Which Loft Freeview Aerial?

[bbasra]

I'm looking to purchase a DIY aerial that i can mount in the Loft Which i can use to pickup and connect a freeview box.

Which one should i get and where from... dont want to spend too much either?

[mjn]

I'd also like to know what is a decent aerial.

[final]

It all depends on your local reception conditions.
Maybe, you can receive it with a basic loft aerial, maybe you need it on an outside mast.
Ask your neighbour what they use.

[SamRadford]

How long is a piece of string?
Punch your postcode in here:
http://www.satcure.com/freeview.htm
Look at the prediction for your location. It is based on a 12dB aerial above the roof. If it suggests that you'll get all channels then you can use a 12dB aerial above the roof or a 15dB aerial (or greater) in the loft. The roof and lower height will generally lose at least 3dB of signal and you can't compensate for that with an amplifier.

BTW there is no such thing as a "loft aerial". Just use an ordinary aerial and mount it as far from the electrical wiring as possible.

[Nick_UK]

Originally Posted by bbasra

I'm looking to purchase a DIY aerial that i can mount in the Loft Which i can use to pickup and connect a freeview box.

Which one should i get and where from... dont want to spend too much either?

That really all depends on where you live, what transmitter is your local one, how much power it transmits at, and how far you are from it.

Go to the Wolfbane site and find the link to the digital TV reception predictor, and enter your postcode. It will advise which sort of aerial you need. Good Freeview reception with a loft aerial is normally only possible if you are quite close to the transmitter.

[mjn]

Ooooohhhh, i need an "amplified extra hi-gain antenna"

[bbasra]

I need a Log periodic one.

[richard plumb]

24 miles, hi-gain.

Is that good? I get almost no digital freeview, and barely any analogue. Hopefully its a duff aerial and not too expensive to replace. Loft would be handy

[Nick_UK]

You can lose up to half the signal through roof tiles, depending on what the tiles are made from. Slate is the worst.

[SamRadford]

I think I already said that. Well, I said use an aerial with 3db more gain. That's double- implying that the roof loses 50%.

[bbasra]

Hi,

I just remembered that i have a telewest cable point in my bedroom which was used for broadband which is now setup in the study room. We still had the analogue cable box which i connected up and volla, i got all the freeview channels, until the next day, telewest must have sent a signal to block the box. It's a old one they gave us along time ago, before we had sky.

i then disconnected to the box and connected the cable directly into the tv and i can now pickup channel 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Can i use this line to connect a freeview box to pickup the rest of the channels?

[Chris Muriel]

Originally Posted by bbasra

I need a Log periodic one.

The good thing about log periodics is that they are less affected by nearby objects like metal in wiring and the roof and walls.
They are also inherently wideband.
Their downside is their lower gain fro a given boom length.

Chris Muriel, Manchester

[bbasra]

Originally Posted by bbasra

Hi,

I just remembered that i have a telewest cable point in my bedroom which was used for broadband which is now setup in the study room. We still had the analogue cable box which i connected up and volla, i got all the freeview channels, until the next day, telewest must have sent a signal to block the box. It's a old one they gave us along time ago, before we had sky.

i then disconnected to the box and connected the cable directly into the tv and i can now pickup channel 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Can i use this line to connect a freeview box to pickup the rest of the channels?

Anyone