A: I would love to find a great indoor TV antenna to recommend, but this has been a challenge. In the early days of digital television, there were some good UHF-only antennas, which was fine back then when almost all digital broadcasting was UHF. As digital VHF usage expanded, however, those atennas were pulled from the market.

Recently I discovered that there are some shady marketing practices infecting the antenna market. For instance, I found an Amazon listing for a small antenna that had 15,000 five-star reviews. When I looked closer, I saw that it was listed as “Brand: WD-40” and almost all the reviews were for WD-40 lubricant. It looked as if the vendor listed their antenna as a WD-40 product, perhaps with the expectation that shoppers would see a listing with 15,000 reviews and a five-star rating and impulsively click “Buy Now.”

I reported the discrepancy to Amazon, and then I ordered the antenna so I could try it myself. It is unimpressive. Unless you place it right by a window, it is useless. Put it by a window and things improve, though it still is highly dependent on location. The living room television did not receive even half of the major networks, rating an F. The television on the other side of the house did OK — at first. And then it went to pot.

When I first connected it, the antenna pulled in all the major networks, though it failed to tune a few obscure stations I enjoy. I rated it a solid B. But the next day one of the major networks disappeared, so I ran the autoprogram channel search again. Some of the channels that were missing the first time showed up, though the signal strength was low and the picture was pixelated. The missing major network never came back. My grade dropped to a D-minus. Suffice it to say, I do not recommend the “WD-40 antenna.”

I rechecked the listing three days after my warning to Amazon. The brand still said “WD-40,″ but there were now only two reviews. Both were for the actual antenna, and both were one star.

In answer to your question, for the best reception you should use an outdoor antenna if at all possible. Meanwhile, I will continue to search for a good indoor antenna for those who don’t have that option.

Coming attraction

Q: We’re well into the new year, and you still haven’t announced your 2023 product of the year. Did you not find one?

A: Actually, I found a very good one — so good that the first batch of the new product sold out quickly. Rather than frustrate readers by recommending something they can’t get, I’m going to wait until the product is available again before I announce the winner. Hopefully this will be by mid-March.

Send questions to Don Lindich at donlindich@gmail.com. Get recommendations and read past columns at soundadvicenews.com.