question regarding freeview aerial

[chrisj73]

I am going to put a freeview box in one of the bedrooms - inregards to an aerial for it - could I simply attach it to a bog standard loft aerial or does it have to be something a bit more stronger than that?

[Chris]

put your postcode in here:

http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe

It will tell you what aerial you need. Paste the results here if you're not sure what they mean.

[chrisj73]

Transmitter 1: BBC 2: Digital 3 & 4 A: SDN B: BBC C: NG Wireless D: NG Wireless Gp Pol OS grid ref. OD
m Field
dBµV/m Distance
miles Bearing
degrees Antenna
(suggestion)
UHF ERP
W AOD
m UHF ERP
W AOD
m UHF ERP
W AOD
m UHF ERP
W AOD
m UHF ERP
W AOD
m UHF ERP
W AOD
m
Winter Hill (E) 56 10k 734 66 10k 712 68 10k 712 67 10k 682 60 10k 650 63 10k 650 CD H SD660144 438 53 11 210 Hi-gain
Winter Hill (W) 43 10k 555 40 10k 555 E H SD660144 438 49 11 210 Amplified extra hi-gain
Pendle Forest 21 100 326 24 100 326 27 100 326 31 100 326 30 100 326 34 100 326 A V SD825384 275 36 7 42 Amplified


dont have a clue!

[nodrogd]

What town or village are you nearest to, and which direction are the majority of the aerials around you pointing in ?

This would give me an idea where to start.

[Kymmy]

The strongest signal on that list is Winter Hill.. It says High Gain so that normally means you need a semi-decent antenna on the outside of the house to get the signals..

As for putting it in the loft there's so many factors that can effect that like building materials the roof is made from, whether you are side onto the transmitter (i.e you;re going through other houses) or front/back facing (you're only going through tiles), what sort of antenna you get and whether you amplify it..

In this case I suspect for the loft you'd need a very high gain amplified antenna but even then it might not work. Probably best to get an external one up

[on in an hour!]

i have freeview boxes in 2 of my bedrooms using the aerial from the portable TV's,i bought amplifiers for them (£20 from maplin) and they work fine ;)

[Kymmy]

i have freeview boxes in 2 of my bedrooms using the aerial from the portable TV's,i bought amplifiers for them (£20 from maplin) and they work fine ;)

Which doesn;t mean a lot unless you tell people how far you are away from the transmitter ;)

[nodrogd]

A word of warning !!. The info on Wolfbane is still PRE-SWITCHOVER and is now out of date for Winter Hill and its relays.

The bearings given put you closer to Pendle Forest, but you may have line of sight to Winter Hill in which case this is the one to use. The coverage maps put you in the target area for both. As I said previous, look at the aerials around you, and that will give you a guide to where yours should point, and hence which to use.

Winter Hill requires a Group C/D aerial with the rods mounted horizontal. The increase in Winter Hill's power output at switchover may mean a smaller aerial will now suffice. For Pendle Forest a Group A aerial is required with the rods mounted vertical. The predictor says "Amplified" but not "Hi-Gain" which is strange, but as I say, the aerials around you are the best guide.

[on in an hour!]

Which doesn;t mean a lot unless you tell people how far you are away from the transmitter ;)

thanks kymmy for showing my a**e....hehe.i can see winter hill from my front bedroom window,but my aerials are in no way in line of winter hill is what i should have said,they are in the bedrooms just hanging about!! the point i was trying to make was that with the amplifiers my pics are bob on :)