Home > Consumer Reviews > Winegard SS-3000 Amplified Indoor UHF/VHF Antenna

I was a bit skeptical as to whether this would bring in all the digital stations, since the three other digital antennas I tried were no better than my old rabbit ears. It brings in all the station I should be getting and three public stations that are hard to get. I'm on the first floor of an apartment and get stations from nearly 50 miles away. It picks up all the stations, without having to reposition. Must be the amplified signal that makes the difference. It does seem overpriced, though, at ~$60 for a piece of plastic with some wires, which is why I give it less than 5 stars, but it does work well.

This a good product.

Prior to buying this antenna I had a passive/un-powered antenna. I spent
many hours trying to locate it to find good reception. Finally, with a
long coaxial cable attached, I found fair reception on the opposite side
of the room. Still the signal would frequently break up. I was
frequently adjusting the signal direction knob to get good reception.

Now, with this powered Winegard antenna, I located it behind the TV,
connected it to the VCR, plugged it into the electical outlet, and
started to watching uninterrupted TV. It eliminated lots of frustration.

Winegard SS-3000 Amplified Indoor U/V Antenna\

YET A FURTHER UPDATE: Wednesday; August 5, 2009. The same friends mentioned below asked me to order yet another of these antennas at the beginning of July. This time for their (her, actually) elderly mother who lives several blocks away, but down in a reception valley and unable to get the digital channels 7 and 9 in the Washington, DC broadcast area. Sadly to say, the antenna did not help--daughter installed it following my directions, but since they are all technologically challenged, they did not play around with orientation, etc. Then, I read that Channels 7 and 9 had changed to a different frequency when they went all digital, and that the TV or converter box had to be re-scanned/re-tuned. When I called up the mother to let her know about that (my friends were off on a cruise and could not be enlisted to help) she explained that a local lad, wise in the ways of technology, had stopped by and had done some "hocus-pocus" and reoriented the antenna (so that it was flat with the table, according to her) and that now it worked BEAUTIFULLY! I am not sure what this lad did, whether or not he retuned her converter box and just how he re-oriented the antenna, but I am gratified to have learned that once again this wonderful antenna has proven its mettle. If there were more than five stars I would give this an even higher rating. For those for whom this antenna did not work well, I suggest doing things like re-scanning the channels and playing with the placement and orientation. You might be surprised at the turn-around in performance!

UPDATE on January 18, 2009: Last evening, I connected this antenna to a 37" VIZIO HDTV at my friends' home just north of Washington, DC, in Chevy Chase MD (see last paragraph below). ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! It brought in 20 digital channels, and 18 of them came in strong and beautiful. (The analog channel reception was poor, but these channels will be blown away soon, so that doesn't matter.) Two of the 20 digital channels had some pixelation. But, all the channels that had any meaning for them (local commercial plus local PBS) came in perfectly. So, now they do not need a roof antenna any more. They were thrilled to reimburse me the $60 that I paid for it. Checking back, I see that Amazon has dropped the price to $52. Even better deal (and, I guess I owe them $8).

=========================
I just hooked this up to my Elgato Eye TV Hybrid which connects to the iMac in my home office. Previously, I had been unable to receive OTA (off the air) ASTC (digital) TV, so I had connected the Elgato computer TV device to my cable and received only the unscrambled channels, that is the non-HD channels. But, having read the reviews of this antenna while looking for one for non-technically-minded friends, I decided to try one out in my office. All I can say is "WOW!"

With the Winegard SS-3000, I get all the local digital TV stations in the Washington, D.C. Metro area. I am about 15 miles west of the White House, and in a generally poor area for OTA reception. I have a legacy roof antenna (from previous owners) that does a great job of pulling in stations (I use it as a backup to cable which on occasion conks out), but I do not want to run coax from it to my office as it is already split to handle several other TVs, and running coax to my office would be cumbersome. But, this gem from Winegard seems to do as well as the rooftop antenna, and it is tucked behind my iMac and receiving through a wall on the upper floor of our home (not even looking through a window). And, it behaves pretty much as an omni-directional antenna, that is, the reception is great no matter which way I point the antenna (though I have found that a little bit of re-aiming is needed to receive some of the weaker channels well). Again, UNBELIEVABLE! My recommendation: BUY!

I plan to try it out at the home of the friends mentioned above. They live just north of D.C. in the Chevy Chase, MD area, perhaps 5 or so miles from most of the transmitters. They cannot get digital broadcasts well with their (aged) rooftop antenna, and they may be in a bit of a valley as regards TV reception. I'd bet even money that this SS-3000 indoor antenna will solve their problem. If I can edit this review in a few weeks after trying it in my friends' home, I will report on the performance there.

Badda bing badda boom baby!

TWENTY-ONE HD channels just like that - all just clear as a bell (even the low channels; 2.1-6.1).

What are the chances of that? I'm just completely blown away!

We're about 34 miles east of a major metropolitan city here in the Midwest and about 35 miles SE from another. Too, because it's an omni-directional antenna, rotating it back-and-forth isn't necessary when switching between stations.

If you're out in the sticks - and don't want the hassle of mounting an outdoor antenna - this is truly a mount-it-and-forget-it solution.

And, Amazon ships it to your door for free.

How amazing is that? Give it a shot - it's a great choice!

Excellent indoor antenna! I'm in a fringe area and this antenna does as advertised! All stations are clear - good reception. IT'S NOT A WASTE OF MONEY.