- Amplified with Clean Peak filter technology: most sophisticated amplifier on the market that removes unwanted RF signals and boosts the ones you want
- Modeled after a discrete mud flap antenna designed for the U.S. military
- Reversible, paintable, and easy to install
- Multi-directional; no pointing needed
- 50 mile range
In other words they didn't work for me.
When I saw the Mohu line had a new one the Mohu MH-004092 Leaf Ultimate, I was pessimistically optimistic that with a 50 mile range it might be able to reach the tower located 43 miles away and pull in a couple more channels. TVFool had indicated I needed an outdoor antenna to grab over-air signals in my area, but I decided to give this one a try and if it didn't work I could always return it.
"Mohu Ultimate A Nice Surprise!"
Unboxed it looks and feels very much like the other two Leaf products (white on one side, black on the other), but it has an amplifier dongle, that is powered by USB. You can use the included AC adapter (with USB port on it) to power it by AC, or you can plug into a USB port on your amplifier or TV to power it. I chose the AC adapter, and plugged mine into a surge protected power strip. A blue light on the amplifer came on when it was powered up.
Directions for the Mohu Leaf Ultimate are simple and straightforward. There's not a lot to get confused about, which is great. Anyone can set this antenna up!
Assembly is as easy as attaching the cords per the directions, powering up the amplifier, and hanging the Mohu Ultimate in the best spot for over air reception. Finding the optimum placement for the Mohu Ultimate to work its magic is the tricky part!
It took me 5 attempts at hanging the Mohu (taking note of channels received after auto-tune and the signal quality of those channels) before I finally found the perfect spot to receive all of the HD channels in my area from CBS, NBC and ABC.
Hung 7' away from other electronics, about 1" down from the ceiling, and about 5" from the corner on an East facing wall with a large window opposite the wall, the Mohu Ultimate did what none of the others could accomplish. The over-air HD channels I'd been hoping I could pull in from 43 miles away, through mountains, were now mine without being hooked up to cable! Crystal clear reception on all available HD channels, with no dropped signals or pixalation.
That was something the Mohu Leaf Paper-Thin Indoor HDTV Antenna Made in USA and Leaf Plus Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna had not been able to accomplish for me, due to shorter range and perhaps never before finding 'just the right spot' to place the Mohu for optimum reception.
However, depending upon where you live, you might be able to save yourself some money. If you live in a urban area with lots of towers nearby, you may not need the 'Ultimate' and its amplified range. Consider saving a bit of money and going with the original Mohu leaf first, after you check with TVFool and/or antennaweb for signal strength and range in your area.
Mohu Ultimate is a top notch device that works as promised when correctly placed for optimium performance. It's build quality is solid, and it's easy to set-up and use.
Do I wish it was a tad less pricey? Sure, but for its unobtrusive good looks, outstanding performance and money it's going to save me in the long run over cable it's worth it!
I will be using the Mohu Ultimate, a Roku 2 XS 1080p Streaming Player to stream Netflix, HuluPlus and Amazon Instant Video. That combination will save me approximately $100 a month in cable bills. Something I thought I'd never be able to do with a very simple looking indoor antenna.
Definitely worth a look no matter where you live rural, suburban or city dwellers if you want to cut ties with cable TV.
Tips to getting the Mohu Ultimate to work for you:
1. To find the best placement for your Mohu, check TVFool for towers in your area. Knowing what channels are available, their strengths, and distance from you, and direction, is very helpful in finding the best spot for this omni-directional antenna.
2. Try at least half a dozen spots in your room to find what works best, and then you can neaten up your wiring as needed. Do a channel search after every new placement and take note of each channel's quality and tweak accordingly.
3. Hang the Mohu as high up on a wall as possible for the best reception to start, and then adjust as needed.
UPDATE: 2/5/2013
Getting nice clear HD reception from all the biggies in my area (CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, and FOX). Learned that if I moved the Mohu up or down on the wall even as little as 2" makes a difference in reception! I actually lost ABC when I placed the Mohu too high on the wall, but gained it back by dropping it down 2".
To get proper placement you may want to get a second person to help you, especially if you know the channels that should come in (because the towers are close enough and/or you've received the signal before), and have them make minor adjustments up and down to get things adjusted for optimum reception.
I have noticed a slight delay on audio over air on one channel, but otherwise, looks as good as it did using Charter cable.
Buy Mohu Leaf Ultimate Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna Now
After testing, purchasing and attempting to utilize countless locally bought, and a few mail ordered indoor HDTV antenna solutions, I was certain it made since to NEVER give another indoor antenna any consideration. Thank goodness I did!!Had it not been for the countless testimonies from other users claiming the Moho Leaf was so superior and accomplished pulling in dozens of local OTA Digital station, when other solution failed to get one or two, I never would have made yet another purchase. But sure enough! We plug it in to our HDTV (actually a the new Boxee TV, Internet DVR system) and we went from getting one to two station on our best day, to pulling in 25 local OTA digital TV broadcast!!! WTHeck! WOW!
I was literally just laughing when I saw the channel scan results, and thought to myself, how can every other product be such JUNK?!?! Yet this thing works PERFECTLY? REALLY? At any rate, proof in in the pudding as they say! I'm yet another rave reviewer now! Who knew...?
We live only about 18-25 miles from what we know to be virtually all of the local HDTV, giant broadcast antennas; however, we are surround by a few hills and definitely in a low lying part of town. You seem to be required to have an aerial solution on the roof of your home around here, (or a large attic based solution,) to even think about regularly depending on OTA broadcast, versus cable or satellite delivered feeds. And prior to this home, we lived about 6 miles further form the broadcast antennas in our area, and were in an even lower lying water side home on a large lake. We never picked up anything there reliably!
So I was convinced HDTV was a joke from a standpoint of any real broadcast strength, and we were just going to have to bite the bullet at this home, and place one of those massive, ugly, antennas on our roof, in order to consider canceling our basic cable HDTV subscription. NOPE! One paper thin "Leaf" antenna, placed on a East facing window of our home, brought in every single local HDTV OTA broadcast offered in our area! CRAZY! ...I'm still shocked!
Read Best Reviews of Mohu Leaf Ultimate Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna Here
I currently own the leaf plus and the ultimate.In terms of performance, they both performed exactly the same. Based on Antenna web, I'm supposed to get about 50 channels using an indoor antenna. With the leaf plus I got 44 and with the ultimate I got exactly the same. If I install the antenna outside, I get 48 out of 50 on both antennas.
So why pay $90 for the ultimate? It's a good antenna (The best from all I have tested), but if you already have the plus, it may not be worth to also get this one unless u really need it.
The only difference is that the ultimate has a 16' cable and the amplifier is detachable.
I took the amp and installed it in a non-leaf antenna and it performed exactly as the leaf (44 out of 50 indoor; 48 out of 50 outdoor).
I'm guessing that what makes the leaf so good is not the antenna, but the jolt amplifier.
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** UPDATE: 02/07/13 **
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I wanted to share some additional info with everyone:
I used to have a bundled service (Internet / Digital Cable w some premium channels) with bright house network. When I got the leaf, I decided to drop my cable and only leave internet access. By doing so, I was able to save a bit more than $80 per month.
I guess you are thinking "Why is this so important?" Continue reading... :-)
After the cable company came and picked up the DVR and disconnected the cable, out of curiosity I decided to connect the TV to the cable outlet. For my surprise, the connection was transmitting all local channels for FREE; No antenna needed. I thought it had to be an error, but it looks like they installed some type of filter to prevent basic/extended cable to be viewed and left the local channels. I don't know if this was an employee error, a law/reg. rule that obligates them not to charge for local channels or if perhaps this is some type of "courtesy" policy to those that have internet and no cable.
If you are in this situation, try connecting the TV to the cable outlet and scan for channels. Don't forget to set your TV to "Cable TV" and not antenna when doing so.
Good Luck
Want Mohu Leaf Ultimate Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna Discount?
Bought this antenna as an "upgrade" for existing RCA Digital HD antenna ($40 one).After receiving "Mohu" antenna, I plug it in and mounted to the same spot where my OLD antenna use to be (RCA).
Re-scaned channels and on my surprise, I actually getting LESS channels now and some channels that use to be very stable on OLD antenna now are pretty bad quality.
Hmm... Really ? I just wasted $100 ? What I can do now ?
Well, the good news based on this new antenna design/weight and much longer cord I have decided to try different spots to mount this antenna in my living room.
As I find out best spot for this new antenna is the upper wall space close to ceilings. I cannot mount my old antenna (RCA) here due to weight and shorter cord, but I can do that with "Mohu".
Now, I'm getting a bit better quality picture yet, fewer channels (for example KRON4 HD is gone, as many local channels in 26x range).
So, as the summary I can say that I have a mixed feelings now I paid extra $60 (old antenna cost $40) for ability find a better mounting spot for my antenna and get a bit more stable (but not perfect) reception quality of fewer channels.
Save $0.13 off
I bought the basic leaf a couple of years ago for an upstairs bedroom, and I found that it was a bit of effort to find a mounting location where I could get all my channels.... moving it a couple of inches would result in the loss/gain of channels....here I lose Fox, and gain CBS, there I lose CBS and gain FOX. I eventually had to hang it on a curtain rod to get all my channels.Recently, I moved to a downstairs bedroom and brought the leaf with me. I got half the channels I got upstairs. Of course, I moved it all over the room, tried the windows...still poor.
So I bought the new amplified leaf for downstairs and I get all my channels downstairs now. Disconnecting the amplifier gave me the same results as I had with the non-amplified Leaf, so, I can say with certainty that the amplifier helped me. I used the USB port on my TV as the power source.
Now, I had to mount this new leaf in a closet to get all the channels. This wasn't a bad location, but I needed every inch of the 16' cord (big improvement). I think the poor reviews come from people who don't spend the time testing this antenna in various locations. This antenna will tell you where it needs to be located...you can't always mount this in an inconspicuous place or where it is aesthetically beneficial.
Another thing I like about the new amplified leaf is that the cord is detachable from the "leaf." Leaf also sells a 25' cable, so if you needed a longer cable, and don't want to use butt connectors, you could attach a longer cord (of any manufacturer).
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