TV aerial

[Ten]

Hi All,

 

Can anybody recommend an aerial that works well on steel boats? We have unsuccessfully gone through a few different makes already (of the indoor ones)! I do realise is going to be hard to get a spot on signal with any but any contributions of makes of outdoor and indoor ones that are working nicely for another boaters will be much appreciated.

 

Thank you

[b0atman]

I have gone for freesat not great in heavy rain and storm force winds but all other times ok seems to be lots of difficulty with aerials since analogue turned off not sure of digital signal strength did it get increased.

[churchward]

If you use an external aerial then it doesn't matter that you are on a steel boat. We use a log periodic one as they are easy to store and work well.

 

example of one

 

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

[Keeping Up]

You aren't trying to use it inside the boat are you? That would be doomed to failure whatever aerial it was.

[churchward]

I have gone for freesat not great in heavy rain and storm force winds but all other times ok seems to be lots of difficulty with aerials since analogue turned off not sure of digital signal strength did it get increased.

getting a digital signal from an aerial works well for us.

[BenC]

I have one of these The Wing,. Works very well, you can run 2 TVs from it as well, not many have that option.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TELECO-WING-TV-12V-24V-230V-AERIAL-ANTENNA-motorhome-boat-caravan-camper-08345-/181030280191?pt=UK_Campervan_Caravan_Accessories&hash=item2a263edbff

[Machpoint005]

Yes, we use a log periodic aerial too. The only difficulty is pointing it in the right direction but if you know roughly where north is, and roughly where the transmitter is, you're OK. Alternatively look at the external aerials on houses and take the average!

Edited February 11, 2014 by Machpoint005

[Phlea]

Hi,

 

I know it looks unlikely due to its size but this works fantastically well as it seems to utilise the boat as an extension to the aerial...

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/August-DTA180-Freeview-Aerial-Television/dp/B001AGD1Q8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1392113027&sr=8-3&keywords=tv+aerial

 

Got one a month or so ago and can't believe how well it works, cheap too! :-)

[by'eck]

[Guest]

^^^^^^^^^^^

One of them.

 

I got mine from this guy-

 

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

 

(very useful site if you have the time to read it though some of it hasn't been updated for Digital I see)

Edited February 11, 2014 by The Dog House

[Pete & Helen]

Hi All,

 

Can anybody recommend an aerial that works well on steel boats? We have unsuccessfully gone through a few different makes already (of the indoor ones)! I do realise is going to be hard to get a spot on signal with any but any contributions of makes of outdoor and indoor ones that are working nicely for another boaters will be much appreciated.

 

Thank you

 

Hi,

 

There have been a number of posts on here on the subject so if you do a search you will find enough reading to last you the week.

I, like a number of others, favour the log periodic aerial too. as suggested pointing at the transmitter by looking at where others point theirs, or if you have a phone that has apps on it then there are a number of apps that you can use to find out which way to point ( I use "Antenna Aligner")

 

Depending where you are you may need a pole to put your aerial on. In most cases 3mtr pole should suit

[bottle]

Which ever aerial you get, it will not work if it cannot 'see' the transmitter.

 

Log periodic are the best for use on the canals but still need to 'see' the transmitter.

 

You could go satellite (Freesat) but again if the dish cannot 'see' the satellite it will not work.

 

I have a little (four inch stub) digital aerial, it works better in the countryside than the urban areas and also a satellite dish.

[Ex- Member]

We've got the Omnimax, it's expensive but it never needs adjusting, if there's no transmitter/signal then it matters not which aerial you use. We also have a sat dish, but in this recent weather it probably wouldn't have stood up well to the wind and rain anyway. Fortunately the Omnimax has worked so well we haven't needed to use the sat dish for over 5 months.

[Captain Fizz]

We use an Omnimax. It does need to "see" over the hedges though so a pole mount is useful.

[churchward]

Yes, we use a log periodic aerial too. The only difficulty is pointing it in the right direction but if you know roughly where north is, and roughly where the transmitter is, you're OK. Alternatively look at the external aerials on houses and take the average!

We have a little hand held simple signal strength meter which works well. Sometimes if the signal is a bit on the weak side it can come down to a bit of guesswork and "twiddling" the aerial about to get it right. We have a signal booster between aerial and TV too that does help.

[Machpoint005]

We have a signal booster but since the digital changeover it has been turned off -- I may have read somewhere that you can have too big a signal going into a digital TV. However, the signal at our home mooring is very strong.

[bottle]

We have a little hand held simple signal strength meter which works well. Sometimes if the signal is a bit on the weak side it can come down to a bit of guesswork and "twiddling" the aerial about to get it right. We have a signal booster between aerial and TV too that does help.

 

Agreed if the signal is 'clean' but a booster/amplifier has the proviso, CISCO (Crap in Stronger Crap out)

[Machpoint005]

 

Agreed if the signal is 'clean' but a booster/amplifier has the proviso, CISCO (Crap in Stronger Crap out)

 

Explains why I'm now better off without one!

[Dave_P]

I've tried all sorts of different aerials with mixed success, including: indoor aerials put outside which work but you have to take them in when it rains; big outdoor aerials which you have to find a place to store when cruising; and 'compact' outdoor aerials which are fine when the signal is good. Where I moor is surrounded by high-rise buildings so TV signal is always going to be tricky without a long pole, which I don't really want. I recently bought this http://www.amazon.co.uk/SLx-27895K4-Digidome-Outdoor-Digital/dp/B00D76GSBE and I've been totally knocked out by how good it is! It's omni-directional so is perfect for when your boat is rafted-up end=on to a pontoon like mine and it has a 4G filter so doesn't get interference from 4G mobile signal. The picture almost never breaks up on any channel and from what I can tell it's not even receiving a direct signal, just a 'reflection' from the surrounding buildings. It's not on a pole, just screwed straight onto one of my roof boxes. It's small enough to be able to cruise without moving it.

 

I'd recommend it!

[churchward]

 

Agreed if the signal is 'clean' but a booster/amplifier has the proviso, CISCO (Crap in Stronger Crap out)

Yes that is true however I have yet to moor anywhere where the booster has not helped. Sometimes the difference is marginal but it never makes it worse.

[bottle]

It cannot make it worse or better, just stronger.

 

Now what the receiver likes is something all together different.

 

Many years ago (black and white, 405 lines) we had a TV delivered it was placed in the middle of the lounge (we were posh in those days) powered up with no aerial and a perfect picture.

 

Reason we were on the top of a hill and the Crystal Palace transmitter on the next hill.

 

The only problem, people (in the street) walking between the TV and the transmitter, so an aerial was fitted (loft) but this made the signal to strong for the TV, so an attenuator had to be fitted to reduce the signal strength.

 

The signal was in no way changed just its strength

[Keeping Up]

When digital TV was about to start, nearly everybody said that a booster would never ever make an improvement. They also said that it would make no difference which TV you (or set-top box) that you got. When I doubted these statements, after working in landline digital transmission since the early 1970's, I was told that I was being ridiculous.

 

Both statements were wrong. I did quite a few tests with different TVs and aerial boosters, in areas where signal strengths were low. There was a big difference between TV's, and also in every single case the use of a booster improved the error rate of the digital signal.

 

One strange effect that I did find with Omnimax aerials; they don't necessarily have to see over a hedge in the way that a satellite dish would for example, but like all aerials including log-periodics they do like a bit of extra height. I was surprised to discover that in some parts of the country they worked far better with just a 3" extension pole (yes, 3 inches) to raise them just slightly further from the steel roof.

[churchward]

It cannot make it worse or better, just stronger.

 

Now what the receiver likes is something all together different.

 

Many years ago (black and white, 405 lines) we had a TV delivered it was placed in the middle of the lounge (we were posh in those days) powered up with no aerial and a perfect picture.

 

Reason we were on the top of a hill and the Crystal Palace transmitter on the next hill.

 

The only problem, people (in the street) walking between the TV and the transmitter, so an aerial was fitted (loft) but this made the signal to strong for the TV, so an attenuator had to be fitted to reduce the signal strength.

 

The signal was in no way changed just its strength

All I can say is that at times and some mooring places with the booster off the TV image breaks up but with it on it doesn't. So for me it is very difficult not to see that as being better.

Edited February 11, 2014 by churchward

[Taslim]

When digital TV was about to start, nearly everybody said that a booster would never ever make an improvement. They also said that it would make no difference which TV you (or set-top box) that you got. When I doubted these statements, after working in landline digital transmission since the early 1970's, I was told that I was being ridiculous.

 

Both statements were wrong. I did quite a few tests with different TVs and aerial boosters, in areas where signal strengths were low. There was a big difference between TV's, and also in every single case the use of a booster improved the error rate of the digital signal.

 

One strange effect that I did find with Omnimax aerials; they don't necessarily have to see over a hedge in the way that a satellite dish would for example, but like all aerials including log-periodics they do like a bit of extra height. I was surprised to discover that in some parts of the country they worked far better with just a 3" extension pole (yes, 3 inches) to raise them just slightly further from the steel roof.

From radio amateur days i think this could be to do with wavelength of the incoming signal. Yagi arays seem to behave the same way. A few foot difference above the ground plane can make a big difference (+ or -).

Edited February 11, 2014 by Taslim

[Keeping Up]

From radio amateur days i thing this could be to do with wavelength of the incoming signal. Yagi arays seem to behave the same way.

 

Yes this seemed quite likely to me too, particularly as the Omnimax presumably has relatively poor discrimination against signals coming up to it from below.