TV Aerial Help!

theduke88

Since i moved into my new house 18 months ago i have been using a roof aerial mounted in my loft.

reception has been poor via this method but every now and then i get all the channels and soemtimes very few.

what i would like to know is what kind of aerial i have currently , ie : elements db etc

i have uploaded some pictures and i am prepared to burn the oil to get this solved if anyone out there can assist

thanks in advance - the picture links are below


http:// s632.photobucket.com/albums/uu50/delboy88/

kwikbreaks

It looks like a reasonably high gain aerial which is probably freeview capable (ie wideband).

It will be pretty directional so possibly rotating it while somebody is watching the TV will improve things - this would be easier to see on an analogue channel. It looks to me as if it may have been mounted for convenience rather than performance as it runs parallel to the roof.

Check the coax connection isn't shorting out where it connects to the aerial.

How does the size of this aerial compare with those on other peoples roofs - if everybody else has monster aerials on big poles it may well be that you need that too and having the aerial in the loft will not give a good enough signal.

That design would probably give 3dB gain over a 12 element yagi (one with just rods rather than the X style elements that one has) but whoever makes it is likely calling it a 42 to 48+ element depending how they class the driven element and reflector (the one where you connect coax and the one right at the back) and claiming some huge gain.

One final thing worth checking - that aerial is mounted for horizontal polarisation which is the norm but some transmitters use vertical - have a look at other peoples aerials which are not that X style - are the rods horizontal or vertical?

Inactive

Adding to the good advice given above.

The " gold coloured " aerial that you have is of poor quality, mainly found on eBay, I would suggest changing it for a better known quality brand.