Can anyone reccomend where to buy a good TV aerial

[Woodstock]

Hi

New to boating- Can anyone reccomend a good tv aerial and where to buy it. The boat came with a round plastic one which doesn't do anything- could be a salad drier for all it does. I've seen some that have a black box attached- what is this (signal strenghtener??) and do we need one- We have a white box (staus pack) that the aerial runs into- not sure if this is the same as the black box

 

Thanks in advance for your advice

[steve hayes]

If you are serious about watching telly, (i.e it generally will work when you want to watch it) you need to invest is a proper aerial, not a plastic dish or metal squirrel cage as fitted to hire boats.

We have a relatively small (by household standards !) with a bit in amplifier. You need to get it up away from the boat to get the best signals, we use a Harris extendable brush pole with the aerial on top. Have never (OK very rarely) got a signal, maybe not all channels, but always the shopping channels (how does that work ?)

 

Steve

[Guest]

Hi

New to boating- Can anyone reccomend a good tv aerial and where to buy it. The boat came with a round plastic one which doesn't do anything- could be a salad drier for all it does. I've seen some that have a black box attached- what is this (signal strenghtener??) and do we need one- We have a white box (staus pack) that the aerial runs into- not sure if this is the same as the black box

 

Thanks in advance for your advice

 

Have a gander here -

 

http://www.aerialsandtv.com/touringaerials.html

 

I have the log 40 as recommended on the site.

 

http://www.aerialsandtv.com/atvschoiceofaerials.html#LogPeriodics

 

Gets a picture (Digital/Freeview) 90% of the time. It's a bit cumbersome though but that is the trade off to get a good picture,

 

Good service from the guy that runs the site too - first one that came was damaged but a replacement was dispatched pronto without waiting for the first one to get back to him.

[Picard]

Hi. Had the same problem, contacted www.travelsat.me.uk and he came and fitted a sat dish, I had my own sky+hd box, so I am now a happy bunney watching sky, (you will need an account, easy with an address, I use my sisters,) takes about 3mins, useing a sat finder, to get a signal, you have to have a clear sight line, no trees, buildings etc. But it will cost, see site. PS. no conection with travelsat.

[steve hayes]

Hi. Had the same problem, contacted www.travelsat.me.uk and he came and fitted a sat dish, I had my own sky+hd box, so I am now a happy bunney watching sky, (you will need an account, easy with an address, I use my sisters,) takes about 3mins, useing a sat finder, to get a signal, you have to have a clear sight line, no trees, buildings etc. But it will cost, see site. PS. no conection with travelsat.

 

Have also got a sat dish, but we get it out only occasionally if the terrestrial doesn't work. The Aerial only takes seconds to put up and point in roughly the right direction.

Having said that since the digital switch over SWMBO often shouts that the picture is good before I've got the aerial off the roof

[steelaway]

Hi

New to boating- Can anyone reccomend a good tv aerial and where to buy it. The boat came with a round plastic one which doesn't do anything- could be a salad drier for all it does. I've seen some that have a black box attached- what is this (signal strenghtener??) and do we need one- We have a white box (staus pack) that the aerial runs into- not sure if this is the same as the black box

 

Thanks in advance for your advice

 

Hi

 

As MJG said.

A standard (smaller ) domestic ariel but you have to find some where to keep it.

Or a modern digital but they tend to need 240V to power the booster.

See Maplins

I have just found This One that looks very interesting -- if you buy one, let me know how you find it

 

Alex

[Higgs]

I have a WinTv dongle for the comp, and a digi box that I hardly use, for tv. The tv aerial works well with both and is homemade.

 

Got design off youtube by looking for homemade digi aerials. Consists of a piece of wood, approx 20" long, 8 x 11" pieces of wire coat hanger, bent to V shape and two longer pieces that run down length, crossing at middle. And, a length of coaxial.

 

I don't require much in the way of tv, but the picture is clear and works without any booster. Has been good for tv and radio.

 

Sorry I'm no good with links, but the youtube relatively easy to find.

 

The aerial sits inside the front deck and cost peanuts. Worth the effort and not much lost if it doesn't work for you.

[OldGoat]

If you want to be more sophisticated than the preceding post try:-

 

a log periodic from CPC the same product but cheaper than from other suppliers. DON'T go for the one with the built in amplifier as it doesn't like getting wet (!!) Instead get a masthead amplifier and fit it inside the boat near where the cable comes in. They run off 12- 30V - so feed it from your batteries - some modern TV's also output 12v at the aerial socket.

 

The log periodic is best for a wide spread of frequencies, but more importantly it's flat and so easy to store when not in use.

 

Alternatively satellite is more dependable and you can s/h boxes from eBay. Doesn't need a subscription and 28.2 deg EofS is always in the same place (!) geographically whereas the local TV transmitter moves when you are cruising.......

 

 

 

 

 

[Keeping Up]

Hi

New to boating- Can anyone reccomend a good tv aerial and where to buy it. The boat came with a round plastic one which doesn't do anything- could be a salad drier for all it does. I've seen some that have a black box attached- what is this (signal strenghtener??) and do we need one- We have a white box (staus pack) that the aerial runs into- not sure if this is the same as the black box

 

Thanks in advance for your advice

 

The white box is probably a preamplifier. Are you sure that it is switched on (and receiving power which is usually 12v).

 

If not, your round plastic aerial will ijndeed do nothing, and neither will any other aerial that you connect.

[Nine of Hearts]

See Maplins

 

I've got the 43 element jobbie on this site and it's pretty ubiquitous on the local moorings. Only needs to be pointed in the general direction of a signal to get most freeview channels. I got in when I got peed off trying to focus the satellite dish that preceded it.

[cheshire~rose]

Going slightly - We usually manage to get a signal with our ariel unless we decide to moor in a cutting or under trees but recently on our home mooring we have found the signal strength has dropped to the point that every time we switch the TV on we have to retune it. It always manages to pick up the main channels again but it is VERY boring having to retune when we have not even moved the boat - I wonder if anyone has any ideas what might be causing it?

[Serendipity]

Normally I use satellite, but my current mooring is in a ravine in a low terrestrial signal area. Perceived wisdom is that only a 'proper' high gain arial correctly polarised could get any chance of signal - but they don't.

 

Two others on the moorings said the only way they got telly was with one of these fag packet sized things.

 

I was still sceptical when I bought one, but it actually works. Very well. Comes with several mounting options (pole clamp, suction clamp), and a neat extension to the co-ax lead where you plug in the supplied 12/24V supply internally, which then runs the power up the co-ax cable to the gizmo (Mains and cigarette lighter socket are supplied). I can't see myself going back to satellite now.

[Guest]

Normally I use satellite, but my current mooring is in a ravine in a low terrestrial signal area. Perceived wisdom is that only a 'proper' high gain arial correctly polarised could get any chance of signal - but they don't.

 

Two others on the moorings said the only way they got telly was with one of these fag packet sized things.

 

I was still sceptical when I bought one, but it actually works. Very well. Comes with several mounting options (pole clamp, suction clamp), and a neat extension to the co-ax lead where you plug in the supplied 12/24V supply internally, which then runs the power up the co-ax cable to the gizmo (Mains and cigarette lighter socket are supplied). I can't see myself going back to satellite now.

 

Interesting little gizmo - does it have to be aligned??

[Serendipity]

Interesting little gizmo - does it have to be aligned??

 

Yes, it does, but doesn't seem too critical. I've also found that although I had a reasonable signal, my pocket meter showed a better one with it mounted horizontally.

[GSer]

I now use a very similar type of ' sharks fin' reciever, very impressed, after years of satellite dishes or houshold types of structures, this beats the lot for ease of use and i've not yet struggled to get a signal.

 

Mine came from maplins, about £35ish

[Laurence Hogg]

Without any doubt you will find a good one on this site, these are the people the professionals use (police etc) and although not cheap they do work well.

We have one which we use and it will pick up just about anything we want from Broadband to digital TV.

http://www.panorama.co.uk/

[Glynn]

Laurence

Which one of panoramas products do you have to receive TV ?.

[johnmck]

We normally use an OMNIMAX Maxview mated to the signal booster that came with the package. Good reception throughout the system over the last few years. Wishing to have a more discreet aerial for use in urban areas, got one of these.

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/nikkai-dvb-t-mobile-tv-ariel-a30gy

 

It is used in conjunction with the signal booster and tonight, in Abingdon, is getting us 108 digital TV channels, 38 radio, with excellent picture quality.

 

It only works in good signal areas though, but for the cost, excellent value.

[Tony Brooks]

Just to point out that there are several "groups" for domestic roof top aerials so for travelling about a standard domestic type (Yargi array I think you call it) is unlikely to give optimum performance everywhere. Much better use a log periodic (I think) where as far as I know one type will do well whatever the transmitter group.

 

I also use an amplifier left over form the pre-switchover days with weaker digital signals and also to provide two TV aerial sockets. MIne is a Maxview 12V one mounted inside but as close to the aerial incoming lead as possible

Edited August 14, 2016 by Tony Brooks

[Phil Ambrose]

Agree with Tony, log periodic works very well, we get a signal when cruising with it laying on the roof. Got ours from Screwfix, it came complete with cable and a booster.

Phil

[bottle]

All you need to know and more: http://www.aerialsandtv.com/

 

No connection, other satisfied customer.