Im looking for some advice regarding the installation of a loft aerial to replace the existing outside basic contract style aerial & 30 year old coax cable.
I am situated approximately 16 miles away from Emley Moor as the crow flies in the BD15 area of Bradford. The property is on a fair elevation & there is a valley and then a slight hill in the distance in the path of the transmitter to the extent that the transmitter is not visible. Apart from this there is really nothing else blocking the path from at least the mid-point of the property upwards.
The current basic aerial set-up receives all analogue transmissions but the picture on some of the channels is really poor to say the least. Also the complete bouquet of digital terrestrial channels is available through the current set-up although blocking/pixelation is an issue but this may also be down to a sub-standard electronics make-up of the Nokia Mediamaster 9850T as this was never an issue with the Pioneer STB I used to have which On-Digital supplied.
I have purchased HF109 double-screened cable & a Triax Unix 52 element aerial. I have also read-up on information concerning an array of aerial-orientated issues including the cons of a loft installation.
I want to install in the loft for two main reasons (1) I am not willing to go onto the roof, (2) I would prefer the aerial in the loft as the property is elevated & therefore gets its fair share of battering from high winds and (3) I would like to take the aerial away with me if I were to move.
Unfortunately one area that I did not research very well until after buying the aerial was aerial banding & gain. The Emley Moor transmitter caters for Band B ( channels 35 to 53 ). However the aerial which I bought is designated as being wideband therefore attaining its manufacturers claimed gain of 14.5 dB in the 48 to 68 channel range (band C/D) & a lower gain for the remaining channels.
The main question I want to ask is after I have installed the aerial & I am not satisfied with the result on analogue and/or digital I do not know if I should change it for a :
i) 52 element Band B aerial
or
ii) 100 element Band B aerial
or
iii) 100 element wideband aerial
I am now aware of the fact that a wideband aerial is basically regarded as a jack of all trades and a master of none, however a 100 element wideband aerial would nevertheless at least exhibit a higher gain over a greater range of UHF channels & would also be useful if digital bouquets were to appear outside of this Band B range in the future. It would also be more adaptable if it was ever to be taken to an area outside of the Band B range of UHF channels.
Taking into consideration that the aerial is going to be loft-mounted, if the performance of a 52 element aerial is not up to scratch would the installation of a 100 element aerial due to its reported higher gain be more desirable regardless of whether it is wideband or not ?
Having assembled the Triax Unix 52 I have done a sort of quick DIY test with a run of low grade coax cable by holding it up several centimetres from the ceiling which borders the roof & pointing it towards the transmitter in the direction of the bedroom window. The aerial connected to a portable tv has managed to give a clear picture for BBC 1, BBC 2 and ITV. The picture for Channel 4 ( UHF channel 41 & at a lower gain of about 12dB for this wideband aerial ) is more grainy though Channel 5 being even further down the scale on UHF channel 37 is clearer that Channel 4, but this quality in picture could be down to the low grade run of coax cable.
Sorry to have gone on but I wanted to make everything clear & would really very much appreciate anyones comments about the aerial as I will be at a loss as to what I should do if the Triax 52 does not perform very well.
I am situated approximately 16 miles away from Emley Moor as the crow flies in the BD15 area of Bradford. The property is on a fair elevation & there is a valley and then a slight hill in the distance in the path of the transmitter to the extent that the transmitter is not visible. Apart from this there is really nothing else blocking the path from at least the mid-point of the property upwards.
The current basic aerial set-up receives all analogue transmissions but the picture on some of the channels is really poor to say the least. Also the complete bouquet of digital terrestrial channels is available through the current set-up although blocking/pixelation is an issue but this may also be down to a sub-standard electronics make-up of the Nokia Mediamaster 9850T as this was never an issue with the Pioneer STB I used to have which On-Digital supplied.
I have purchased HF109 double-screened cable & a Triax Unix 52 element aerial. I have also read-up on information concerning an array of aerial-orientated issues including the cons of a loft installation.
I want to install in the loft for two main reasons (1) I am not willing to go onto the roof, (2) I would prefer the aerial in the loft as the property is elevated & therefore gets its fair share of battering from high winds and (3) I would like to take the aerial away with me if I were to move.
Unfortunately one area that I did not research very well until after buying the aerial was aerial banding & gain. The Emley Moor transmitter caters for Band B ( channels 35 to 53 ). However the aerial which I bought is designated as being wideband therefore attaining its manufacturers claimed gain of 14.5 dB in the 48 to 68 channel range (band C/D) & a lower gain for the remaining channels.
The main question I want to ask is after I have installed the aerial & I am not satisfied with the result on analogue and/or digital I do not know if I should change it for a :
i) 52 element Band B aerial
or
ii) 100 element Band B aerial
or
iii) 100 element wideband aerial
I am now aware of the fact that a wideband aerial is basically regarded as a jack of all trades and a master of none, however a 100 element wideband aerial would nevertheless at least exhibit a higher gain over a greater range of UHF channels & would also be useful if digital bouquets were to appear outside of this Band B range in the future. It would also be more adaptable if it was ever to be taken to an area outside of the Band B range of UHF channels.
Taking into consideration that the aerial is going to be loft-mounted, if the performance of a 52 element aerial is not up to scratch would the installation of a 100 element aerial due to its reported higher gain be more desirable regardless of whether it is wideband or not ?
Having assembled the Triax Unix 52 I have done a sort of quick DIY test with a run of low grade coax cable by holding it up several centimetres from the ceiling which borders the roof & pointing it towards the transmitter in the direction of the bedroom window. The aerial connected to a portable tv has managed to give a clear picture for BBC 1, BBC 2 and ITV. The picture for Channel 4 ( UHF channel 41 & at a lower gain of about 12dB for this wideband aerial ) is more grainy though Channel 5 being even further down the scale on UHF channel 37 is clearer that Channel 4, but this quality in picture could be down to the low grade run of coax cable.
Sorry to have gone on but I wanted to make everything clear & would really very much appreciate anyones comments about the aerial as I will be at a loss as to what I should do if the Triax 52 does not perform very well.