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TV AERIAL


gaz_88

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Have a look at what other boaters are using. Many use the Image aerial, as we do, with very satisfactory results.

This is the one http://www.visionplus.co.uk/shop/image-430-uhf-fm-vhf-european-digital-and-analogue-reception-.html

I use one like this with great success. It's a compact log aerial similar to the DM log in principal. Also remember that an aerial needs height to clear local obstacles.

Arthur

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The earliest Omnimaxes had a preamplifier that was built into a short black tube, from memory about 3" long and 1" diameter, with a connector on each end. It fitted inside the base after first being screwed onto the bottom of aerial itself. ISTR it was actually an optional extra when first released. It needed a 12v supply to it up the cable, for which there was a small box inside the boat that contained only a filter and no actual electronics.

 

Problems arose when people lost the 12v feed because then they lost the signal. Most people didn't understand what was going on, so an early modification was to fit an LED that showed you when you had power at the aerial.

 

When they changed to having a pre-amplifier built into the in-board box instead at the aerial itself, they kept the LED as it was a useful indicator that at least the coax cable hadn't broken. These early pre-amps therefore still supplied 12v up the cable. The performance was just as good as a masthead pre-amp because the cable losses were rarely more than a couple of dB (the cable was generally quite short) and the amplifiers were considerably better, being built with much lower-noise transistors.

 

Finally the LED and the power feed were discontinued - presumably to save costs - to arrive at the present situation. They seem to be pretty good, although the pre-amp is prone to overloading if you have a very strong signal, particularly as it is extremely wideband, and will almost certainly need a filter when the new 4G signals become common.

 

All this is just from memory so I may have some details wrong, it's just that I happened to be buying one around the time of each of the major design changes so spent some time talking to their engineers.

 

73 de G3XJO

 

Thanks for your QSL (Gosh! that brings back happy memories of my yoof. Although I never bothered to take the RAE - morse put me off, I did enjoy listening to the ham bands - even to the extend of putting a surplus communications receiver (complete with rotary converter in my first car). Now I'm relearning the Q codes...

 

I digress.

 

The above refreshes my mind - I must have had similar conversations with MAxView about the same time as you. My version must be the intermediate one with the LED only.

Spurred by your earlier response I hav ascended to the uttermost parts of my storage facility (loft) and extracted the Omni complete with a Triax pre-amp.

Now, we live in what was a fringe area in the steam TV era (to such an extent that I had fitted a sattelite dish and IRS system as FM reception was also dire. Since the final cutover last year I have been amazed at the quality of signal we now receive.

Not expecting much I connected the Omni to a Humax freeview box. Good reception, well excellent really, considering the Omni sat on a desk in my study. I was expecting radio channels only.

 

The kit is going down to the boat shortly....

 

I'm still concerned about cross channel interference. My main TV aerial is a very old wideband Yagi pointing to Midhurst. I am getting quite strong signals from Rowridge sone 110 degrees to port of the antenna. That confuses the hell out of my Toppy and it keeps falling over (Yes, I can retune dropping the muxes that I don't want).

My point is that when a directional aerial can't reject unwanted signals what hope is there for an omnidirectional and multi polarization device?

 

Time to go - Over and Out (AARRGGHH!!)

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Still doesn 't work - try here

http://www.ropersleisure.co.uk/caravan-and-motorhome-accessories/avtex-sth1000-antenna.html

 

That's another omni-directional aerial. If it works, fine. Wouldn't for me on the Thames (we had a souped up Maxview and it was "not very good")

 

For a log periodic (a shorter version of what's up the mast in the picture) looky here on eBay I've bought a long and short from this guy, cheap and cheerful, but works and the quality is as good as those from Antiference.

 

'suppose my point is that technically a complex array is more likely to work in difficult areas than a simple dipole (which is waht the other are).

I use a log periodic with a 2 metre pole and i get perfect reception 99.9% of the time with a freeview digital tv. Don't be tempted to buy one of those multi vaned jobbies that look like something from Joderel bank, they don't work any better.

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  • 2 months later...

My link

What do you guys think of this one?

 

Hi.

 

I got one of these a month or so ago.

 

http://www.lovemyauto.co.uk/digital-tv-antennas-46-c.asp

 

 

Paid about £35 for it. To be honest, did not hold out much hope of any joy.

 

But...

 

With a telly fitted with freeview ( or a set top box ), it simply, well, works! Nobody was more suprised than me. Means that when the rain is lashing down, no more fiddling with the sat dish and no need for the satellite receiver to be on. It does not even need any power!

 

Thus far have managed to get 68 Tv channels and 12 Radio and since we mostly watch the BBC in all honesty, that is enough to keep us both more than happy.

 

Time will tell I suppose, but for now, well impressed.

Edited by johnmck
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