Anyone running a freeview box off an indoor aerial?

[Maz]

I was given a Goodmans freeview digibox the other day. Not bothered about putting it on the TV downstairs, so hooked it up to the portable upstairs which uses an indoor aerial. To my surprise, most of the channels were good and clear but other channels did not get a strong enough signal.

I need a new aerial cos the one I have is bust. Maybe one that gives better reception so I get all the channels.

Can anyone recommend a good indoor aerial or what features to look out for? What about those signal booster/amplifier things - are they good?

 

[marinyork]

You need that philips log aerial recommended elsewhere. It's the only one that works. Boosting the signal doesn't make any difference, you could be boosting the interference. An indoor aerial will work if there is enough gain in your area e.g. if you have no wall tiles interfering, no walls and straight through window, sufficient height, line of sightish to the transmitter. Digital on freeview needs about 45% of the signal for stability. You are likely to have problems with other muxes as C and D were always weak and tend to transmit at a lower power.

 

[Night Train]

Not quite the same thing but I use a very old and rotten roof aerial and the first time I use a digital TV it only got a few channels and most had poor signal strength.

I put in an amplifier and things are a lot better, except when the weather is bad. I will, eventually (when I get on the roof to fix the leaks), put up a new aerial.

Are the digital aerials actually worth the extra money over a normal aerial?

 

[marinyork]

There is no such thing as a digital aerial. It physically does not exist. There are good aerials and bad aerials, there are yagis, extra hi gains and several others. They are all analogue, a digital aerial does not exist.

 

[Night Train]

There is no such thing as a digital aerial. It physically does not exist. There are good aerials and bad aerials, there are yagis, extra hi gains and several others. They are all analogue, a digital aerial does not exist.

Ahhh. I had a look in B&Q a while ago and they had digital aerials and terrestrial aerials.

 

[Maz]

You need that philips log aerial recommended elsewhere...

Thanks. I'm just trying to track down that thread.
Is the actual aerial called a 'log aerial' (due to its shape?) - did a google on it but no luck yet.

 

[jonesy]

Ahhh. I had a look in B&Q a while ago and they had digital aerials and terrestrial aerials.

Yes, it is possible to over-do the pedantry... the aerials commonly referred to as "digital" are intended for the frequencies and signal strengths needed for "digital" signals.

(Edit- just making clear that I know the signals aren't "digital" either, it is the information transmitted by them that is...)

 

[Will1985]

We do for both TVs with aerials over 10 years old, but both are in line of sight a strong regional transmitter 6 miles away. I've tried a booster aerial before and that is no better.

 

[HLaB]

I used to run mine through an indoor aerial before I moved out again and had quite good results, I think I used a boosted philips aeriel too.

 

[marinyork]

Yes, it is possible to over-do the pedantry... the aerials commonly referred to as "digital" are intended for the frequencies and signal strengths needed for digital signals.

No they aren't. It's got bog all to do with being digital. The four terrestrial channels on analogue were all built "in group" to efficiently manage channels 21-69 without co-channel interference and other issues and so you could get a yagi colour coded for your group which was better. When channel 5 came along in many areas it was "out of group" so you had to get a wideband aerial so there was the oft reported urban myth of "we can't get channel 5 in x,y,z". Different frequencies are used so whilst the two systems run in parallel they interfere as little as possible. The original engineers planned everything to a t, it was the silly buggers later on playing around that buggered the system up.

Anyway to answer the question, wideband aerials are not worth the money for most people. Yagi's are designed to pick up that band, the spacings are built to do this. A wideband aerial is more generalised but will pick up all of the channels. To see whether a wideband is suitable one should look up your local transmitter and see what channels they are on. Some idiot on my street had an extra hi gain aerial installed on their roof when every other house in the street has a yagi. It's an urban myth that a yagi set at a good height, with high quality cabling, alligned properly won't work in a low signal area. I've always lived in low signal areas and got a mere 100% signal on yagis.

 

[jonesy]

No they aren't. It's got bog all to do with being digital. ...

I know that! That was my point; it isn't the "digital" nature of the signal that matters it is the frequency, but that is picky point of pedantry to the person who wants to buy an aerial to get a "digital" channel...

 

[marinyork]

I know that! That was my point; it isn't the "digital" nature of the signal that matters it is the frequency, but that is picky point of pedantry to the person who wants to buy an aerial to get a "digital" channel...

Indeed. My point is one should look up the local/regional transmitter and see whether the channels are "in group". If they are an extra hi gain is a waste of money imho. There's nowt wrong with a properly set up yagi. Normally either the cabling as been compromised with water or eroded or it's blown off course. There are cowboys out there trying to make a lot of money by selling over the top aerials .

Maz, I can't find the one I was looking for, but this one used to be highly regarded http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=46229&doy=31m12&C=SO&U=strat15

I'd still heavily recommend against it unless you live next door to the transmitter.

 

[Maz]

Maz, I can't find the one I was looking for, but this one used to be highly regarded http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=46229&doy=31m12&C=SO&U=strat15

I'd still heavily recommend against it unless you live next door to the transmitter.

Cheers. The pic qual is v.good on the indoor aerial. How would I find out how far my transmitter is?

 

[marinyork]

http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe?DX=D&OS= and type in your postcode. Course it might come up with more than 1 but it won't be hard to work out which you're pointing to, local or regional. If your aerial points North East then it's Waltham, if it points more or less West then it's Sutton Coldfield.

What signal strength are you getting on the ones that do work?

 

[Maz]

http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe?DX=D&OS= and type in your postcode. Course it might come up with more than 1 but it won't be hard to work out which you're pointing to, local or regional. If your aerial points North East then it's Waltham, if it points more or less West then it's Sutton Coldfield.

What signal strength are you getting on the ones that do work?

I think Waltham is the one I'm getting, but according to ofcom's website there is a repeater here in Leicester.

For the channels that do work e.g. bbc 1/2/3/4, itv1,2,3,4, Dave, signal strength is up in the 50-75% region I'd say (theres a small signal strength bar that comes up on the screen). For other channels not good signal. Mind you the aerial is ropey cos it's bust.