What do I need for a new Aerial Instal?

D

Deleted member 859633

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Hi all

Sky Q is going so this weekend I want to get a loft arial all fitted and sent to 2 TVs in the house.

can someone confirm that these are all I need?






I have some f type to coax adapters for the Freeview ends.
 
Read the excellent guidance on ATV aerials website first.


First you need to know an aerial (antenna) in the loft will work so LOCATION and predictions are key.
Use Freeview for which transmitter(s) and interference from other transmitters... Wolfbane for ball-park estimate of the field strength numbers outside (10m) and lower heights if in a loft. Numbers with a star mean "not line of sight" so signals will be diffracted and that can make reception a bit trickier to achieve equally on all mux frequencies.

Roofs generally will lose 10dB of the signal available outside. (that's 1/10)

That aerial may be a problem to fit in the loft space and point correctly being rather large?
A passive splitter (no need for a weatherproof box in the loft) will lose another 4dB. You may need amplification.

That cable is cheap and nasty aluminium-coated plastic foil screen, probably copper clad steel core? Don't spoil the ship... get all-copper (core, braid and screen). Webro WF100, Triax TX100, Philex/Labgear PF100 or the Doncaster Cables CT100 sold by Toolstation. I can't find proper cable in Screwfix (they used to sell PF100).

The F-plugs in Toolstation (PROception F-Plug CU/CU CT100 Cable) look like the ones that Justin of ATV aerials recommends (the bigger 'nut'). Although the Screwfix ones are 'OK'.
 
That aerial, it says: CAI approval is no longer awarded for this product.

I suggest you don't buy one.
 
So it’s all crap then? lol

How about these. Seem better




 
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Read ATV aerials website. Justin recommends aerials that he fits in his area.

Buy cheap buy twice is an old adage.

In a loft the 'bacofoil' Labgear aerial will probably survive if installed carefully and out of the way for other loft storage use. It has a gain of roughly 10 dB ref a dipole. But a Blake log periodic is a possible lower gain option at 6-7dB ref a dipole for a '28', or 8-9dB for a '36' in the frequency band you need.

The supplied postcode isn't in Wolfbane's (old) database but using the nearby CT2 0HD gets 55 dBuV/m field for the 3 COM muxes 58dBuV/m for the 3 PSBs which are twice the power.

Receivers need an ideal 45 to 65 dB ref 1 uV to work well...

55 - 10dB roof loss + 10dB aerial gain (say) - 4dB splitter loss and -2 to 3 dB loss in cables and terminations = 48 dB (51 PSB).
A 8dB gain amplified splitter would provide 60 / 63 dB.
Feeding one set then adding a splitter (passive or amplified) will be the sensible way to go. Most TVs have signal level and quality meters built in to help aerial alignment and signal levels (checking on all six muxes is essential).

Your roof space losses may be more or less lossy. Trees (especially dense) in the line between the aerial and transmitter can be troublesome. These factors will make the numbers I've calculated and what you measure in reality quite different in all probability.
 
Really appreciate your reply mate as you obviously know your stuff but I dont have a clue what your on about?

I get every channel with a £5 indoor aerial as long as its held high so im sure one like I posted above would work?
 
So it’s all crap then? lol

How about these. Seem better

No such thing as a digital aerial. That aerial is 10 element (possible 11, can't quite see) not 48.
Buy aerials from a aerial expert not a DIY shop who haven't a clue.

You choose an aerial having measured the signal strength in your area rather than a picture in a catalogue.
 
Really appreciate your reply mate as you obviously know your stuff but I dont have a clue what your on about?

I get every channel with a £5 indoor aerial as long as its held high so im sure one like I posted above would work?
Well said.
All that talk about losses and Yagi arrays and the like is not very relevant if you live in an area with a decent signal. So start with the Freeview channel checker. The site does not have a direct link to the bit you want. so copy and past this Freeview | All your favourite TV shows, all in one place and all for free into your browser and add your postcode after the = sign make sure there is no space.

Ignore the first part of the page and scroll down to a list of available transmitters giving you distance, bearing and coverage.

Now to choice of aerial. As Winston2010 said - there is no such thing as a digital aerial. All broadcast signals are analogue but the information they carry is encoded digitally. The great advantage of the digital encoding is that it can be recovered from very low analogue signal levels.

I live in a stone built barn with two foot thick walls about 12 miles from my local transmitter. When I bought the house 28 years ago there was an old aerial in the loft which was mounted too close to the trapdoor. I temporarily suspended it using three lengths of string in a different location but correctly aligned with the transmitter. It is still there, I use it with freeview and get maximum signal strength and quality of 10 on my 4K TV and Panasonic recorder.

You asked a simple question to which the answer is; it depends on the signal strength in your area. But judging from your handheld story it appears to be good so anything better than a piece of wet string should do the trick. Don't waste your money on hyped products.
 
Thanks for your reply.

Dover is showing me green across the board, so I think im good to go. Just trying to find a Click and Collect store that does webro wf100
 
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The CT100 from Toolstation you linked to is all-copper and will be suitable, as will the F-plugs you linked to.

WF100 - Richer Sounds sell it by the metre. Many Amazon sellers stock it as do CPC/Farnell.

Personally I'd not spoil the ship with that Time stuff. (I was paid good money to advise on TV and Radio reception matters to Trade and Public 'back in the day').

All green just means you're unlikely to get interference from other transmitters very often (and down your way that is a good thing).

The 28 element log periodic Toolstation sell would be my choice over the one you linked to (Vision aerials). But the room aerial you have already, placed in the loft, might work well enough?
 
Funnily enough. Neighbour had a roll of Webro WF100 with over 50m left on it and said I could have it. Just need to fit it all now
 
Specification states indoor or outdoor, it is all copper
The spec is very sparse with information.
When asked the question on Screwfix the Time rep was evasive and only stated that the core and braided screen are copper. Nothing about the foil screen!
If you have some GT100 in your possession and can state it is copper foil and not aluminised plastic foil then I'll withdraw my objection to it.
However, B&Q/Screwfix own brand cable is bought down to a price and subject to change, sadly.

OP has WF100 now anyway so that's good :clap:
 
The 28 element log periodic Toolstation sell would be my choice over the one you linked to (Vision aerials).
It is a 14 element aerial. Toolstation have counted the elements twice, but hey ho.

In general the largest aerials available are 21 element.
 
In what ended costing me about £50-£60 from toolstation the signal is 100% faultless in my loft. Stuck an amplifier in for good measure but no clue if thats making a difference.
 
Amplifiers should not be put in for good measure. Could cause overloading. Take it out and if everything still works take it back. Save money and save electricity.
 
My calcs in post #5 suggested one could well be needed, but I also said try it with passive split first and use the TVs metering to check levels.
 

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