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colinB
15-05-2011, 14:30
Anyone had any luck with a indoor aerial for freeview. Ive tried a few from Maplins , none of them worked as in no picture at all. At the moment i have a coil of cheap co axial wire lying on the floor which i have to move around when i change channels.

Reid Malenfant
15-05-2011, 14:37
How far are you from the transmitter Colin?

colinB
15-05-2011, 14:53
Id say im 2 miles from Crystal palace. CP is behind me , as is lots of tall buildings so i get a signal from the front. I think it bounces of a few buildings into my basement. The picture is actually very good until a bus pulls up at the stop outside my building. If my lead isnt positioned correctly then i get drop out until the bus passes.

Reid Malenfant
15-05-2011, 15:12
If i was you i'd go to an aerial supplier (not an aerial rigger) & buy yourself something like a small 14 element wideband aerial & experiment with that. It'll set you back about £15 at a guess. You can even use the same coax to connect it to your TV :lol:

colinB
15-05-2011, 15:16
Like the sound of that. A rigger in London would charge me £200 and god knows how long ill live here.

Reid Malenfant
15-05-2011, 15:20
A rigger would simply charge you more for the aerial, go to where he gets his aerials, or look on fleabay ;)

Something like this should do (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wideband-Digital-TV-Aerial-Freeview-Roof-Loft-Outdoor-/160533062383?pt=UK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL&hash=item25608422ef) :cool: First one i came accross of the sort i was thinking, must be loads more & cheaper :eyebrows:

colinB
15-05-2011, 15:23
Cool. Whats the difference between a wideband like that and a Log periodic?

Reid Malenfant
15-05-2011, 15:34
Well a log periodic doesn't really have a reflector, though the other elements that are longer than the actual receiving elements kind of act as one. They don't have as much forward gain, the lobes are wider, they have a worse front to back & front to side ratio :rolleyes:

Besides which there is more to go wrong as every element is active, if you lose one you have just about lost the lot. All the directors & reflectors on the standard yagi type are passive, so losing a few (apart from the active element) will result in not a lot of difference ;)

colinB
15-05-2011, 15:45
Cheers Mark. Let you know how i get on.

Rare Bird
15-05-2011, 16:58
I need an indoor ariel for freeview in the bedroom, it has to be indoor ariel as no way on earth i'm i drilling holes in the wall & running wires along the skirting board etc, took me too long to get the decor perfect.Besides it's only for wife in bed at night for an hours or so till she drops off..I can see the transmitter on the hill from the bedroom window.

StanleyB
16-05-2011, 06:40
I designed a few digital aerials in my time, and some of them were sold under the Labgear brand name. But digital indoor aerials are close to a waste of time in the UK in all but the luckiest of circumstances. This is partially due to the various transmission methods used between say the likes of the BBC and independent broadcasters. The other one is the electrical noisy environment within a typical home. The digital signal gets lost in all that noise.
Of course, the hard sell of digital mentioned that digital transmission would be easier to receive since analogue transmissions can be affected by all sorts of problem. :lol:. Boy, did did fool us or what. When it comes to Freeview digital signals that theory falls flat on its face when confronted by an indoor aerial. I reckon none of the engineers who did the initial signal tests had access to an indoor aerial at the time.

colinB
16-05-2011, 13:54
This will cause problems with the switchover. Many people living in big cities wont have access to outdoor aerials and most landlords wont fit a roof top.

You spend all that money on a nice new digital TV and cant get a picture.

The strange thing about my set up is i cant get ch4 but i can get ch4HD !?

Richardl
18-08-2011, 04:43
Anyone had any luck with a indoor aerial for freeview. Ive tried a few from Maplins , none of them worked as in no picture at all. At the moment i have a coil of cheap co axial wire lying on the floor which i have to move around when i change channels.


http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/reception.html
http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/freeviewhelp/indooraerial.html


The top link gives you recommendations for the best indoor Ariel........one from argos, I think ?
The second link should help a bit, I think there's a link on the page, that you input your postcode, then it tells you what type of ariel you need.

Thing Fish
18-08-2011, 05:16
I live about 5/6 miles from the Crystal Palace transmitter, not in a particulary high place and I have one of these - http://www.maplin.co.uk/one-for-all-hd-terrestrial-amplified-aerial-383744

I get full Freeview with all the HD channels. No problems at all. The thing sits on the floor behind the sofa somewhere...?

colinB
18-08-2011, 09:56
Tempted to try. Having lived a mile away from the Palace transmitter i know how difficult a digital signal can be. The problem i have in the city is the bus stop outside, when the buses pull up.

colinB
18-08-2011, 09:57
Is the cable fixed? And do you need to use the boost gain internal amplifier thingy.