Free TV Key

[Paul1944]

I'm seeing a lot of advertising for the "Free TV Key" and since reception in my RV really sucks I am interested. Has anybody tried this product and if so please let me know what your experience has been. Tried to find a review on the internet but found nothing. Thanks.

[rockhillmanor]

westend wrote:
I've seen that "TV Key" advertized. It purports to be some revolutionary device that "unlocks" reception to your "favorite channels". It is actually a small UHF antenna. And probably not a good one, considering it's size. ....

Yup it is nothing more than an 'antenna'. The use of the word "key" is nothing more than an advertising come on hook.

Take a walk down the aisle of Walmart. There is a whole section of antennas for over the air channels. And like I said earlier if you want more than the 2 local channels, buy one that is amplified and READ the label for the DISTANCE the antenna is rated for.

After buying several of the cheap ones. 😞 ...I finally bought a mid priced one, amplified and rated for 60 miles. If you want even more channels the 'indoor/outdoor' model antenna works even better.
I'm Very happy with it and many channel's.

And contrary to belief that you don't get any sports channels, come Saturday and Sunday and big play offs? ALL the sports channels are broadcast on over the air antenna almost to the point of ad-nauseum. :W

[LarryJM]

gbopp wrote:

lawrosa wrote:
The tv key is just an antenna..

Rabbit Ears? 🙂

NOT THAT FANCY, just a coat hanger in plastic hooked up to a 75 ohm fitting.:E

Can't be amplified since 75ohm input is generally not powered on a TV.

Larry

[dodge_guy]

Get a King Jack antenna and enjoy the stations it pulls in!

[jplante4]

That image of the Winegard antenna has the Wingman add on. I did this before the trip and also added the Sensar booster and I can pull in OTA at most campgrounds. Pulled in 18 digital stations in Houston from 50 miles away.

[westend]

I've seen that "TV Key" advertized. It purports to be some revolutionary device that "unlocks" reception to your "favorite channels". It is actually a small UHF antenna. And probably not a good one, considering it's size.

FWIW, I built my own antenna from a design published on the internet. It took an afternoon and less than $10 of materials. The reception is very good and I don't have any amplification on the signal. This is the design: Gray-Hoverman array.

[mlts22]

In the 1980s, Motel 6s required a TV key that you paid $6-10 for a night in order to operate their televisions. This is the first thing that comes to mind.

[DutchmenSport]

Stick a paper clip in the hole where your coax cable attaches to your television and you will probably have better reception than that KEY thing and yoy've just saved your self that "free" shipping!

[rockhillmanor]

In an RV the Batwing antenna is the best way to get reception.

In regards to using these advertised over the air antennas for residential use, the important thing to know is to buy one that is AMPLIFIED. The ones that are not amplified simply do NOT work.

You have to really read and re-read the label on the box to make sure you are buying one that is 'amplified'.

I bought one from Walmart that is a flat square piece of thin plastic that you put on the inside wall of your home. It is amplified and in the middle of the woods down in a gully in my Florida winter home I get around 14 channels. Very happy with in.

BTW: I actually get 'better definition' then with cable/satellite because over the air is not compressed. :W

It's no secret that most digital TV is compressed and decompressed--in some cases several times-...

The problem is viewers want more HD channels at a time when many cable and satellite providers are at the limits of their capacity, said Jim Willcox, a technology editor for Consumer Reports magazine.

"They have to figure out a way to deliver more HD content through their distribution networks," he said.

Compressing the signal is cheaper than costly infrastructure upgrades to increase capacity. Satellite TV providers — including DirecTV Group Inc. and Dish Network Corp


:C

[RoyB]

Hard to beat the good ole batwing antenna highon the roof of the RV...

My big trailer batwing looks like this google image...


My OFF-ROAD POPUP antenna looks like this...


Used to bring along the SAT TV portable dish and bedroom SAT RCVRs but when the NATL BROADCAST came out with digital HDTV we stopped bring all of that stuff along with us... We do quite well pointing our OTA antenna to the local towns getting High Def tv...

Roy Ken

[bikendan]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
There is NO such thing as 'Digital Antenna'.........doesn't exist.

A wire coat hanger can be used to receive OTA digital signals provided the TV has a digital tuner or a analog to digital converter is used.

THIS^^^^^^

[camper19709]

Forget the TV Key.
Get a Winegard Sensar to add to your batwing antenna.
Camping World or Amazon.
I did and it is amazing how many more channels I can pull.

[Old-Biscuit]

There is NO such thing as 'Digital Antenna'.........doesn't exist.

A wire coat hanger can be used to receive OTA digital signals provided the TV has a digital tuner or a analog to digital converter is used.

OTA digital signals are transmitted on a narrow beam. THe higher the old antenna is the better the chance of reception.
Aiming the antenna towards the TV Transponder towers the better the chance of reception
The closer one is to the TV Transponder Towers the better the chance of reception

The Windgard Sensor Crank up amplified antenna is the best for reception of the OTA TV signals

Several websites available to find towers/distance and direction to aim antenna

[Padlin]

I've seen 2 kinds, the one that's just a digital antenna, and the kind that pirates movies off the internet. As mentioned above, the antenna on your trailer is probably better then the one that's a digital antenna.

The one that grabs pirated movies, tv, and such do work, more or less. From what I've heard, sometimes they work, sometimes not. Depends on usage, available network speed, and the reliability of the providers, if you want to call them such. I can't imagine it's legal, but that doesn't bother everyone.

[lawnspecialties]

I saw that on TV. I assumed it was just a digital antenna. Often times I can get over 50 channels at big cities with my RV digital antenna. People who haven't dealt with digital TV don't know.

Unfortunately, most of the channels suck. If I can get good reception for MeTV, I'm happy.