Wogster how would you explain then why I had to use a 3 stage low noise home built pre-amp back in Havana to get the US stations (Even Channels from FT Myers and Odds from FT Lauderdale/Miami). I guess I should have saved the hazard of asking a family member to pass the little high Ft low noise NPN transistors through Cuban customs then. I had a short cable run (30 to 50 ft) and a 2 m parabolic UHF antenna. Consider Havana is 90 miles from Key West and 180 miles from the transmitting towers, beleive me without the pre amp most days you would have no signal , and with it , most days throught out the year even in that almost all summer year long you would have to get used to a 1 or 2 second long fading or a grainy picture.

But anyways this is a free country and anyone is free to say or type anything on the free internet.