TV Antenna Scams Are Flooding the Market! (Why?) - Krazy Ken’s Tech Talk

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The internet is FLOODED with TV antenna scams. Today, let's analyze the fake claims, test the products for real, and discuss why this scam is happening in the first place…

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Special thanks to Brainiac Brent for taking the lead on this investigation and helping make the episode possible! And big thanks to my amazing Feedback Team!

Extra thanks to radio folks who helped with the script:
Addie Chernow
Matt (Ryoohk)
Tyler Letlebo

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00:00 Introduction
00:55 Scam Antennas (Overview)
04:02 Scam Antennas (Breakdown)
10:25 Building a Test Course
12:38 Antenna Test (Round 1)
15:03 How Radio Waves Work
17:09 Antenna Test (Round 2)
18:37 Why is This Scam Happening?

#KrazyKen #ComputerClan #Laifen

[ComputerClan]

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[MakeItWithCalvin]

For those who are wondering "Who uses TV Antennas!?" my late grandmother used them to pick up PBS and local TV stations when she lived in San Francisco. In her case paying for cable, and getting it installed, was more work than it was worth. Also, people living in RVs and similar will watch TV that's broadcast over the air. There ARE amplifying antennas that will amplify the incoming signal, but if you are out of range, you are out of range.

[allenwelsch]

Hey there Ken. I'm an RF technician and my compliments to your for the extensive explanation of the various ways the two antennas are garbage. The performance claims are laughable and easily debunked, as you demonstrated. Keep up the good work.

[TrainfanJanathan]

As someone who knows way too much about lighthouses, "being able to communicate with a lighthouse" could mean two things. Both of them equally absurd.

Some lighthouses like the Cape Henry Lighthouse have a fog horn that only turns on if a ship requests it by sounding it's horn. The lighthouse can hear the ship's horn and responds by sounding the fog horn.

Other lighthouses have a radio beacon that plays a pre-recorded message when a ship becomes in range. It'll tell the ship that it's in dangerous waters, its exact location, and directions on how to get to safe waters.

So either they're advertising that you can ask a lighthouse to activate its fog horn or that you can ask one for directions to the harbor 😂.

[TheBitGuy]

Great video! Reminds me of the ridiculous claims you see on walkie talkie ranges these days. I'm seen stupid GMRS radios claim 100 miles of range.

[TeleviseGuy]

I think "I set up BOOTLEG antennas from Amazon in a HAUNTED HOTEL" could be a great clickbait title for this video

[Barcrest]

The sponsor seemed like a scam in itself with all those claims.

[kaa]

I started out repairing TVs in the mid-late 1960's and left it at the end of 1979. I can tell you that various scams such as these were fairly common back then. During the time was when the wide adoption of color came in and many people were buying their first color sets. Back then just the addition of the word "Color" was added onto nearly all antennas to convince the customer that you had to buy a new antenna along with your shiney new color TV. Analog color sets required a bit more signal than B&W to look good but that's about it. As someone who's spend his entire career as an electronics technician I've got a pretty tight BS filter about all these scams...

[davidsradioroom]

I am a radio/TV hobbyist. I am well aware of the scams out there. Your video is excellent in debunking their falsehoods. I bought a cheap $20 butterfly TV antenna, but I was aware of its limitations, and it did the job I need it to do. I didn't get any cable channels, but I was able to receive most local stations. Let buyers beware!

[sublimationman]

Ken, those funky company names has a reason. They need a unique name to sell on Amazon and since the accounts are disposable (Amazon will eventually shut them down) the easiest way to get a unique name that won't likely conflict with a 'real' company is to keyboard smash one, this should also be a big hint when buying, if the seller or product name is not even pronounceable then it's likely a scam.

[failbot]

As someone who works for "the cord" I wanted to throw out there that even our systems have serious limits with local channel insertion, because even a 150' tall directional terrestrial antenna still has to obey physics.

[robertarnobit]

I never believed the antenna claims on any advertisements and ESPN, HBO etc. are paid subscriptions. I feel with people who fall for this crap. Good info, thank you 👍

[PoXFreak]

Honestly, the only ones who would believe those range numbers would be flat earthers.

[speedgriffon]

Communicating with lighthouses?! SOLD!

[Super_Austinator_Archived]

Those scamtenna names are as catchy as Sony’s names for their headphones.

(edit: what did I start in the comments)

[MatthewJamesMullin]

Since it's a "known haunted" hotel maybe ghost hunters were in a nearby room with all their "ghost detecting" equipment. I wouldn't be surprised their gear just throws out random elector-magnetic interference.

[sparkybluefox]

As an ex: RF engineer, you Sir are my New fun GO TO guy to enjoy Accurate RF / TV reviews !

Great Video

BRAVO !



sbf

[MarkReedUK]

In the UK TV antennas have a range of about "to the next hill" or "just past that big tree" lol

[SleepNeed]

I worked at a broadcast TV station. I remember having to explain to someone in another state over a few hundred miles away why they couldn't get our signal when he called in all pissed off.
 
Side note, the FCC has a really nice coverage map where if you insert your address, it can calculate signal strength assuming an antenna on the roof of a three-story house. Not a 1-1 as an antenna plugged into an individual TV that hangs on the wall but it gives you some idea. It's simply called the "DTV Reception Map".

[Steve_K]

I'm an old Signal Corps tech, so I enjoyed this a lot. Our downstairs antenna is one of those $10 12" square plasticy sheets that works amazingly well, with no need to be placed on a window. Our upstairs antenna is rabbit ears and a small external amplifier. Both upstairs and downstairs pull in the local ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and Fox stations. By the way, there's no such thing as a "digital antenna." An antenna is an antenna is an antenna. In my experience, which includes rooftop antennas, 50 miles is about the limit for a usable signal for most antennas. OTA rocks, though. A good OTA picture is excellent.