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TV Aerials


Traveller

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2 hours ago, jim and pat dalton said:

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!!!

I just got a 3 data sim last month and its the same sim as a phone sim, I could take it out of my MiFi and stuff it in my phone to use the call allowance if I wanted to. I think it was £22 a month but that is reduced for the first 6 months.

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On 13/09/2020 at 14:00, 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 ?

 

Guess it will depend on which model of Cello TV. We have a 12v Cello (about 2 years old) and it does support Freeview and Satellite - we just plug in a satellite dish/LNB - no need for the set top box. Not sure if it is strictly ‘freesat’ - but does show the free channels on Astra.

 

The ‘satellite programme guide’ could be easier to use... but it does work :)  

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4 hours ago, jim and pat dalton said:

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

I use my data only sim in router box to which an external antenna is connected. If you are relying on 4G for telly, then you will find a lot of places on the canal network with poor signals so you cant stream, unless you have a decent external antenna. Buying a router and an antenna is not cheap.

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5 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

I use my data only sim in router box to which an external antenna is connected. If you are relying on 4G for telly, then you will find a lot of places on the canal network with poor signals so you cant stream, unless you have a decent external antenna. Buying a router and an antenna is not cheap.

That's if you buy fancy ones. I get reasonable internet connection with a whip aerial and an Huawei Mifi box

£15 + £20

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7 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

I just got a 3 data sim last month and its the same sim as a phone sim, I could take it out of my MiFi and stuff it in my phone to use the call allowance if I wanted to. I think it was £22 a month but that is reduced for the first 6 months.

I wonder if I took my 100Gb sim out of the phone and put it in the router, (Huawei), it would no longer be tethering, (30Gb limit), and therefore the whole 100Gb would be available.... interesting.

 

Not sure I'll try it, but it could be a useful workaround for some.

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18 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

I wonder if I took my 100Gb sim out of the phone and put it in the router, (Huawei), it would no longer be tethering, (30Gb limit), and therefore the whole 100Gb would be available.... interesting.

 

Not sure I'll try it, but it could be a useful workaround for some.

They normally detect if a Sim intended for use in a phone is subsequently used in a router or dongle type device.

 

Well they did last time I tried it.

 

Some have claimed to have success though.

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1 hour ago, WotEver said:

You sure?  I thought that limit was removed yonks ago?

So did I, but I'm looking at a document dated 3rd June 2020: "Welcome To Your Three Advanced Plan"........ "A reminder of what you've chosen"..... "100Gb data"..... "This includes using your phone as a personal hotspot up to 30Gb of data every month"

 

As I've said previously, this came as a surprise as it wasn't mentioned in any of the sales blurb, but as I am unlikely to ever use anything like 30Gb tethering, it's not a battle I need to fight.

 

I've mentioned it a few times because there may be some who buy a high bandwidth Three sim, expecting to use it all whilst tethered, only to be let down and disappointed.

1 hour ago, The Happy Nomad said:

They normally detect if a Sim intended for use in a phone is subsequently used in a router or dongle type device.

 

Well they did last time I tried it.

 

Some have claimed to have success though.

I've found that previously but I had heard that Three stopped imposing it some time ago - perhaps I'll give it a go and report back, given that mobile broadband is of interest to many boaters :) 

 

I also have a Virgin Media phone sim with unlimited data. This has been in my Huawei router, (originally provided by Three), since February and has worked fine.

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On 12/09/2020 at 12:26, Traveller said:

I really do not get TV ariels but clearly our's is not doing what it should. Have had situations where one day the TV will pick up 40 odd channels and the next day zilch and that is whilst at our home mooring so nothing changes. Have also seen it just pick up a dozen or so channels but none of them are viewable - they keep breaking up. Why is this? Any ideas? And what sort of Ariel is best for digital TV. We currently have a Maxview Omnimax with booster.

We have the same set up. Admittedly,  we don't watch a lot of TV, but it works fine in most places...

But not Crick, were we moor. But there again,  neither does telephony. 

Try changing location and returning.

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10 hours ago, johnmck said:

We have the same set up. Admittedly,  we don't watch a lot of TV, but it works fine in most places...

But not Crick, were we moor. But there again,  neither does telephony. 

Try changing location and returning.

Interesting for we also moor at Crick, although we have experienced this elsewhere. Maybe a directional aerial is required as backup?

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

In the 7 years we've lived on our boat I've had no end of issues trying to get a decent TV signal. I've tried various types of aerial, some of which were quite expensive and I've tried a booster which was a waste of time.

 

I'm not too bothered about the telly but Mrs Grassman loves it, so in desperation I called in a TV aerial specialist who quickly found the solution. He upgraded the coaxial cable to 'Quad Shield coaxial cable'. which is a higher grade and has an extra layer of insulation. Apparently nearby electricity and HDMI cables were interfering with the signal, especially a section under the gunwale where they all ran adjacent to each other. He also stressed how important the cable joints were and despite me having tried in the past to be very careful when fitting them, some of the signal was being lost in these. 

 

The difference has been remarkable. Prior to that we rarely got a TV signal but since he did the work 7 months ago we rarely have a problem getting one now wherever we moor. We have a basic 15 quid log periodic aerial and no booster. Often when mooring up we don't even have to raise the height or adjust the angle of the aerial. The quad shield is more expensive then normal coaxial cable but has been well worth it in our experience.

 

 

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15 minutes ago, Grassman said:

In the 7 years we've lived on our boat I've had no end of issues trying to get a decent TV signal. I've tried various types of aerial, some of which were quite expensive and I've tried a booster which was a waste of time.

 

I'm not too bothered about the telly but Mrs Grassman loves it, so in desperation I called in a TV aerial specialist who quickly found the solution. He upgraded the coaxial cable to 'Quad Shield coaxial cable'. which is a higher grade and has an extra layer of insulation. Apparently nearby electricity and HDMI cables were interfering with the signal, especially a section under the gunwale where they all ran adjacent to each other. He also stressed how important the cable joints were and despite me having tried in the past to be very careful when fitting them, some of the signal was being lost in these. 

 

The difference has been remarkable. Prior to that we rarely got a TV signal but since he did the work 7 months ago we rarely have a problem getting one now wherever we moor. We have a basic 15 quid log periodic aerial and no booster. Often when mooring up we don't even have to raise the height or adjust the angle of the aerial. The quad shield is more expensive then normal coaxial cable but has been well worth it in our experience.

 

 

Glad you can get a picture.

The quad shield is a bit of smoking mirrors IMHO, nethinks part of the general problem is the awful coax plug and indifferent cable.

FWIW I turned to satellite cable and F-plugs which transformed my terrestrial signal and I use the same setup for a flat satellite dish when  I know there's no TV signal around...

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On 14/09/2020 at 11:49, Hudds Lad said:

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)

It's not that rare to have both capabilities but not the normal, I'll give you that. What is rare, is to only have Freesat. It's usually Freeview or both!

 

It's often only a £20-£30 upgrade for both so if I was upgrading I'd probably go with it! I do need to upgrade on my 16" square thing from the 90's but it's all about priorities!!! ?‍♂️

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