UDF80: Indoor UHF Antenna Review
Introduction:
Tapping into free, other-the-air HDTV channels has become a popular activity. In an age when you thought everything digital came from subscription based cable, DSL or satellite services, it seems like a dream that even higher quality HD channels await you on good old UHF.
Living in an area with UHF digital television coverage, I wanted to see if I could pick up some 1080i broadcasts using a convenient indoor antenna. I decided to go with the Nippon Antenna UDF80 in black, which I picked up for around $100USD.
The UDF80 Antenna:
The UDF80 is fully incased in plastic and resembles a rectangle about the size of a Blu-ray player. The antenna is fairly lightweight and comes with a screw in foot and wall mount. The UDF80 has clearly been designed with aesthetics in mind; it’s not that it’s amazing to look at, but it’ll blend in nicely with your other electronics and household furnishings.
Testing and Usage:
For testing purposes, I decided to have the UDF80 sit right on my desk; currently, I use a USB capture device to decrypt and transfer UHF content to my Macbook Pro, so with this arrangement every piece of equipment is on my desk together. This is the perfect solution for someone as lazy as I!
With the least amount of time used to get the UDF80 up and running, I’ve produced some mixed results. With eight channels detected, I can tune into five of them, but not all of them consistently. I find this still somewhat impressive, as my house is a single story dwelling, closely surrounded by taller buildings. Even if I did mount a UHF antenna on a tall mast, I would still be a long ways from getting a clear line of sight to a transmission tower. Furthermore, with the UDF80 sitting on my desk, it is currently pointed at several pieces of solid wood furniture with the exterior wall of my house behind them. Obviously, this is a very disadvantaged position for the antenna, but even under these circumstances I’m able to enjoy some free HD channels.
Fortunately, because of the UDF80’s lightweight and fairly compact design, I am able to move it around the room and improve reception for specific channels when the need arises. One thing I’m considering is mounting the antenna to the top of a wall. I could probably do this with adhesive and forgo the use of screws since the unit is relatively lightweight. Alternatively, I’m also considering moving it to face a window, or even mounting it outside. If I change the setup and get better results I’ll make sure to update this review.
*UPDATE* I simply moved the UDF80 to a shelf above my desk and now I am receiving six out of eight channels reliably. The two remaining channels are broadcast from a direction that my antenna is not currently facing.
Conclusion:
With the Nippon UDF80 indoor antenna, I have been able to skip out on mounting an antenna to my roof and running the cable down to my room. For me, the whole point of using an indoor antenna was to get free digital TV with the least amount of effort. In my area, this has produced good results.
If you are considering an indoor solution for receiving digital television over UHF then I would consider the UDF80. It features mid-range specs for an indoor antenna and is affordable for most people. Although you shouldn’t expect magic from an indoor antenna, hopefully its performance is enough to pull in a decent selection of HD channels to make the purchase worthwhile. Results will vary, so shop around and do your research.
