There’s a lot to like about outdoor TV antennas. They offer better and more stable TV reception and usually bring in more channels than indoor models, which is why we always recommend them, but they won’t win any neighborhood beauty contests.

The Televes Dinova Boss Mix isn’t beautiful, but it does look very different from a typical antenna and is likely to stand out much less when mounted on the roof or the side of a house. It can also be installed in an attic (if you don’t have a metal roof) for even less visual distraction, albeit at the cost of some reception.

Specifications

The antenna is enclosed in a white plastic shell with a built-in bracket on the rear for mounting on a pole. You’d typically mount it horizontally, but there could be a situation where a vertical mount would be better, and the bracket accommodates both scenarios. It comes complete with a short mast you can use to mount it to the side of your house; so, everything you need is in the box—apart from the coaxial cable needed to connect it to your TV tuner.

Don’t overlook one of the Dinova Boss Mix’s best features when you unbox it: There are a couple of small, silver nubs on either side of the antenna: Give each of these a tug to extend a set of telescoping antennas and you’ll get better VHF TV stations that broadcast on channels 13 and below. These channels can sometimes be tough to catch with smaller antennas like this one, so that’s a great feature.

The antenna’s built-in signal amplifier, powered by the 12-volt power supply you’ll also find in the box, will boost reception.

In use

After installing the Dinova Boss Mix, I found that it provided good reception of all local channels and strong signals from a neighboring market. That’s impressive for an antenna of this size. In terms of the number of channels, it was only a little behind my daily-use antenna, the Televes Dat Boss Mix.

While that didn’t matter in the tests, I always prefer to get as strong a signal as possible, especially on more distant stations that can be affected by weather conditions.

The Dinova Boss Mix even pulled in a low-power VHF station that presents a tricky signal for me most of the time. Reception of that station wasn’t perfect, but that it was coming in at all showed the antenna’s sensitivity.

This review is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best TV antennas.

Should you buy a Televes Dinova Boss Mix?

The antenna should work well in areas with strong to average reception and will perform better on reception of UHF stations over VHF. PCWorld’s guide to choosing an antenna explains how to determine the signal levels of the broadcast towers where you live before you buy, so check that before making a final decision.

Whether it’s mounted on your roof, the side of your house, or in an attic space, the Televes Dinova Boss Mix offers a more pleasing profile than more typical TV antennas, and it still delivers great reception.

Author: Martyn Williams, Contributor