Tracker Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Although we have a Sat system I am considering a terrestrial aerial for UK use or when there is no line of sight SE, as the Avtex TV has a digital terrestrial tuner built in. It will probably be an omni directional type for simplicity rather than a directional aerial and of the 'specialist' aerials from the likes of Status, Teleco or Maxview, all of which we have used with varying degrees of joy over the years, does anyone have recent comparitive experience of more than one type/male please? Or is there a better, easier, more cost effective way that I could consider? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxli Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Hi Theoretically, a directional aerial will probably give the most gain. However, the best performance I've achieved with hassle free omni-directional, is with a simple stub aerial, which came originally with a USB TV Stick. I just chuck it up on the roof and crimp the thin cable in the cab door rubbers. It does need a 5v ghost voltage and my cheapo TV didn't provide this. With a small 12v-5v coax splitter in the line it does the job OK. One should check this, if the performance is bad. I've not tried it in the UK as I'm based in Switzerland and have used it for good reception over most of Germany. I imagine the UK DVB-T network is also as good nowadays? I've bought a Selfsat Snipe recently, but will certainly keep the little stub as backup for the situations you mention. Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Our expenice in earlier years of Omni direction ones is that they do nothing well, and a directional one is much more productive. We now have the latest Maxview digital one, which has a signal strength LEDs and which gives exc Freeview signal in Uk and France (French TV only!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 We had reason to use our directional broadcast TV aerial a couple of times recently, the fort time for years, since we had our satellite dome aerial fitted. The first time was on a CC Cub Site, where the surrounding tres made satellite reception impossible and last week, on a CL with open views, we had to resort to it again because of one large tree, which had inconsiderately grown about 200 metres away but just in the wrong place. Many's the time I've though of that system as redundant because our satellite system normally behaves so well but we were staying in these places for several days, so it was worth the effort of resurrecting it. When we bought our MH new nine years ago I specified Hymer's standard directional aerial on a mast - the same one we'd had on an earlier Hymer, which had performed well. We'd fitted an omnidirectional "flying saucer" aerial on to the MH we had prior to that. The omni-directional aerial had been a poor performer, even with a signal booster, so I wasn't going there again, even though it was potentially easier to use. I don't think the technology of aerials has changed over the years sufficiently to alter the laws of physics, which favour a directional aerial very considerably. As you will know from seeing various types of domestic TV aerials, the more rows of cross bars they have, on a longer horizontal "pointer" bar, the more gain they offer. A saucer-shaped aerial less than a foot in diameter really doesn't stand much chance of competing with a decent length of cross bars, such as a directional aerial has. But directional aerials are heavier, especially with the mast on top of which they sit, which has to penetrate the roof and slide up (and down again) do they ned positioning where this can happen without being in the way, so in our case it means coming through the roof just inside the rear wall of the wardrobe. It didn't come with a signal booster but I added one, assuming it would be necessary. I wired things up so that a master 12v power switch energises the signal amplifier at the same time as the TV and the freeview box. And this system works very well. I never bother ajusting the sensitivty of the signal booster. My Hymer aerial is designed for horizontally polarised signals, i.e. it stays flat, while some of the modern directional aerials I have seen have a facility for rotating it along the long axis through 90 degrees. I only ever once encountered a vertically polarised signal, in pre-digital days at Berwick on Tweed, and mine wouldn't work there at all. Whether,since digitalisation, there are any vertically polarised TV signals in UK I doubt but at least with a moderm directional aerial you would be able to cope! So in summary, directional aerials are so much better and they can be placed to penetrate the roof unobtrusively (and the roof sealing gland doesn't leak in nine years) so if you decide to fit a terrestrial tv aerial, I would go for one of those, probably with a signal booster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 12, 2015 Author Share Posted July 12, 2015 Thanks Stuart, I can't fit a directional aerial because the sat dish sits above the wardrobe and the two would collide so it will have to be an omni directional placed on the other side of the roof to give them both space. I agree that directional is probably much better and if it was our only source I would take that route. However, our last van had a Teleco omni directional aerial and we rarely failed to get any signal at all, even if it was in French or Spanish, and it would, along with a stack of dvds, suffice as a back up for when we just want simplicity and effortless entertainment - and being simple to switch on and use does also have some appeal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 When we bought our AutoSleeper Warrick XL one of the reservations we had was the pokey little omnidirectional aerial but dealer said they worked well so we thought we would give it a go. So far it has worked very well. I've seen a couple of the milenco ones fitted. Ugly great thing.sabout 6 foot high and 14 foot diameter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Tracker - 2015-07-12 10:12 PM I can't fit a directional aerial because the sat dish sits above the wardrobe and the two would collide so it will have to be an omni directional placed on the other side of the roof to give them both space. If you have a towbar you can clamp an 'ally' pole and fit a directional Yagi style aerial, no problem. Both items available dirt cheap if you go direct to any Aerial Supplies plus they will supply you with decent cable too. Whilst this may not look as appealing or aesthetically pleasing as an over priced omni directional, most of which either don't work very well or don't work at all, it will give excellent results wherever you are in the UK. That's why 99.9% of travellers vans use that exact basic set-up in preference to sticking a flying saucer on the roof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 13, 2015 Author Share Posted July 13, 2015 Bulletguy - 2015-07-13 3:58 PM If you have a towbar you can clamp an 'ally' pole and fit a directional Yagi style aerial, no problem. Both items available dirt cheap if you go direct to any Aerial Supplies plus they will supply you with decent cable too. Thanks for the idea, but I don't have a towbar and I am certainly not faffing about with poles and cables and turning it to get a picture plus rigging to stabilise it in the wind as well as having to take it all down every morning before moving on as well as having to find somewhere to store all that clobber which will often be wet on dismantling. I appreciate the thought but whilst it may work well for tuggers on site for a week or two I can't see it working at all well for a nomadic motorhomer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Hi Tracker, we are awaiting delivery of our new PVC which will have a Camos flatsat fitted but no terrestrial aerial. Like Manxli I am considering buying a high gain stub aerial with a magnetic base to place on the roof through the skylight on any occasions the sat is not available. Apparently, having a metal plate under the magnetic base amplifies the signal - a PVC roof should do that ok! David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 13, 2015 Author Share Posted July 13, 2015 david lloyd - 2015-07-13 7:04 PM Hi Tracker, we are awaiting delivery of our new PVC which will have a Camos flatsat fitted but no terrestrial aerial. Like Manxli I am considering buying a high gain stub aerial with a magnetic base to place on the roof through the skylight on any occasions the sat is not available. Apparently, having a metal plate under the magnetic base amplifies the signal - a PVC roof should do that ok! David Hi David, the metal plate idea was popular in the CB radio era as the theory then too was that the mag mount aerial on the car roof helped boost the signal both in and out. Dunno whether it was true or not as never tried it on a GRP roof but the same CB aerial seemed to work OK when glued to an aluminium roofed coachbuilt! I'm considering one of these for Freeview - anyone tried them? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Caravan-Aerial-Digital-Freeview-Motorhome/dp/B00TTYP2CE/ref=pd_rhf_sc_p_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1GE26E06FMGRWVVRSEYN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonflyer Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Our solution is simple - we have the Avtex aerial about £39 and it works fine for us. We keep it in the box and when required simply hang it from one of the locker knobs inside the M/H. The TV is also packed away as M/H rather compact, but we are very organised. Before we had an omni-directional one on a pole mounted outside on previous M/H. As a LAST resort my husband watches TV on the iPad via Mi-Fi. Joyce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
everhopeful Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 If you want to do it on the very cheap for just occasional use You could give a supermarket cheapo set-top directional aerial a go - the one that looks like a squashed yagi. My van has one of those twig aerials that only works under good conditions, but, when it doesn't work and I'm not going to be there long enough to use the portable sat system, the cheapo aerial comes to the rescue. As with any directional aerial you will need a signal meter, but I was very surprised how much usable signal these things produce without a booster. Just connect the meter and swing the aerial around inside the van. Place it looking through the window towards the signal, final twiddle and you're done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 14, 2015 Author Share Posted July 14, 2015 Thanks, but I would still rather have a simple fixed aerial on the roof and just switch it on and watch! Also known as a no faffing about solution! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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