cover with its circuit board is shipped in the box in its own packaging but it was wedged among the antenna sections and was intact.

I had to assemble the antenna in a cramped attic because it would have been too big to get up there and mounted. This made it much more difficult to assemble than if assembly takes place outside and standing the antenna vertically to unfold the elements and assemble the sections. The instructions were adequate but attaching the UHF phasing lines was difficult because the antenna was horizontal and the opening to the cartridge housing was facing down. I used a hand mirror and found a clarification for "Proper Installation of phasing lines" in a PDF [...]which made that process simple.

The HD8200U receives all the available Cleveland channels and I can recommend this antenna for at least the 40+ miles that I needed.

TIP: Download the manual [...]and familiarize yourself with the assembly and installation while you are waiting for your antenna to ship.

I had to install this HD 8200U in my attic, what a pain. This is a very large antenna to assemble in a hot attic, and barely had enough room. Fortunately, my house is lined up with the transmitters in Chicago, which are about 45 miles away, so it runs along the length of the house. I bought the AP 8275, and I am sending it back. It was causing signal problems, could be defective. Parts of this antenna are fragile, I broke one of the arrow shaped rods where the rivet is, but sort of fixed it with wire and electrical tape. The instructions are not very good, but I did manage to figure things out. This antenna is very directional, so you will have to work on getting it pointed correctly for the best signal strength. There are 2 wires that have to be fed through small holes, but I managed to accomplish this. The box was taped well, but only had 2 staples in it. So that is the bad or things you need to know.

The picture quality I am getting is fantastic. So without an amplifier, and in my attic, I get the DTV versions of 2,4,5,7,9,11,17,18,20,23,24,26,32,38,44,48,& 50. A couple of these are from Milwaukee and one is from Rockford. Most of these have 3 or 4 channels each, for example, WTTW has 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, & 11.4. I might invest in a non-directional UHF antenna, to try and pick up some more Wisconsin channels. Prior to this I have had Comcast, Dish, and Direct TV. All had problems, now I am saving $70 a month or $840 a year after about a $200 investment. A lot of the cable programming was garbage for my kids anyway, so no great loss from my perspective. With a little effort, you can install this and get FREE HDTV. God Bless America! I would recommend this antenna to my neighbors.