Hands on with the HD-BLADE, part 6: Give it to a 4-year-old

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It works when laid flat.It works with wall paint all over itIt works behind pictures. I’m beginning to wonder if anything is going to stop this mighty little antenna.

When I thought of the kind of destructive forces you’d find around your average home, one leaped to mind. You can find it in a lot of homes and it’s been blamed for a lot of chaos over the years. I’m not talking about electricity, weather, or some other source… I’m talking about your kids.

I knew the HD-BLADE was cat-proof. Armed with that, I gave the HD-BLADE to my favorite four-year-old to play with and asked her to paint a picture. I actually thought this would be a good test, because non-toxic kids’ paints use chromium, cobalt, and other non-toxic metals for coloring. Metals deflect antenna signals. I knew this particular young girl loves lions, so I had a feeling I would get a lot of yellow and orange — full of chromium.

First the good news The HD-BLADE is actually kid-paint-proof. The paint really didn’t stick to it at all and while the original painting was beautiful, about half the paint flaked off before I could even test the antenna. Dry erase marker also wiped right off, and crayon came off with a little goo-gone. So, if your little one paints you a picture without your permission, you’re probably safe.

Still, by the time I tested the HD-BLADE, it still had about 33% paint coverage. So, this was going to be a good test.

In fact, the HD-BLADE pulled in the same 55 channels I got after I painted it with wall paint. So, I have to say, kids’ paint had zero effect! Great news if you plan on putting something that looks like a drawing board up in your kids’ rooms!

At this point I’m getting a little frustrated. I’m sure something will stop this little antenna but I just don’t know what.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.