Bought 2 aerials now and both no good

ipattiann

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We have bought 2 aerials and none are any good . I live at post code RG9 4BU and 1st one we bought was a Hi gain 52 Element 2nd was Universal 43 Wide band . Both have been put on roof and where we used to get Channel 5 we dont receive it now.BBC 1 is a awful picture and cant get Freeview through my Inverto Digital video recorder .I used to get lots of channels but get none at all now.
I have been reading about aerials and i am starting to think we have the completely wrong aerials.
Were lucky that its easy to put up a aerial as we have a flat roof under the main house roof.
Can some one advise me what aerial i need as i am going crazy reading about the different aerials.
I just thought a aerial was a aerial.
Sorry woman writing so bit thick when it comes to this .
Thanks
 
Have you replaced the cable or are you tagging onto the old cable?

If it's the former, you really should replace it with a length of WF100 before buying any more aerials!

Steve
 
For digital, you are covered by two transmitters at your location:-

Hannington - Group B
Crystal Palace - Group A

You should be able to get a satisfactory signal from either transmitter.

For analogue, you have a much closer transmitter (Henley-on-Thames) - that is group C/D. That transmitter doesn't carry any digital services, nor does it carry Channel 5 though.

The other analogue service is transmitted from Hannington (including Channel 5) and that is band E.

So you need an antenna capable of receiving band B and E, and you need to make sure it's pointed at Hannington and not Crystal Palace.

The compass bearing from your location to Hannington is 228 degrees.

Hope this is useful!

Steve
 
Thanks for answering stevelup. I am waiting for new aerial cable through the post. So do you think either off there aerials will be ok when we put the new aerial cable in ?

Nither of these aerails have what band they are on the box.

Thanks again.
 
Oh i have read that page before. So do you think even when we get the new aerial cable we need to buy another aerial in the band for Hannington group B .
Blimey that will be the third aerial now .
Thanks
 
The problem is that if you buy a band B aerial, you won't get adequate reception on your analogue service.

Likewise, a wideband aerial will not give the strongest possible signal for your digital service...

Going by the advice on that page, it would seem that an amplified Log-periodic aerial is the way to go...
 
that amplified Log-periodic aerial looks like i could make it my self with a couple of coat hangers !
All of my neighbours have the same looking aerial as we have tried putting up which is this one High Gain Wideband Analogue/Digital TV Aerial with Fixing Kit > Maplin the other aerial in a 43 element wideband . It just says on the box thats its good for bad reception .They dont mention at all you need a certain band of aerial.
Cheers
 
shoestring25 But that doesnt mention what band it is either ! If that not in my Band that i need will that one not work either ? As one of the aerials we have tried is the same looking as neigbours but longer but its awful picture on BBc 1 and no 5 .
 
like i said im no expert all i did is put this one up and everybody i know whos used it now has all the freeview chanels crystal clear
 
I have this too (didn't want an amplified aerial if I could avoid) and it works a treat (using Crystal Palace transmitter) even though I'm in a valley and get very, very poor signal strength.

im no expert but me my parents my gran and 3 of my mates have all used this aireal and it works great

91-Element High-Gain Digital TV Aerial > Maplin


rember though its huge probly a couple of meters long so a sturdy pole is needed
 
Lee but none of my neighbours have a aerial that long and they are getting Freeview. Ours is longer than theirs ! I am still waiting for cable to get delivered and we will change cable over and if there is no difference we will put the old aerial back on at least we could pick up tv channels that are watchable and not all grainy
Cheers
 
Aerial riggin is a bit of black art knowing what works where etc there is a forum sponsor and aerial installer who is local to you so suggest you have a chat to them and perhaps get the aerial properly installed with low loss Sat grade cabe and have it aligned properly, save syou all the hassle and faffing and just get good reception.Digital TV Aerial & Satellite Installation 0118 3240 999
 
You mention in your original post that your aerial is mounted on a flat roof under the level of the main roof. Its possible that your aerial is not high enough. The Wolfbane predictions are for an aerial mounted at 10 meters height which is usually chimney mounted on the main roof. Also you are 20 miles from the Hannington Tx and 36 miles from C.P. and the recommendation is for an AMPLIFIED extra high gain aerial in both instances which usually means fitted with a masthead amplifier.

Hannington is for a Group B aerial horizontally mounted.

UK digital TV reception predictor

You have a clear line of sight to Hannington so that should not be a problem.

Terrain between SU764785 (10 m a.g.l.) and Hannington, SU527568 (antenna 339 m A.O.D.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location

Streetmap - Convert and measure coordinates

Freeview Reception Help and Advice
 
ROYOLD .Aerial is on top of house on chimney but we have a extension on the house that got a flat roof so its easy to get a ladder on the flat roof to get the main roof. I still cant find any aerial on Maplin that says what band it is ! So is every one who is buying a aerial in there buying the wrong one or is it just me ? If either of these 2 aerials dont work were put the old aerial back up and think about getting Sky instead .
Thanks for the links i didnt realize Kingsclere was where the Hannington receiver was i knew it was passed Reading somewhere !
 
Last edited:
If either of these 2 aerials dont work were put the old aerial back up and think about getting Sky instead .
Thanks

I don't see why you dont get a pro to do the install it is not as simple as sticking any old "wide band antenna" in the air and hoping a £2k meter makes a huge difference to what you will get.
 
Should have got someone in the first place ! Neither of us work and we are not claiming any benefits,living of years of savings so thought we could put a aerial up easy:( 2 years ago i was quoted over the phone from a local guy £189 then when i said i had 3 tvs i wanted connected the price went up to £250+ so never done it.
We will be ok with old aerial if all else fails.Needed to get new aerial cable any way as its must be 25 years old
 
The second link above doesn't work for me:(

I think (?) this is it
http://***********/njfbjb
 
I still cant find any aerial on Maplin that says what band it is ! So is every one who is buying a aerial in there buying the wrong one or is it just me ?
AFAIK Maplin only sell wideband aerials. In fact any DIY shops I have looked at aerials in have all been selling wideband aerials rather than band specific.
I receive TV via the Crystal Palace transmitter that is Band A for both analogue and digital, but wideband aerials are often poor with Band A transmitions. I ended up getting a Yagi 18a aerial from ATV which now gives me excellent reception with no problems even though the aerial is in my loft.

Mark.
 
Tend to agree. I have a conventional 18 element group A yagi aerial directed on the Moel-y-Parc transmitter in N. Wales. This is 56 miles from Oldham but it gives me excellent reception. My main transmitter is Winter Hill at 16 miles distance and I replaced the 18 element group C/D yagi with a Wideband 32 element aerial. I do have an obstacle to L.o.S. on Winter Hill but on reflection, the yagi was just as good, if not better, than this wideband type.
Have a clear L.o.S. to N. Wales & that's why reception is so good.

Go for a group B yagi directed on Hannington or a group A yagi on Crystal Pal.
Also fit a masthead amp as rec by Wolfbane.

ATV`s Choice Of Aerials
 
Well looks like we have sorted it now :thumbsup: We got the new coax cable today installed it and connected diggi box and now have 92 channels .It was great picture when it first scanned for channels then said it has found new channels and now the picture is breaking up but only on BBC 1 but at least we got excellent signal on all the other channels.
Thanks to every one who helped me.
 
If its only occasional breakup a single outlet TV booster connected to TV co-ax input may help improve reception.

Glad you managed to fix the problem - these rain filled old coax cables cause all sorts of trouble.
 
ROYOLD . I unplugged the diggi box and repluged it in so it scanned again and its perfect now ! If it says its found more channels and wants to scan i am not doing it.
Only problem is the other tvs have awful picture .But channel 5 is perfect . No diggi boxe connected to any off the other tvs. I give up with it now as the main tv is ok.
Oh we got a signal booster but dont think it works on this aerial as we tried it before but have a go tomorrow .
Thanks again .Pat
 

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