Sufubyte AVK25-PLUS amplified DVB-T2 aerial, 36 dBi

The number the rest of this shelf omits

36 dBi. A published gain figure, which is what allows two aerials to be compared rather than believed. Most listings on this shelf state a range in kilometres and no gain at all.

And why a big number is not automatically good

An amplifier lifts a weak signal and lifts the noise with it. Far from a transmitter that trade is worth making. Close to one, 36 dBi will overload the tuner and produce a picture that breaks up — worse than no amplifier at all.

There is no bypass switch here, which means the gain cannot be turned down if it turns out to be too much.

The channel list is a geography statement

ARD, ZDF, RTL, Sat.1, ProSieben, Kabel eins, RTL II, Vox, 3sat, freenet TV. Terrestrial television is national — different multiplexes, different codecs, some channels encrypted. Naming the channels tells you which country the aerial was designed around, which the frequency bands, absent here, would tell you more precisely.

The cable

Five metres of copper. Naming the conductor is unusual and the length is what matters most: the good position is a window, and the television is elsewhere.

The rule for this shelf

Try it unamplified first if there is a switch. There is not one here — so if the picture breaks up, the amplifier is a candidate rather than a fix.

Availability

On sale from 20 € to 23 € on the German and Italian Amazon stores at the time of checking.

Listed but with no offer on the British, French and Spanish Amazon stores — the reference exists there and nobody is currently selling it.

Not found on the American Amazon store, where the buy link falls back to a local search rather than to a page that does not exist.

Prices and availability are what Keepa reported on the date this page was updated; both move.