These new(ish) tv aerials

[nairb123]

I have had an old style tv aerial on my boat since time began.... well the last 30 years or so.  On a stainless pole that sticks up about 1 meter.  It's finally been blown off the boat and looks a bit sad now it's spent a few weeks under the boat. 

 

I have rescued it and straightened it out a bit.  But whilst looking for an upgrade on the internet, I have come across a vertical aerial with a magnetic base which will clamp to the boat.

Here is a pic of an example

 

Has anybody tried one and it works ok?  I am moored up nr Conglton (Macclefiel canal).  The old style aerial does work mostly but is an upgrade to the new type the way forward.?

Ta

Nairb

Edited September 30 by nairb123

[Canal321]

Yes they work well. Mine has a usb that plugs into the TV that powers a signal booster also. I hang mine in the window and it works in most places. Worth the tenner they cost. 

[IanD]

8 hours ago, nairb123 said:

I have had an old style tv aerial on my boat since time began.... well the last 30 years or so.  On a stainless pole that sticks up about 1 meter.  It's finally been blown off the boat and looks a bit sad now it's spent a few weeks under the boat. 

 

I have rescued it and straightened it out a bit.  But whilst looking for an upgrade on the internet, I have come across a vertical aerial with a magnetic base which will clamp to the boat.

Here is a pic of an example

 

Has anybody tried one and it works ok?  I am moored up nr Conglton (Macclefiel canal).  The old style aerial does work mostly but is an upgrade to the new type the way forward.?

Ta

Nairb

If you're in a good signal area they'll work fine. In a poor signal area they won't, they have much lower gain than the traditional aerials.

 

So it all depends where you're moored -- but for a tenner you might as well give it a go, and send it back if it doesn't work.

[Arthur Marshall]

I tried it and found it absolutely useless. Was fine at my mooring in a strong signal area and no good at all anywhere else.

[Alway Swilby]

I have one of these. https://moonrakeronline.com/dtv-1000-digital-tv-antenna . It works well in most places. It needs a 12v (or 240v) supply at the TV end of the cable.

[pearley]

I've got one you can have free. But you need a pair of waders as surrounded by flood water on Great Ouse.

[NB Alnwick]

As has been said - they work very well when you can get a signal.

We tend to watch TV quite a bit and have found that there are five requirements to be sure of being able to enjoy TV etc.:

1. A decent TV set such as provided by Avtex;

2. A digital antenna such as the one illustrated in the OP's post;

3. A satellite dish/receiver for a wider selection of programmes;

4. An Amazon 'Firestick' and mobile Internet device (we use our iPhone);

5. A Bluetooth smart speaker such as this one.

We can usually find somewhere to moor where at least one of the above will work. We no longer have a wireless set, compact disk or tape player on board because we have found that a good smart speaker linked to any of our mobile devices works so much better.

 

Edited to add that all of the above on our boat were supplied or adapted to run directly from our 24 VDC electrical supply but the same could apply to a 12 VDC system.

Edited October 1 by NB Alnwick

[IanD]

10 minutes ago, NB Alnwick said:

As has been said - they work very well when you can get a signal.

We tend to watch TV quite a bit and have found that there are five requirements to be sure of being able to enjoy TV etc.:

1. A decent TV set such as provided by Avtex;

2. A digital antenna such as the one illustrated in the OP's post;

3. A satellite dish/receiver for a wider selection of programmes;

4. An Amazon 'Firestick' and mobile Internet device (we use our iPhone);

5. A Bluetooth smart speaker such as this one.

We can usually find somewhere to moor where at least one of the above will work. We no longer have a wireless set, compact disk or tape player on board because we have found that a good smart speaker linked to any of our mobile devices works so much better

 

I've found that with a good router/external antenna setup for Internet access I've always (so far...) been able to watch TV via online streaming not broadcast, without having a TV aerial at all -- or indeed a TV (I use a smart monitor).

 

Similarly no wireless (streaming radio) or CD/tape player (entire music library stored on USB stick plugged into router, as well as streaming music services), with Sonos smart speakers in saloon (TV soundbar), bedroom (also acts as alarm clock), and dinette/kitchen (portable battery-powered so can be moved around, including to the steerer if desired). Good-sounding music anywhere on the boat, easy to control via app.

 

TVs with big external antennas are so 20th century... 😉 

Edited October 1 by IanD

[Cheshire cat]

11 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

TVs with big external antennas are so 20th century... 😉 

They are, but they don't gobble up your data on your phone contract

[robtheplod]

15 minutes ago, IanD said:

TVs with big external antennas are so 20th century... 😉 

........ and cost £169 a year for the privilege of using them! 

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Cheshire cat said:

They are, but they don't gobble up your data on your phone contract

Data is cheap nowadays. I use 1pmobile on EE, their 200GB/month data-only boost costs £18/month when I'm on the boat (for TV streaming and WFB), or £3/month for 1GB/month when I'm not (for remote monitoring). In a couple of months of cruising round the system I never once failed to have high enough data rates for TV streaming, videoconferencing, and internet access in general.

 

If you're on the boat most or all of the time there are cheaper prepaid long-term big-data packages from suppliers like Scancom, especially on Three which is why many people use it -- but coverage (especially in rural areas) is poorer and congestion is worse (especially at peak times) than EE.

[jonathanA]

Just get a log periodic aerial. Not much different cost wise vastly superior performance and quite compact.

 

Something like this

 

https://cpc.farnell.com/optima/122967/l20fk-20-element-log-periodic/dp/AP03371?st=Log periodic

Edited October 1 by jonathanA
Sp

[blackrose]

5 hours ago, IanD said:

If you're in a good signal area they'll work fine. In a poor signal area they won't, they have much lower gain than the traditional aerials.

 

So it all depends where you're moored -- but for a tenner you might as well give it a go, and send it back if it doesn't work.

 

Yes, that's my experience with them. 

[ditchcrawler]

8 hours ago, Alway Swilby said:

I have one of these. https://moonrakeronline.com/dtv-1000-digital-tv-antenna . It works well in most places. It needs a 12v (or 240v) supply at the TV end of the cable.

I use the same. I think it can be powered by the tv up the coax if the tv has that facility. mine doesn't and use the inline power supply 

Edited October 1 by ditchcrawler

[IanD]

11 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I use the same. I think it can be powered by the tv up the coax if the tv has that facility. mine doesn't and use the inline power supply 

Considerably better than the £10 stick the OP asked about, but also a lot bigger and 4x the price... 😉 

[jonathanA]

I've tried these powered so called digital antennae, including sticking them on a 3m mast. The 10 quid log periodic outperforms them all without needing a 3m mast and doesn't take up much room doesn't need usb or online power or the TV to shove 5v up it....

 

Of course they don't look as 'sexy' and aren't 'digital' ......

[ditchcrawler]

5 minutes ago, jonathanA said:

I've tried these powered so called digital antennae, including sticking them on a 3m mast. The 10 quid log periodic outperforms them all without needing a 3m mast and doesn't take up much room doesn't need usb or online power or the TV to shove 5v up it....

 

Of course they don't look as 'sexy' and aren't 'digital' ......

Well I have had both and I wont be going back

[IanD]

6 minutes ago, jonathanA said:

I've tried these powered so called digital antennae, including sticking them on a 3m mast. The 10 quid log periodic outperforms them all without needing a 3m mast and doesn't take up much room doesn't need usb or online power or the TV to shove 5v up it....

 

Of course they don't look as 'sexy' and aren't 'digital' ......

That'll be physics then, because a directional log periodic antenna has much more RF gain (dBi) than any small panel antenna, and even more so a small stick one -- all adding amplification does is amplify the small signal and the noise together... 😉 

 

So if the signal is pretty poor -- which is often the case out in the sticks -- an old-style antenna will win every time, if it's just poor the panel will probably work OK but the stick won't, if it's good the little stick will be OK -- as will almost any old bit of wire stuffed into the aerial socket... 😉 

Edited October 1 by IanD

[jonathanA]

Well as you know amplifying at the head end gives a much better SNR so the theory of these things is ok, but if the signal is weak....  

 

Having faffed about with high gain domestic TV aerials, which where physically huge, then tried the stick things powered and unpowered, then tried the panel type which were better but needed power, I finally bought a small log periodic and am converted.... its just not worth faffing about. 

I'm sure there is a bit of a 40 quid thing must be better than a 10 quid thing for some folks....

Edited October 1 by jonathanA

[nairb123]

Thanks for the opinions.......  I did think a vertical aerial would be a neater option.  Omni-directional so no need to move aerial when on the move.  But I have used the more traditional aerial for endless years, so have gotten used to removing it before setting off and re-pointing for best reception when stopped.

 

So I have gone for one of these 20 element uhf log-p aerials.  Must be better than a 30 years old aerial??.  Maybe anyway.  Only 20 quids.

 

Ta

Nairb

[Tractor]

Using a Log Periodic antenna for some time; 'Antenna Finder' provides the right direction to point. Having tried and failed with a signal meter from Screwfix, Is there a recommended device available?

[jonathanA]

Yes mk 1 eyeball ... look at the direction of aerials on the roofs of any nearby buildings... 

 

Often gives an idea anyway....

 

Although it can be confusing when the aerials all point in different directions....😁

[Tony Brooks]

also check them for vertical or horizontal polarisation. Main transmitters have the elements upright and fill in transmitters horizontal.

 

I used a similar app to transmitter finder on a computer, but can't find it now.

[Ronaldo47]

Aerials with lots of elements do not necessarily provide more gain than those with fewer elements.

 

An aerial designed to have a very narrow beam (as might be necessary to reduce interference)  might well have  more elements than a design having a wider beam, but could have a lower gain than the wider beam one. 

 

The catalogues issued by the late lamented  Maplin used to provide beam width,  gain and bandwidth  figures for their TV aerials, and their largest one with the narrowest beam width had a lower gain than a smaller one with a wider beam width.   

[ditchcrawler]

12 hours ago, jonathanA said:

Yes mk 1 eyeball ... look at the direction of aerials on the roofs of any nearby buildings... 

 

Often gives an idea anyway....

 

Although it can be confusing when the aerials all point in different directions....😁

That doesn't bother me, I just pop it out and turn the TV on. I use to do all that