Digital TV aerials

[jeepmadmike]

Not being a domestic sparky. i was wondering what is required to get a desent digital tv aerial set up.

my current analogue tv's dont need more than a foot long bit of 1.0mm stuffed in the aerial socket! but the transmitter tower is direct line of site and is about 3 miles away.

I have noticed the wholesalers selling digital aerials etc is the coax used the same RG rating?

does the aerial need to be on the roof or might i get away with it mounted in the roof space?

 

[breezer]

digital aerials are a con, they are not required, as for where it goes its your choice.

obvioulsy outside is better

 

[Bondai]

There is no such thing as a digital tv aerial.

Only aerials that are more compatible with (receptive to) a digital signal exist.

For what it's worth. My brother has his aerial in his attic and has a perfect signal.

 

[GaryMo]

Agreed.
I have a standard aerial mounted in the loft which gives an excellent reception without any missing digital channels.

 

[FourFootMedia]

At my last house, we had a 15yr old (or more) antenna in the loft which worked fine with freeview... "digital antennas" are just a marketing game.

 

[Click-Sure]

Its all about the band that the digital multiplexes sit in compared with the analogue channels. In days gone by aerials were installed that were optimised to recieve UHF signals in the band that was in use on the local transmitter (say C/D for arguments sake) to keep the cost, and size of aerials down.

If you get a signal from Sutton Coldfield (west mids), the digital multiplexes are in pretty much the same group as the analogue ones, so chances are you wont need to do anything as long as the aerial and cabling is in reasonable nick.

If get a signal from Ridge Hill (nr Ledbury, Worcs) its a different story, digital mux's are in a different band from the analogue ones, meaning you're looking at a 'ladder on a mast' wide-band aerial, if you still want to keep analogue channels.

After the switchover, a lot of the digital mux's will be moved to somewhere nearer or in the old position of the analogue channels, so that they mesh in better with other masts that are currently interfearing with some of each others digital mux's.

'Digital aerials' and 'Digital cable' are snake oil, pure and simple, therefore we end up with houses all over the place with collosal aerials, with assosiated heavier duty bracketry and cable that looks like its been clipped to the wall by stevie wonder with a boulder for a hammer.
All they actually get is a chimney thats more likely to come down in the wind, a WIDE-BAND aerial and some black cable with better screening what its brown predecessor.

I'm not bitter about this subject, not one bit...

 

[breezer]

cable that looks like its been clipped to the wall by stevie wonder with a boulder for a hammer.

I liked that bit

 

[gregers]

well where i live we cant get digital tv yet,even with a box(free veiw),heathfield transmitter apparentley isnt getting switched over for a couple of years,1 of the last in the country i think?the only way we can get digital is to point the ariel to fairlight beacon(hastings)which i tried with an areil in the attic and a freeveiw box and had no luck. so i got sky so installed so im happy at the moment.

 

[ericmark]

I agree with Click-Sure but buying a banded aerial is now hard.

The biggest problem is we have not got rid of analogue and I have VCR, DVD, Sky satellite, FTA satellite, and freeview boxes all transmitting analogue signals plus broad cast analogue, all mixed up with the 9 (Two transmitters) Multiplex signals and selecting channels so they don't interfere with each other is a nightmare.

Because analogue and digital share the same band but sets tuned to one signal type can't see the other type it is all too easy for not only yours but also your neighbours boxes from killing the very weak digital signal.

One problem here is Sky boxes were originally set to channel 68 which is now used by Channel 5 digital and many complain they can't receive channel 5 as a result.

Channel 5 is now free to air but there are still some programs which are encrypted UK History is one so using satellite instead of terrestrial broadcasts is not always the answer. Sky boxes can be used for free to air with a card but one has to wade through all the encrypted programs they can't be filtered out like proper free to air boxes but they can use a one off payment card to view UK History etc. But since the Channel 4 group have made their channels FTA the cards are hard to come by.

The two proper FTA boxes I have can both be programmed to only list FTA channels and they can be rearranged, blanked, or erased so one only has to look at what one can receive but in both cases the EPG will only give now and next.

One box also has the 9 pre-view box feature allowing one to see what one wants to watch a lot easier but when buying they never seem to have a box set up so you can try so it's a bit of luck selecting a good box.

Also of the three boxes I have Sky requires a lot stronger signal from the LNB and one of the FTA boxes has a buzzer built it to help aiming the dish.

Also the FTA boxes have auto start-up and close down features so you can program them to shut off the supply to LNB when your not using TV.

I measured at 12 volt as one is battery model so I used variable power supply running it use 800ma but standby down to 200ma I will assume 600ma is supplied to LNB. But the Sky box does not have auto timed wake-up so using with recorders it has to be left running 24/7.

When you first use satellite is seems great with loads more films etc. being shown but as time goes on you realise the same programs are shown again and again and there is a limit on how many times you can watch Dell boy dressed up as Bat man?

There is also a problem getting program guides with Radio Times not listing Films for men and Films for men2 and without one box with a sky card it's hard to find out what's on without using internet.

 

[GaryMo]

When you first use satellite is seems great with loads more films etc. being shown but as time goes on you realise the same programs are shown again and again and there is a limit on how many times you can watch Dell boy dressed up as Bat man?

I watched that very episode last night, again

 

[Bondai]

http://www.owenbayliss.com/6_points.htm

 

[plugwash]

When you first use satellite is seems great with loads more films etc. being shown but as time goes on you realise the same programs are shown again and again and there is a limit on how many times you can watch Dell boy dressed up as Bat man?

Unfortunately there are some pretty nice series that basically never make it onto free channels. Discovery's mythbusters and national geographics air crash investigation spring to min.

 

[plugwash]

http://www.owenbayliss.com/6_points.htm

hmm

1 The most important thing to do when seeking advice regarding the Digital Switchover October 2009, is to talk to Companies, Organizations, Charities and Registered Digital Installers that have approval and are accredited by being qualified and authorized to promote the digital UK “Tick MarK” These bodies can be trusted to provide accurate information.

ROFLMAO

 

[breezer]

 

[ericmark]

A while ago I was short of some TV connectors so called at a local aerial installer and got chatting.
He was telling me of some of the daft requests he had been getting.
He related how one person wanted him to fit two aerials one on top of the other to get better signal and was saying how he needed to explain that it would not work.
I had to kick my son to stop him laughing out loud.
The guy had no idea this was standard way to increase gain and I can see not the easiest to set up so I can see why he would want to avoid it.
But I would not be too keen to take advice from the pro's?
They want to make money and unless you pay a standard price to "Fix it" then the more they fit the more money they make.
Ask any radio ham and they will tell you loads of odd tails about making contact from bouncing signals from planes to off local hill or CB aerial and even they get conned from time to time and the really great aerial with great SWR ends up being little better than a dummy load.
But the band width required in some areas is silly and chimney lined with highly conductive soot is not the best location for a beam. Neither is a sharp edge of a building like a gable end if one wants to avoid atmospheric discharge problems (Lighting) and sticking silly amounts of metal up is rather fool hardy.
Sometimes we have no options but as I understand it the transmitters are to increase power once the analogue is switched off? So I am hanging fire before I replace any aerial.
Winter Hill transmits at 500kw analogue and 10kw digital so any surprise that we need higher gain aerials?
Yes I know radio hams can communicate using digital format from UK to States on 1w but only when conditions are A1 and using a very slow baud rate around 12 to 30 words per minute using CW (Morse Code) if you want to transmit even slow scan TV (fax without paper) the power shoots up and for the baud rates required to receive TV I am not convinced that it will work until the power at the transmitter is raised.
With no picture quality to show signal strength there is a need for signal strength meters to be built into TV's especially portable sets.
These essential aides seem to be missing on many freeview TV's and stand alone boxes yet even a audible signal strength meter is fitted into my FTA box.
And I have not found a single Black and White digital set why should I be forced to pay for colour licence?