Digital Aerial

espresso

Conor wrote: »

There's a world of difference. They have larger elements for a wider bandwith and more of those and reflectors to make them more directional so they have higher gain to compensate for the lower power of the MUX transmitters.

But high gain aerials are used in remote areas to pull in a good signal from distant transmitters! There is nothing digital about an aerial, yes they may well be approved for reception of digital transmissions by the CIA etc. but the aerial doesn't care if the received signal is using analogue or digital modulation. Regarding your pictures in post #8, their is no such thing as a standard TV aerial because it depends on many factors e.g. distance from the transmitter, local tall buildings that may interfere with the signal, where the aerial is to be mounted etc. etc.

Wrong again Conor!

ASG_2

So will having a "digital" ariel installed help me to get better reception? I have a digital tv and an ariel booster, but a lot of the time can't get any of the itv channels.

aliEnRIK

ASG wrote: »

So will having a "digital" ariel installed help me to get better reception? I have a digital tv and an ariel booster, but a lot of the time can't get any of the itv channels.

The one you have may not be set up correctly
Also, if there are any SPLITTERS in the link, that will half the signal with each split
I would recommend changing the cable to the H109/CT100 type, as its much less prone to interference
Plugging straight into the back of your tv would probably be better than through the wall socket and through the amp.
Theres a fair chance you would benefit from a decent grade aerial too (Though set the one you have up properly now to begin with)
http://www.aerialsandtv.com/cableandleads.html
As explained above, theres no such thing as a DIGITAL aerial. They ALL pick up signals, its just down to how well.

Conor_3

Fifer wrote: »

There is nothing 'digital' about a TV aerial. There are wideband aerials and aerials tuned to a more selective bandwidth, but both recieve analogue radio-frequency waves which have analogue and digital signals modulated onto them. Both work in exactly the same way, but some work adequately over a wider range of frequencies and some more effectively over a narrower band.

<walks off shaking head> You're talking to someone who used to transmit on VLF using homebrew endfed antennas dozens of yards long which had insulators every so often which you bridged to get the right length for the frequency you're transmitting at so I know full well what I'm on about.

The fact is that the majority of the antennas fitted to houses for analogue broadcasts in the UK are of the first variety I showed due to the fact that each locale transmitted on a set of close frequencies and with some right eye watering power outputs (so wavelength matching was pretty moot anyway as even a stub of wire pointing out of the co-ax would suffice) where as DVB-T muxes are transmitted over the full UK TV channel spectrum and on very low power outputs compared to analogue.

"Digital antenna" is a generic term so the masses have an idea what you're on about. If you say wideband to most of them, they'd go "what?" It's perfectly acceptable to use that in the same way as "hoover" is used to refer to a vaccuum cleaner and "JCB" to a digger. Everyone knows what you mean by it.

Inactive

Doesn't change anything I'm afraid Conor, there is still no such thing as a " Digital Aerial ".

My Daughter uses an aerial similar to the first one in your list, she get's perfect reception on all Freeview Channels.

A TV Aerial, is a TV Aerial, they just come in different types/sizes.

The term " Digital Aerial " is pure sales hype.

aliEnRIK

This pretty much defines the various aerials available, which to choose etc
http://www.aerialsandtv.com/aerials.html#WidebandAerials

Inactive

Interesting link...Thanks.;)

aliEnRIK

Inactive wrote: »

Interesting link...Thanks.;)

I found this one pretty interesting too ~
Digital MYTHS
http://www.aerialsandtv.com/digitaltv.html#digitalmyths

Fifer

Conor wrote: »

<walks off shaking head> You're talking to someone who used to transmit on VLF using homebrew endfed antennas dozens of yards long which had insulators every so often which you bridged to get the right length for the frequency you're transmitting at so I know full well what I'm on about.

Then perhaps you should know better than to perpetuate the myths about 'digital' aerials? Wideband and high gain aerials (as espresso has pointed out) have many applications in the analogue domain and 'banded' or 'grouped' aerials (or 'analogue' as some people insist on calling them) are perfectly adequate for reception of digital television broadcasts in many if not most areas.

Classing the former as digital and latter as analogue is not only woefully inaccurate and misleading, but it's confusing for people too.