Home > Consumer Reviews > Winegard MS-2000 HDTV Antenna with Cable

I hated paying for high cable bills so I decided to look into basic cable versus an antenna.

Basic cable would run me 20 bucks a month for local channels. I found that this antenna, with all the needed equipment(mast pipe, ground rod, mounts, fixtures, etc) would cost 180 bucks. The math was simple...With monthly bills that go on and on, cable would be more.

According to [...] this antenna is considered too weak for my area, as I live amongst mountains, however I had read so many positive reviews about it on other websites, I decided to go with it first. I made this decision because this antenna automatically brings in signals from all over, whereas other antennas need pointing with expensive rotary machines. I really didn't want to deal with all that, so I took the gamble thinking I'd return it if it didn't work.

Sometimes this type of gambling turns out bad, but not this time!

This antenna brought me eleven channels. Nine of those channels are digital. Considering I live in the mountains, that is pretty amazing. Two of the digital channels go out from time to time and I'll need to get them all in digital before the digital switch in Feb 09, so I will probably invest in a signal booster that will run me around 40 extra bucks. That will be worth it considering I'll never have to pay another dime to the cable company!

Since this antenna works for me in the mountains, I'd say it should work pretty much anywhere else. Just make sure you do your homework on how to install antennas and be safe!

When the Winegard MS-2000 arrived, the box was so light I couldn't believe it was in there. I hooked it up inside first, to make sure it worked. I got some reception even inside and we are more than 30 miles from the nearest tower and over 60 miles from any others.
I put the antenna on a 30 ft mast outside and my whole family was pleased with all the stations we now get. And we don't even need a rotator. We pick up from all directions without turning the antenna.

This antenna was to replace my directional antenna because I was have problems picking up some stations. In my area, the broadcast stations are if difference directions from my house leaving the reception of some stations spotty. After trying to adjust the directional antenna several times, and ultimately, making it worse, I decided to purchase the Winegard omni directional antenna. When I first put up the Winegard antenna on the outside of my house, every station came in perfectly. Now that I've had the antenna for a couple of months, I'm beginning to experience the same problem but with different stations. It could be the broadcasters themself with the switch to digital but all the broadcast stations are within a 10 mile ratious of my locations.

The installation was simple. I took down my existing antenna, leaving the pole, and mounted the Winegard antenna to the existing pole (it would be nice if Winegard provided a mounting pole with their antenna as did my old antenna) and connection it to the existing cable. Nothing to it. But then again, I followed the same procedure installing my old antenna.

To sum up, the antenna worked great when I first received it but it's performance is degrading with time.

I have had this product for 2 months now. Simple to set up and use. I haven't had any issues receiving broadcasts (analog or digital) on my TV or Tivo. It fits nicely in my small attic.

I was thinking about getting the SS-3000 or the HD-1080(attic mount) so I fired off an e-mail to Winegard support. The tech guy actually suggested the MS-2000 to me. I didn't know too much about it because most people seem to be buying the other antennas. I ordered the MS-2002 as I didn't need the coaxial cable. Now the beauty of the MS-2000 is that it is not directional at all. I took off the rabbit ears I had been using and plugged it in, right on my coffee table. Wow, clear steady signals on 28 channels with none of that annoying fade in and out anymore. I got another 2 stations that had weak signals but those were 30+ miles out ant I didn't watch them anyway. Quite a change over the 20 I was getting with the rabbits which also had to be turned depending on what I was wanting to watch. Since there were no other stations in my area to pick up, I decided that a mount outside the house wasn't necessary. I put it on top of a bookshelf next to the TV and drilled a hole through the top of the bookshelf to run the cable thru. Presto, no mount needed and the antenna is almost invisible in the living room(wife like it that way). Only thing is you need a large bookshelf to do what I did cause the MS-2000 is about 2 feet in diameter.