The big positives for the antenna is the design. It’s a jet black glossy finish on light-weight plastic, which also includes a stand for vertical mounting. You can also hang the antenna on the wall (if you wish) using the included mount which really gives the antenna a low profile wherever you decide to put it. The antenna can even be placed horizontally on top of another device, such as a DVD player for example to seemingly disappear amongst your electronic devices. Due to it’s semi-omni directional nature, putting it in this position shouldn’t affect reception at all, and that’s a big plus for the antenna. The signal strength is boosted by an included 10db amplifier which is also pretty low profile, and the coaxial cabled used by TERK is actually thick and pretty well shielded. For those techies, it’s RG-6 and not RG-59 that usually accompanies Phillips or RCA antennas. When I say semi-omni directional by the way, it’s because the antenna (where the TERK logo is facing) is the receiving side. If you placed the antenna backwards, the signal would be degraded. So it’s more like a 180 degree omni antenna.

What I am critical about the TERK FDTV2A is the all important signal strength pull of it. It isn’t to say it’s bad, but it’s not very good either. I live in Southern California (LA County) and according to AntennaWeb (Which is the official site to check where you point your antenna – Even mentioned in Terk’s product manual), the majority of my channels fall into the Yellow CEA zone with only 3 in the Green CEA zone. For those of you who aren’t familiar with antennas, CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) zones are industry recommendations on what you antenna you should buy for your location. Yellow is the lowest grade, followed by green, light green, red, blue violet and then pink. (Which would probably require NASA grade technology to pull!)

Terk’s FDTV2A antenna could not pull all of my Yellow channels regardless of where I put it in the house, but the channels it did pick up were strong and noise free. This kinda gives me the impression that the antenna is really not that powerful and is more of a stylish piece than functional. If you’ve ever heard of the infamous “coat-hanger” antenna made of wood and old metal coat hangers, this thing is probably the direct opposite of that with regards to style vs function.

To summarize my review in a few quick words, the TERK antenna is a stylish antenna that has an extremely low profile and is classified as a “Yellow” CEA antenna. It has good looks, but performance is on par with most indoor antennas you can buy at retail stores. I would give it pass if you’re looking to boost your old TV antenna to something substantially better, but I would buy it if you’re trying to pretty up your living room or guest room where style is more important over reception.
Rating: 3 / 5