TV Aerials

[bizzard]

I find once I've auto tuned in the winter and captured lots of stations, leave alone during the summer, the TV should retain them all and will return in the winter.  Tried Log period ariels here, hopeless.

Edited September 13, 2020 by bizzard

[zenataomm]

I threw away my boat's tv in 1989.

I can thoroughly recommend it.

[Dr Bob]

2 minutes ago, zenataomm said:

I threw away my boat's tv in 1989.

I can thoroughly recommend it.

Where did it go? Is it still there. Will it still work?

[mrsmelly]

7 minutes ago, zenataomm said:

I threw away my boat's tv in 1989.

I can thoroughly recommend it.

I bought a 12 volt B and W one in 1989.............it cost a fortune.

[dor]

In my usual cruising range even within a few miles we can go from Welsh to North West to Midlands. I use an Omni and although I often have to retune to find the stronger signal it’s not often I don’t get good reception, without a booster.

 It made a big difference when they turned off the analogue transmitters and boosted the digital signal.

[jim and pat dalton]

3 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

Weather has a huge impact on the transmission of radio signals in the vhf/uhf range, the higher the frequency the more variation with weather. If the signal changes as the OP is saying, almost certainly on the fringe of good/poor reception and one of the omidirectional small boxes ain't going to hack it. As said above a simple log periodic for less than £20 is the answer. Easy if it is for your home mooring. The OP can come and borrow mine to try it if he wants (if he is near Rugby) as we now get all our TV via 4G.

We have the same problem as the OP and it does my head in, how random it is.

Ive thought about using internet TV  but we watch a lot of it and so will use a lot of data

question for Dr Bob and others.

what is the best most cost effective 4G service you buy, how many gigs for how much?

I would be interested to know

Also does anyone use a satellite dish and will it work with my Cello 12v tv which picks up freeview from the periodic ariel ?

cheers

Jim

 

Edited September 13, 2020 by jim and pat dalton

[OldGoat]

10 minutes ago, jim and pat dalton said:

 
.....
Also does anyone use a satellite dish and will it work with my Cello 12v tv which picks up freeview from the periodic ariel ?

 Short answer - mebe - some Cello TVs have a satellite input (I was surprised) But you can get satellite receivers that take little power and can be run from 12v with a suitable adaptor - you have to mix and match.

 Humax do a great little box - HB1000s or HB1100s - this one costs more and you don't need the extra features. A battery adaptor is also on eBay.
 

 

 

[robtheplod]

27 minutes ago, jim and pat dalton said:

We have the same problem as the OP and it does my head in, how random it is.

Ive thought about using internet TV  but we watch a lot of it and so will use a lot of data

question for Dr Bob and others.

what is the best most cost effective 4G service you buy, how many gigs for how much?

I would be interested to know

Also does anyone use a satellite dish and will it work with my Cello 12v tv which picks up freeview from the periodic ariel ?

cheers

Jim

 

We have an 'all you can eat' vodafone account for £25 per month, so doesn't matter what we use. You can offset this a little if you use catchup services and cancel your TV licence. Getting your TV via 4G/3G saves the faff of which direction to point the aerial.....  

[OldGoat]

9 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

We have an 'all you can eat' vodafone account for £25 per month, so doesn't matter what we use. You can offset this a little if you use catchup services and cancel your TV licence. Getting your TV via 4G/3G saves the faff of which direction to point the aerial.....  

I hear tales of mobile signals not being avaliable outside of towns... We live in Sunny Sussex and mobile reception is poor to diabolical. Coming from the days of The Homer Service and TV from Alexandra Palace, methinks it's a wast of a scarce resource to watch TV over the telephone.....

[WotEver]

14 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

We have an 'all you can eat' vodafone account for £25 per month, so doesn't matter what we use.

Three offer even cheaper deals but it obviously depends on the data reception in the areas you generally cruise. Some can’t get Three, some can’t get O2, etc. 

[robtheplod]

1 minute ago, OldGoat said:

I hear tales of mobile signals not being avaliable outside of towns... We live in Sunny Sussex and mobile reception is poor to diabolical. Coming from the days of The Homer Service and TV from Alexandra Palace, methinks it's a wast of a scarce resource to watch TV over the telephone.....

I think this was the case, but we've been all over and rarely have issues (vodafone). The main reason we use 3G/4G is the licence issue - decided a while ago I could spend my money much more wisely than the BBC...

[OldGoat]

11 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

I think this was the case, but we've been all over and rarely have issues (vodafone). The main reason we use 3G/4G is the licence issue - decided a while ago I could spend my money much more wisely than the BBC...

I see your logic (there's no argument about licence fees if you've no receiving equipment). However, it's a matter of your conscience if you have free-sat or -view and don't watch live TV - The 'goon's' can't catch you if you don't have a fixed address...

I have a feeling that it won't be long before the Beeb has its funding changed and we'll all be paying for it through taxation rather than licence fees.

Edited September 13, 2020 by OldGoat

[Dr Bob]

 

8 hours ago, jim and pat dalton said:

We have the same problem as the OP and it does my head in, how random it is.

Ive thought about using internet TV  but we watch a lot of it and so will use a lot of data

question for Dr Bob and others.

what is the best most cost effective 4G service you buy, how many gigs for how much?

I would be interested to know

Also does anyone use a satellite dish and will it work with my Cello 12v tv which picks up freeview from the periodic ariel ?

cheers

Jim

 

 

I have 2 contracts to make sure I can get a signal everywhere. The well known '3' unlimited for £22/ month but I find this pretty awful with very low download speeds ( must ring up to complain) and a 500mb/ month with EE for £40 which is far far superior most of the time. Just make sure you have a decent antenna.

[transplant]

5 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

I have 2 contracts to make sure I can get a signal everywhere. The well known '3' unlimited for £22/ month but I find this pretty awful with very low download speeds ( must ring up to complain) and a 500mb/ month with EE for £40 which is far far superior most of the time. Just make sure you have a decent antenna.

Is the '3' fast enough for TV streaming? The 500MB on EE doesn't sound like enough.

[robtheplod]

3 hours ago, transplant said:

Is the '3' fast enough for TV streaming? The 500MB on EE doesn't sound like enough.

it would all depend on usage.... if you're an avid TV watcher then try for an unlimited plan.....

[dor]

4 hours ago, transplant said:

Is the '3' fast enough for TV streaming? The 500MB on EE doesn't sound like enough.

500MB?  That’s only about half an hour of HDTV.  500GB meant maybe?

[Dr Bob]

8 minutes ago, dor said:

500MB?  That’s only about half an hour of HDTV.  500GB meant maybe?

Yea. 500 GB. Never exceeded it with 2-3 hours streaming per day and maybe more at weekends. We do use Sky but often download programs as there are less adverts. Our downloads are a mix of SD and HD. Netflix is SD and Sky download normally HD.

The '3', no. It's usually not fast enough. Often it's a strong signal but download speeds are low single digits. I need to call them and sort out the problem.

[Richard10002]

12 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

Just make sure you have a decent antenna.

antenna, aerial,

 

Whether it’s terrestrial TV, online TV, or satellite TV, all rely on a signal coming out of the sky, and being captured by an aerial/antenna of some kind.

 

The concomitant being that the thread title could apply to all.

2 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

Yea. 500 GB. Never exceeded it with 2-3 hours streaming per day and maybe more at weekends. We do use Sky but often download programs as there are less adverts. Our downloads are a mix of SD and HD. Netflix is SD and Sky download normally HD.

The '3', no. It's usually not fast enough. Often it's a strong signal but download speeds are low single digits. I need to call them and sort out the problem.

I find Three good enough for TV streaming, even when tethered from my phone.

 

Having said that, I use an unlimited Virgin Media sim for most of my connecting to the internet.

[jim and pat dalton]

Do you guys use these in a Wifi box with data only sims or just on your phones?

The reason I ask is that we both have unlimited data with 3 on our phones.  It was great in the old days but for about the last 5 years  they only allow 4gb of tethering to another device

I also have 20gb data sim with 3 and a 30gb data sim with EE   but if we watch only internet TV and of course use the internet, then we will run out.

So that's why I was interested in what you guys use.

would love to have an unlimited data sim

Jim

Edited September 14, 2020 by jim and pat dalton

[TheBiscuits]

1 minute ago, jim and pat dalton said:

It was great in the old days but for about the last 5 years  they only allow 4gb of tethering to another device

 

Three changed the rules a couple of years ago, allowing all your data to be used for tethering (up to your limit) in either a phone or a dongle/mifi unit.

 

Add: They also don't count the data used for streaming some internet TV services.

[Hudds Lad]

21 hours ago, jim and pat dalton said:

Also does anyone use a satellite dish and will it work with my Cello 12v tv which picks up freeview from the periodic ariel ?

 

It's rare for a TV to have both Freesat & Freeview capabilities, usually one or the other, but more commonly Freeview.

 

We had an old 12v Sky box on our boat which was slow and problematic, i replaced this with a Manhattan SX which is great, 12v and has a tiny footprint.

 

We also take a Firestick when we go which is fed by a 3 sim in a Huawei MiFi dongle, seems to stream fine so far. Only had one problem with signal somewhere up the Ashby, but this was solved by taking the dongle out of the window and sticking it in the welldeck (luckily wasn't raining)

[jim and pat dalton]

Biscuits,  thanks I'd never heard of that will have a little experiment with it then.

If it works then you are the dogs biscuits!!!

[Richard10002]

7 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Three changed the rules a couple of years ago, allowing all your data to be used for tethering (up to your limit) in either a phone or a dongle/mifi unit.

 

Add: They also don't count the data used for streaming some internet TV services.

Except that I got a Three Sim with 100Gb per month, in June, but the terms state that I can only use 30Gb tethered.

[jim and pat dalton]

AH!

thanks richard, will have a real good look at it all, Its been a while since we reviewed it all, so its overdue

also thanks for that info Hud

[TheBiscuits]

3 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

Except that I got a Three Sim with 100Gb per month, in June, but the terms state that I can only use 30Gb tethered.

 

I'd double check that Richard.  That's what they changed a few years ago, and it was only after the change I switched to them.

 

They were still linking to the 30 GB cap in the T&Cs, but the plan allows unlimited tethering on my contract, and I regularly use more than 100GB per month, nearly all of it tethered.