DX Engineering AM/FM External Outdoor High Definition Radio Antenna (AFHD-4)

I purchased this antenna recently. I mounted it on the stack vent pipe. Every home has one of these 4 inch diameter pipes on the roof, above the bathroom. Solid Signal had the perfect vent pipe mounting kit. Follow the directions exactly to assemble and put up the antenna. Do NOT overtighten the bolts above and below the mounting plate. Use quality coax cable. I applied "Coax Seal" moldable black plastic to the coax connection. I also sprayed clear acrylic paint on the bracket and mounting U bolts. Ground the mounting plate with Number 10 green ground wire, connect the other end to a cold water pipe or a ground stake. Grounding the coax makes a huge difference. .Make sure you attach the band separator properly. If your AM is poor, reverse the leads on the supplied splitter; the black splitter lead is grounded to the coax shield. I needed the 10 db attenuator (provided) as I got too much FM signal into my vintage AIWA compact stereo. This is a well made antenna.

I have not put it up yet due to the weather. I can say by looking at it that it was packed well.

I e-mailed the company and they responded with a generic auto-reply that a case has been opened, but nobody ever followed up. Looking for another AM solution.

Overall I am not happy with it. I was supposed to receive channels from it outside of my normal listening area with clarity and that's not the case.I get much better reception from my car antenna which doesn't make sense because it's such a large antenna you would figure it would pick up more channels also it's even worse at picking up the AM stations and I have it on my rooftop thanks for your time

Chimney mount on a one-story house yields excellent results on FM but AM appears to be no better than a 5' length of wire. I cannot tune AM stations that can be played in the car. Build quality is excellent and the kit is comlete - everything but the mount and pole is there.

I have a Grundig Satellit 800 and before, I had it hooked to a wire strung in the attic where I used to live. Now, with limited space in my attic, I needed a smaller antenna to just get AM/FM on my Grundig. After mounting the antenna in the attic and hooking the Grundig up with a good grade of RG-6, I receive all bands, that is, longwave, shortwave, aircraft, and of course AM/FM as well or better than I received before. I'm impressed.

My wife’s step-father has a chalet in Swain, NY and needed AM & FM reception. He previously had an outdoor antenna of some sort, but that had finally hit the scrap hit. Swain is in a hilly region in Allegeny County and while it is not terribly far from Buffalo or Rochester, the terrain can make reception difficult. In addition, he had swapped out receivers, so determining to what degree any reception problems with simple dipole and AM loop antennas were attributable to antenna or tuner performance was difficult. Since the location could be prone to multi-path, antenna choice and positioning would be important. Fortunately, the chalet is located on fairly high elevation. Enlisting my aid, (while I am not an expert in OTA physics and antenna technology, I’m the closest he could find, which is a bit scary!) he specified that he would like (an) indoor antenna(s). This, of course, presented a bit of a challenge; luckily the main space where the audio equipment is located has a cathedral ceiling and large log beams. After reviewing the options, I settled on the Pixel AFHD-4, hoping it would perform as described, and counting on Solid Signal’s reputation for technical support and their return policy. Shipping was fast and included, which was helpful since there was a modest budget. After receiving the Pixel AFHD-4, I tested it out in my own equipment – I had both Sansui SU-77AX and a Sony XDRF 1HD tuners available. My first floor living room doesn’t have optimum exposure for a reliable test, so I was just checking to see that there was at least some reception and there were no obvious faults. The first thing I noticed was the excellent packaging. The antenna itself is cradled in foam blocks which are precisely cut to secure and protect the contents. Both the antenna itself and the additional components appeared to be in perfect condition. The supplied cables, attenuators, surge protector, mounting hardware and band separator were neatly packed and boxed, with the box cradled in a custom cut-out in the foam. This is some of best packaging I’ve seen for this type of equipment. The instructions were clear and concise, easy to understand. I quickly had antenna hooked to the Sansui tuner, and was able to pull in many stations. Located in suburban Rochester, I wasn’t able to pull in the CBC repeater in Kingston, ON, which I can barely tune in (in mono, non-quieting mode) with my outdoor FM antenna that is pole-mounted about 15 feet about ground. But even inside with far less than optional positioning, I was able to cleanly pull in nearly all local stations, and local low-power station reception was at least achievable, if not optimum. The results with the Sony were similar, and the tuner was able to tune the available HD transmissions. So far, so good. AM was another story. For both tuners, stations could be tuned, but there was AC interference. My living room system contains multiple powered devices, of course. Some of them are DC-powered, so there are at least a couple of cheap “wall wart� power adapters. With the mass of cables, there was no easy way to tell if the interference was coming from cable routing and device RF, or from a fault in the antenna. I suspected –and hoped for- the former, but still I was a tiny bit apprehensive. A couple of weeks later we were able to make the drive to Swain. In addition to my cabling tool kit, I took the Sansui tuner so that I would have a known device for initial testing. Upon arrival, I was not only pleased that the layout favoured a very flexible and fairly easy installation, but that the view was spectacular! Not so encouraging was the audio equipment – an old, cheap Sony receiver and Bose 301 speakers that weren’t even properly installed. One of the line level inputs on the Sony was labeled “LD� – laser disc! But more than the age of the Sony, the power button was missing. That wasn’t as big an issue, though that it turned out that this model ONLY did seek tuning; there was no way that I could discover to manually tune. As expected, the Sansui performed well. Still, I was excited that it was able to pull in so MANY stations. I specifically tried to tune in some of the stronger Toronto stations, and both 740 and 1010 (CFRB) could be received. OK! This was without the antenna in its final mounting location on one of the open beams. On to the Sony. The challenge of the Sony tuning method aside, I was eventually able to tune in CFRB and once the antenna was mounted, the signal was easily adequate. However, the other challenge with the Sony is that it has no F connection for a 75 ohm antenna lead. It only has spring connections for twin lead. Since only one balun was supplied with the AFHD-4, switching between AM and FM tuning is a pain in the nether regions. Fortunately, the Sony will be swapped out for the original NAD receiver; one would hope the Bose would also be decommissioned, but one thing at a time. Once the weather warms, the AFHD-4 will be moved outside and a final assessment can be made. But needless to say, my initial impressions are extremely positive. The AFHD-4 is extremely well made, has excellent performance for an antenna of its design type, easily combines both AM & FM signal capture, and is an excellent choice when space, budget and even HOA restrictions come into play. If I were not going to upgrade my own antenna for FM listening to a deep fringe broadband antenna, I would not hesitate to own it myself. Well done Doug Talley and Pixel.

Can't believe the difference in the reception I am getting now. Low profile disapears in the sky, very nice. I am receiving stations farther out than the specs which is a surprise as nowadays companies tend to overstate the real specs.

I just got my Pixel antenna hooked up today and pulled in a crystal clear broadcast on KCSM 20 miles away and over an 800 tall hill.Setup:Antenna is mounted on a 3 mast extending over the roof ridge and Im considering a 5 extension for the TV antenna. No signal booster amp.Antenna lead is 105 of RG6 quad shielded coax with DigiCon compression connectors.The antenna itself appears to be

gives better signal......good definition