Having escaped the poor U.K. weather these past 6 weeks, now back home I’m tidying up debris from the storms. My external TV aerial, receiving from Winter Hill 32 miles distant, has the rectangular bit hanging off, and the UHD on my new Samsung TV no longer seems to be the UHD I remember! I’ve retuned but no improvement, so can only surmise that the bit hanging off is having a detrimental effect on the signal, or my memory of how good it was until early Feb is playing tricks.
The aerial is mounted high close to the ridge on a tall gable end.... with a slope, so even if I had long enough ladders I wouldn’t venture up that high.
My immediate neighbours have several types of aerial, and I wondered if anyone can recommend any particular type before I get someone in to fit a replacement
Thanks for any advice
|
The rectangular bit is the reflector and its absence is almost certain to degrade performance.
This site is pretty good for an intorduction:
www.aerialsandtv.com/aerials.html
www.aerialsandtv.com/aerials.html
See also Devonite's freeview thread from a week or so ago.
May be worth finding a good local installer as there are ongoing changes to transmitter's channel allocations as some former TV spectrum is freed for next generation mobile and you should get an aerial that takes account of that.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Tue 27 Mar 18 at 17:06
|
One of the best designs is the Log Periodic type that doesn't have a reflector. It has several advantages over the reflector type on top of the fact there is no reflector to fall off.
As long as you live in a decent reception area it would be my choice.. as it has been here for the last three houses.
www.blake-uk.com/dml-log-periodic/172-384-26-element-uhf-log-periodic-array-blake-aerials.html#/6-aerial_group-wb
|
>> One of the best designs is the Log Periodic type that doesn't have a reflector.
>> It has several advantages over the reflector type on top of the fact there is
>> no reflector to fall off.
On the other hand I would disagree with that, the traditional yagi having excellent gain and multipath rejection with less elements (and therefore weight and wind resistance)
A yagi does not need the plate style of reflector, indeed few modern ones do, having some "y" elements to do the job,.
But at the end of the day, if its bitch to get to, you call in an aerial guy and get him to put up the one he recommends
|
>>>put up the one he recommends
Ahh yes... the one with the greatest mark up.
If you have a decent signal log periodic are very good at rejecting unwanted interference and transmitters... they are also naturally wideband without compromise meaning they have a near flat gain across channels.
Also they look lovely in pale green... reason enough really.
|
>> If you have a decent signal log periodic are very good at rejecting unwanted interference
>> and transmitters...
This is the digital age me ole son, cross channel interference is not an issue, so co channel rejection is not required. And you dont want wideband you want the group for his transmitter
Anyway, now you need to give him advice on getting up on his suicidal roof without killing himself.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 27 Mar 18 at 19:55
|
Thanks for the responses
I would happily go up to the ridge at the top of the gable end in a cherry picker....no way on ladders. Heck of a long way down.
I only know one builder who would repoint my storm damaged verge without scaffolding. Maybe he’s the guy if I buy my own aerial.
|
Digital?... hell... I've only just got rid of my 78s!
Anyway sticking by my choice.... if only for the much admired pale green finish.
|
|
Not seen one in green, it is a hell of an option for sure, tho duckegg blue would be my choice
|
|
Our pale matt green aerial against a blue sky is one of my usual lens/camera test shots.
|
"Anyway, now you need to give him advice on getting up on his suicidal roof without killing himself."
Always keep both hands free. Unlike this guy who never did.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=v78XcYnaNoE
|
>> Always keep both hands free. Unlike this guy who never did.
>>
>> www.youtube.com/watch?v=v78XcYnaNoE
None of his hands were free, he had one on the ladder and one up the ass of his ostrich.
sorry Emu
|
>> On the other hand I would disagree with that, the traditional yagi having excellent gain
>> and multipath rejection with less elements (and therefore weight and wind resistance)
But as Fenlander points out the log-periodic is always wideband without needing the bulk a yagi acquires on being designed for all groups. Lot of my neighbours have changed to LP's as Sandy Heath requires a wideband aerial for the full Freeview service.
|
>> But as Fenlander points out the log-periodic is always wideband without needing the bulk a
>> yagi acquires on being designed for all groups. Lot of my neighbours have changed to
>> LP's as Sandy Heath requires a wideband aerial for the full Freeview service.
But as the very RF knowledgable and aerial savvy guy pointed out you dont want or need a wideband aerial for winter hill, but the correct group. So the extra weight bulk and wind resistance with no gain for a 31 mile waveshlep would be a wrong-un
On my dog walk today, around my locale, there is not a single, not one, log periodic.
|
>>>the extra weight bulk and wind resistance with no gain for a 31 mile waveshlep would be a wrong-in
Sadly our old dog can only make a 30 aerial survey walk but the evidence gathered is...
Of the 30 aerials... despite our Sandy Heath area being ideal for them... only ours and two more are LP types (all green though). There are some massive yagi utter horrors fitted though which will have no doubt been on a typical aerial guys up-sell. Many aerial fitters in my experience advise just as poorly as the average tyre fitter does on tyres.
Even if an LP type isn't "essential" for Winter Hill there are no downsides* and there is a potential gain in future proofing should a wider channel group be added in the future... a better balance of performance across the channels... and superior interference rejection.
* I cannot agree that the LP type exceeds a Yagi in bulk and wind resistance. Of the 30 in my survey our three LP types are the neatest of all the aerials and no longer than any of the others.
|
For the sake of accuracy...
Just checked some aerial test reports. At 80mph wind speeds the LP type like ours has a 35N wind load.... about half of the average medium size Yagi at 80N... and a massive improvement over some of the stupidly large "up-sell" aerials locally which would be around 140N.
A bit of useless extra info... a Sky dish will be between 215N and 400N wind loading.
|
>> But as the very RF knowledgable and aerial savvy guy pointed out you dont want
>> or need a wideband aerial for winter hill, but the correct group. So the extra
>> weight bulk and wind resistance with no gain for a 31 mile waveshlep would be
>> a wrong-un
Haven't checked it directly but I cannot see how a log periodic can be significantly heavier than a yagi and, being smaller, should have less wind load. According to the Winter Hill page on the ATV site mentioned above it's moving from Group C/D to A as part of the 700mhz clearance. That process could create a problem for those with a C/D aerial.
www.aerialsandtv.com/winterhilltx.html
As LL needs an aerial that works well now and in future log periodic seems to cover all the bases.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Thu 29 Mar 18 at 16:15
|
I don't know Yagi from Yogi . I just bought an aerial from Home base and stuck it in the loftspace trying to remember where the neighbours was pointing. Works perfectly.
Here in Lanzarote Villa has satellite UK channels. Dish is about three metres wide!
|
>> I don't know Yagi from Yogi . I just bought an aerial from Home base
>> and stuck it in the loftspace trying to remember where the neighbours was pointing. Works
>> perfectly.
>>
Same here. The aerial on the gable end fell down. I bought a cheap aerial, mounted it on the fence pointing in roughly the same direction, and then tuned it by swivling it while someone shouted from the TV room.
But it obviously depends where you are placed in relation to the transmitter. We are in direct line of sight from the transmitter on a hill ten miles away with nothing in the way. A bit of wire up the curtain works well enough.
|
>>I just bought an aerial from Home baseand stuck it in the loftspace trying to remember where the neighbours was pointing. Works perfectly.
That worked perfectly well in military married quarters when I was a lad, as one was not allowed to have an aerial on the roof.
|
TV aerial question - Bromptonaut
