Connecting aerial to TV

[ZACCCC]

Theres no way on God's green earth a Log Periodic aerial should cost £100 unless sold as a kit with a whole bunch of mounting hardware such as a pole and mast clamp kit.

If some UK vendor is trying to charge you £100 for supplying just the aerial, delivered to your door, then tell them to do one.

The best Log Periodic available for your installation is this one from Aerials & TV in Sheffield. LINK
The reason is that it is tuned down to the narrower channel range that Freeview is heading towards at your transmitter. This means it picks up more signal than a standard Log.

As for what hour local installers charge, I have no idea precisely. Where I am, a basic installation such as yours with current aerial removed, new one installed on the existing pole and aligned with a proper meter, then cabled down to a suitable TV point would be around £120.

Thanks again. I searched on Amazon and, to be fair, there were only 2 which were more than £100, and the next down was about £70. Here is the top one (£130+)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/RCA-Compac...=log+periodic+tv+aerial&qid=1656182864&sr=8-1
Unfortunately, the link to Aerials & TV in Sheffield didn't work, but if you give me the code or specification for it then I'll search for it.

 

[ZACCCC]

Very easy to install - easy way is to get an accurate bearing from your home to the transmitter, take account of the magnetic variation for where you are. Then just aim the antenna on that bearing - if working alone. Sometimes it can be easier having an assistant on the ground with the compass, looking directly at your support mast, they should be looking at the mast on the same bearing but 180 degrees out. They just need to tell you left/right a bit until the antenna point straight at them. Finally, just check the signal strength on the TV - most these days can show a strength/quality meter on screen.

Thanks for that but as I don't possess a compass and also as I'm not sure how I go about getting the bearing from my house to the transmitter, I'm starting to lean even more towards getting a Pro in.

 

[ZACCCC]

Maybe not relevant to your area, but as an idea
I had an aerial removed from the roof as it had broken , the guy then suggested because of sea-air etc - he would try an aerial in the loft , as it usually work in this area (advantage of local installers) , he said he would take a signal reading and if it was no good - would go back out on the roof and fit up there
He charged me £130 in Oct 2018 , but they did give me an idea of price over the phone

I'm sure there are good local installers who are doing this all day long in your area , maybe look on social media see if any are recommendations - thats how i found mine

anyway , as Lucid mentioned, the price does not seem to have changed much since covid , unlike other services

Thanks. I appreciate hearing what your experience was and how much was charged.

 

[Lucid]

Thanks again. I searched on Amazon and, to be fair, there were only 2 which were more than £100, and the next down was about £70. Here is the top one (£130+)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/RCA-Compact-Outdoor-Yagi-Antenna/dp/B0024R4B5C/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=1184174922051819&hvadid=74011135231723&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=69113&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=p&hvtargid=kwd-74011069996576:loc-188&hydadcr=5084_2260904&keywords=log+periodic+tv+aerial&qid=1656182864&sr=8-1

I haven't time to go searching through Amazon for all the aerials that either have OTT pricing or are not suitable. However, I will say that the £130+ one you linked is not a Log Periodic.

The advert doesn't pretend- or claim that it's a Log. The ad states very clearly that it's a Yagi. Although Logs and Yagis are both aerials they're not the same design and don't work the same way.

What you've managed to find is an American "antenna". Big clue that they call it an antenna. We talk about an aerial, they talk about an antenna. It's also an RCA brand which we don't see so much in the UK. Its something from the States and so it's going to be ruddy expensive if exported to the UK on a one-by-one sales basis

Other clues for us pros is they refer to VHF and UHF. We haven't used the VHF band for TV in the UK in quite a long while.

Anyway, it's not what you want. The ATV link works for me, but if not for you then go to their site and look for Log 36 priced at £39.50

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

What you've managed to find is an American "antenna". Big clue that they call it an antenna. We talk about an aerial, they talk about an antenna. It's also an RCA brand which we don't see so much in the UK. Its something from the States and so it's going to be ruddy expensive if exported to the UK on a one-by-one sales basis

Antenna is the entirely correct UK term for what the man in the street calls an aerial. Antenna is the word I would use.

 

[ZACCCC]

I haven't time to go searching through Amazon for all the aerials that either have OTT pricing or are not suitable. However, I will say that the £130+ one you linked is not a Log Periodic.

The advert doesn't pretend- or claim that it's a Log. The ad states very clearly that it's a Yagi. Although Logs and Yagis are both aerials they're not the same design and don't work the same way.

What you've managed to find is an American "antenna". Big clue that they call it an antenna. We talk about an aerial, they talk about an antenna. It's also an RCA brand which we don't see so much in the UK. Its something from the States and so it's going to be ruddy expensive if exported to the UK on a one-by-one sales basis

Other clues for us pros is they refer to VHF and UHF. We haven't used the VHF band for TV in the UK in quite a long while.

Anyway, it's not what you want. The ATV link works for me, but if not for you then go to their site and look for Log 36 priced at £39.50

Ok, if you say it's not a log periodic then I'm sure you're right. But you'll see from the link I posted that the item came up as a result of the search I did on Amazon for log periodic TV aerials. But thanks for the details of the Log 36. I'll have a look on the Sheffield firm's site.

 

[ETAF]

Unfortunately, the link to Aerials & TV in Sheffield didn't work, but if you give me the code or specification for it then I'll search for it.

Here is the link in full, rather than embeded behind a word, just in case , then you may be able to copy and paste into a web browser and get it to work

Log 36 Aerial (pre-wired, c/w 1ft of self amalg tape) – A.T.V. Poles, Brackets, Clamps & Aerials

www.aerialsandtv.com

A.T.V. Poles, Brackets, Clamps & Aerials
419 Langsett Rd
Sheffield
S6 2LL

 

[Lucid]

Antenna is the entirely correct UK term for what the man in the street calls an aerial. Antenna is the word I would use.

That's the point exactly. It's okay for you and me to chat to each other on a more technical level and refer to an antenna, but the man in the street is often the person coming here for advice, so using common parlance where possible helps avoid confusion.

You'll also notice, it's Aerials and TV in Sheffield, not Antennas and TV.

 

[ZACCCC]

Here is the link in full, rather than embeded behind a word, just in case , then you may be able to copy and paste into a web browser and get it to work

Log 36 Aerial (pre-wired, c/w 1ft of self amalg tape) – A.T.V. Poles, Brackets, Clamps & Aerials

www.aerialsandtv.com

A.T.V. Poles, Brackets, Clamps & Aerials
419 Langsett Rd
Sheffield
S6 2LL

Thanks for that.

 

[FrodoOne]

Maybe not relevant to your area, but as an idea
I had an aerial removed from the roof as it had broken , the guy then suggested because of sea-air etc - he would try an aerial in the loft , as it usually work in this area (advantage of local installers) , he said he would take a signal reading and if it was no good - would go back out on the roof and fit up there
He charged me £130 in Oct 2018 , but they did give me an idea of price over the phone

I'm sure there are good local installers who are doing this all day long in your area , maybe look on social media see if any are recommendations - thats how i found mine

anyway , as Lucid mentioned, the price does not seem to have changed much since covid , unlike other services

I have had a "loft mounted" antenna since I moved into this house in 1971.
Of course, I am within 25 km "line of site" of the transmitters" and do not have "foil insulation" under the roofing tiles.

However, the following may be appreciated by only a few, but lucid may be one of them :-

The (VHF) antenna resting on the ceiling joists of my home worked well during the "Black and White" TV era.
The analog colour TV replacing the existing TV worked well but on one "Channel" the colour sometimes disappeared and the picture "wandered" between "Colour" and "Black and White".
Fortunately, I was interested in the "technicalities" of TV transmission and had already purchased "The Mazda Book of Pal Receiver Servicing".
On pages 16-17 of this book an this interesting (and unusual) problem is discussed.
"Short term multipath reception, or standing waves caused by a mis-match of the arial system can cause trouble with colour whereas the effects on black and white are hardly noticeable."

In this book there are diagrams to illustrate this but it means that, if there is "multipath" reception with a delay of about 0.11 µs between the two signals (un-noticeable on the "picture"), this can "cancel out" the "colour bust" signal - leaving the TV unable to decode the "colour" signal.
I calculate this to be a "delay" caused by a difference distance of 33 m (but I am open to correction).

The TV antenna in my "loft" was then lifted on a support, so that it was about 350 mm above the joists and electrical wiring thereon.
After this, all was well.
(Of course, Digital Colour TV does not have such problems.)

 

[Lucid]

Thanks for posting @FrodoOne , and yes, I definitely appreciated your experience with that.

Although analogue is from before I got involved with installing aerials (A.K.A. antennas, to keep @Harry Bloomfield happy ) , lofts can still throw a spanner in the works for digital TV reception too.

Multipath isn't the problem it was with analogue, but places in a loft that you'd expect an aerial to work just fine don't always play nice.

Aerials; part science, part witchcraft. Gotta love 'em.

 

[bernardgreen]

Aerials; part science, part witchcraft. Gotta love 'em.

So true,