Tv aerials again!

[Karma Dreams]

Hi all... I know this topic has done the circuits many times around, but spotted this aerial on fleabay, (Ebay no.111000305035) and wondered if any good, meaning, anyone got one to pass comment on? Thought bit expensive for what it is, as its not boosted in any way, but am tempted to try it out, as sometimes smaller and basic might just work as opposed to the booster types which are not all that they are advertised to be and just as expensive to buy.

So any thoughts have any of you got one?

 

[Guest]

Karma Dreams, on 07 May 2014 - 12:48 PM, said:Karma Dreams, on 07 May 2014 - 12:48 PM, said:

Hi all... I know this topic has done the circuits many times around, but spotted this aerial on fleabay, (Ebay no.111000305035) and wondered if any good, meaning, anyone got one to pass comment on? Thought bit expensive for what it is, as its not boosted in any way, but am tempted to try it out, as sometimes smaller and basic might just work as opposed to the booster types which are not all that they are advertised to be and just as expensive to buy.

So any thoughts have any of you got one?

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111000305035?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D0%26_from%3DR40%26_nkw%3D111000305035%26_rdc%3D1

 

It looks very similar to one I once tried and TBH it was rubbish, though some have used them successfully.

 

It's way overpriced too, I think mine was about a tenner and it doesn't look much different from that one so I am not sure how that one can be much better.

 

ed to add linky.

Edited May 7, 2014 by The Dog House

[keble]

Crazy price!

[leeco]

I just fitted a similar one to the 1 in the 1st pic on my boat.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TV-AERIAL-HIGH-GAIN-FREEVIEW-GOLD-DIGITAL-AERIAL-4G-FILTER-1st-CLASS-DELIVERY-/281297596659?pt=UK_DIY_Material_Electrical_Fittings_MJ&var=&hash=item417ea4b0f3

 

I was picking up every channel going that my old aerial couldn't in certain areas round here like in the middle of the woods.

 

Its big but it does the job.

[Ex- Member]

I certainly wouldn't pay that kind of money without some very good recommendations or feedback. If you're thinking of spending that kind of money then double it and buy an Omnimax. Even second hand they aren't cheap though but they work brilliantly without the requirement to adjust.

 

You sometimes have to retune your TV set if you end up in another signal area. You can fix them in one position and basically forget. If there's a signal available it will pick it up and the picture we get is as good if not better that our Freesat dish.

[John V]

I needed to add an aerial point in my newly fitted out fwd cabin. I already have a distribution amp fed by a 19 element Yagi but it was difficult to get a cable from the amp (aft) to that point, so I installed a "One for all" outside aerial purchased from Maplin ...to my annoyance I get as good a signal strength on that as I do on the main system, on top of that it is only about 10" high and 4" wide. when my Yagi eventually dies due to the Bl**dy gulls landing on it you can probably guess the replacement

Edited May 7, 2014 by John V

[ditchcrawler]

Hi all... I know this topic has done the circuits many times around, but spotted this aerial on fleabay, (Ebay no.111000305035) and wondered if any good, meaning, anyone got one to pass comment on? Thought bit expensive for what it is, as its not boosted in any way, but am tempted to try it out, as sometimes smaller and basic might just work as opposed to the booster types which are not all that they are advertised to be and just as expensive to buy.

So any thoughts have any of you got one?

 

Check that your TV has a 5 volt power output to the coax, as that where it gets its power from.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111000305035?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D0%26_from%3DR40%26_nkw%3D111000305035%26_rdc%3D1

 

It looks very similar to one I once tried and TBH it was rubbish, though some have used them successfully.

 

It's way overpriced too, I think mine was about a tenner and it doesn't look much different from that one so I am not sure how that one can be much better.

 

ed to add linky.

Not sure where you would get that type of aerial for a tenner, £30-40 is about the going rate for that sort of thing, like this from Maplin

[WotEver]

Here we go again...

 

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

 

Tony

[Guest]

Here we go again...

 

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

 

Tony

 

Correct.....

[WotEver]

I just fitted a similar one to the 1 in the 1st pic on my boat.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TV-AERIAL-HIGH-GAIN-FREEVIEW-GOLD-DIGITAL-AERIAL-4G-FILTER-1st-CLASS-DELIVERY-/281297596659?pt=UK_DIY_Material_Electrical_Fittings_MJ&var=&hash=item417ea4b0f3

 

See half way down the page linked above.

[DeanS]

depends where you are. I bought a £15 from Wilkinsons. It's worked fantastically....best if you mount it on a pole of some sort:)

[Karma Dreams]

Tks all for your help... seems that the only way to go is with Tony's post i.e conventional aerial mounted on a pole and forget our omni-directional aerial altogether. Always think best to ask whats best to go with on here as most things have been tried and tested...

[Glynn]

We bought a Necvox one as in the link above and it works impeccably.

It was to replace a similar looking one that only cost £16 and hardly worked.

You get what you pay for.

[Alan Saunders]

Tks all for your help... seems that the only way to go is with Tony's post i.e conventional aerial mounted on a pole and forget our omni-directional aerial altogether. Always think best to ask whats best to go with on here as most things have been tried and tested...

If you mean the advice given by http://www.aerialsandtv.com/touringaerials.html, yes!

You can get a Labgear aerial for a fiver or so! When your omnidirectional aerial does not work you can try a log-periodic or Yagi on a mast.

 

When desperate for TV reception a (freesat) satellite reciever will work well if there are no obsructions, trees etc. to the south.

[Ange]

Tks all for your help... seems that the only way to go is with Tony's post i.e conventional aerial mounted on a pole and forget our omni-directional aerial altogether. Always think best to ask whats best to go with on here as most things have been tried and tested...

Exactly the advice I was going to offer We have a conventional tv aerial bought for very little money mounted on a retracting pole in the front of the boat. Our original aerial laid across the roof and actually jutted out either side of the boat and was a right pain until dear hubby put the pole up in front of the boat and now all is good. We just have to remember to lower it when we cruise

 

I'm sure there's lots of people with expensive options that work well for them - we live aboard and very very rarely have no signal.

 

When we don't there's always a good pile of books to read

[leeco]

Exactly the advice I was going to offer We have a conventional tv aerial bought for very little money mounted on a retracting pole in the front of the boat. Our original aerial laid across the roof and actually jutted out either side of the boat and was a right pain until dear hubby put the pole up in front of the boat and now all is good. We just have to remember to lower it when we cruise

 

I'm sure there's lots of people with expensive options that work well for them - we live aboard and very very rarely have no signal.

 

When we don't there's always a good pile of books to read

When I cant get a signal I plug a external HDD into my tv and have about 1TB worth of films to watch.

[Sanddancer]

Just bought a omnimax works great here in marina next week will try it out on cut,

worth the money as it's easy to set up and picture is great.

[johnmck]

Just bought a omnimax works great here in marina next week will try it out on cut,

worth the money as it's easy to set up and picture is great.

We have done the same. When we go out and it does not receive a signal, we will read a book. Funny though, without the booster switched on, we get zilch at Crick.

[Ex- Member]

We have done the same. When we go out and it does not receive a signal, we will read a book. Funny though, without the booster switched on, we get zilch at Crick.

 

We haven't used our Omnimax booster for months, it's connected directly into the back of the TV. We really don't see any improvement in picture and the booster uses 12v as well. I think the boosters were useful with the old analogue system, now it's all digital we seem to get a perfect picture everywhere easily comparable to the picture we get from the Freesat dish when getting a good signal strength.

 

We've only found one location we can't get a signal on the Omnimax and that's in B.O.A, a regular aerial doesn't either though. The fact it's nice and compact and you don't need to adjust it, or rig up poles for it, it is what makes it worth the money IMO

[Keeping Up]

When digital TV first started, a lot of people said the Omnimax booster would make no difference any more. Having worked in digital transmission since the early 1970s I didn't believe them so at the first opportunity I did some tests. As I suspected, when the signal is strong it made no difference but when the signal is marginal so that you can receive a tvpicture but it is full of errors then 9 times out of 10 the booster provides an improvement.

[Ex- Member]

When digital TV first started, a lot of people said the Omnimax booster would make no difference any more. Having worked in digital transmission since the early 1970s I didn't believe them so at the first opportunity I did some tests. As I suspected, when the signal is strong it made no difference but when the signal is marginal so that you can receive a tvpicture but it is full of errors then 9 times out of 10 the booster provides an improvement.

 

It might well do but it's hardly detectable by eye on screen. I also don't agree that it helps with weak signal as there isn't really such a thing as a weak signal as such any more, it's a kind of intermittent all or nothing flickering picture. We had exactly this in B.O.A and connecting the booster seemed to make no difference.

 

We've only ever experienced a really good picture, or broken fragmented interrupted delayed picture (un-watchable), nothing in between.

Edited May 11, 2014 by Julynian

[Guest]

Julynian, on 11 May 2014 - 1:01 PM, said:

We've only ever experienced a really good picture, or broken fragmented interrupted delayed picture (un-watchable), nothing in between.

 

We occasionally have seen a picture that is watchable but occasionally a stripe suddenly appears across the screen and disappears very quickly....almost as if there has been a very brief interruption to the signal.

[Alan Saunders]

With the old, analogue, TV service signal strength was the only way to optmise reception. Digital TV is best optmised by signal quality.

The best digital signal, even Sky, Virgin etc. cable or satellite may 'drop-out' occasionally or lose picture/voice sync.

 

When on the edge of a reception zone you may be receiving the signal by reflection and find that you need to point a Yagi or Log-periodic aerial in a different direction for each of the available channels. e.g. Mendip transmits on 48, 49, 52, 54, 56; sometimes I need to move my aerial ~20 degrees when I retune from e.g. BBC (49) to Pick (56). Sometimes a bit of wet string produces a good picture on all channels.

 

Two locks up and TV reception will, again, be good from Mendip. A little further east and I have Meridian, bottom of Crofton only the Chisbury (vertical) repeater.

 

Alan

[OldGoat]

With the old, analogue, TV service signal strength was the only way to optmise reception. Digital TV is best optmised by signal quality.

The best digital signal, even Sky, Virgin etc. cable or satellite may 'drop-out' occasionally or lose picture/voice sync.

 

When on the edge of a reception zone you may be receiving the signal by reflection and find that you need to point a Yagi or Log-periodic aerial in a different direction for each of the available channels. e.g. Mendip transmits on 48, 49, 52, 54, 56; sometimes I need to move my aerial ~20 degrees when I retune from e.g. BBC (49) to Pick (56). Sometimes a bit of wet string produces a good picture on all channels.

 

Two locks up and TV reception will, again, be good from Mendip. A little further east and I have Meridian, bottom of Crofton only the Chisbury (vertical) repeater.

 

Alan

 

That's why I (and others) try to push folks towards satellite. At least you know before you stop, whether your dish can 'see' the satellite.

With terrestrial you have to moor up and set the aerial - unless your cruising area is always where the signal is strong.

[Ex- Member]

 

That's why I (and others) try to push folks towards satellite. At least you know before you stop, whether your dish can 'see' the satellite.

With terrestrial you have to moor up and set the aerial - unless your cruising area is always where the signal is strong.

 

Not with an Omnimax though!. It will pick up a signal if there's one available what ever position it's in..

 

We have satellite too though as a back up.

Edited May 12, 2014 by Julynian