How to buy the best indoor aerial

VfM4meplse

These aren't an expensive item, but there are so many to pick from its worth getting one that does the job well, esp as I will be positioning it near an outside wall and not near a window. The TV is linked to Apple TV so I can stream most things online, but would like to get the Freeview working.

Any recommendations from personal experience? I've had a look at the Which? website but am not a subscriber.

teddysmum

I bought one years ago,from Argos, for use in our caravan. It is one that looks like an aeroplane wing and has a mains run booster, but it works at home without the booster.


If you try one from Argos, you can take it back if it doesn't work as expected. (They only appear to have the non-boosted ones at £13.99 now, but may be upgraded from the one I bought)

[Deleted User]

The problem with indoor aerials is that they can work perfectly well in one house, but be completely useless in another.

As such I have no recommendations, but I can tell you that Which recommends
the One For All SV9215 (78%) and the SLx 27769RG (79%) both can be had for around £20.

Kurtis_Blue

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Labgear-LPCT-Compact-Periodic-Aerial/dp/B00LFMVQN2/


Amplified version, needs 5V:
http://www.plutodirect.co.uk/antiference-20-element-log-periodic-w-b.html

These are great, not a dedicated "indoor aerial" but only 40cm and much better then any indoor types.

If you have the TV next to an external wall why cant you put the aerial the other side of the wall, ie outside?

VfM4meplse

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

The problem with indoor aerials is that they can work perfectly well in one house, but be completely useless in another.

As such I have no recommendations, but I cgan tell you that Which recommends
the One For All SV9215 (78%) and the SLx 27769RG (79%) both can be had for around £20.

Kurtis_Blue wrote: »

These are great, not a dedicated "indoor aerial" but only 40cm and much better then any indoor types.

If you have the TV next to an external wall why cant you put the aerial the other side of the wall, ie outside?

Thanks! I shall try one of these recommendations.

The TV is used very occasionally, when I have guests staying overnight. Tbh I'm not prepared to drill a hole through an outside wall / rent another box given that it is rarely used.

Moneymaker

1. The longer the aerial, the better (the higher the gain factor).

2. An aerial works best if it is well away from the TV and other sources of interference.

3. An aerial indoors works best if it is pointing through a window towards the transmitter (although sometimes you can get a strong, reflected signal off a building in the opposite direction). In contrast, a solid wall will block most of the signal, as will any aluminised window (solar-reflecting) or aluminium-backed plasterboard.

4. A "booster" is a waste of time.

Rodders53

Moneymaker wrote: »

1. The longer the aerial, the better (the higher the gain factor).

<snip>

4. A "booster" is a waste of time.

1. Not always. It depends on Location and the transmitter proximity. It is possible to have too much gain and results in receiver overload. {This is particularly relevant in locations where set-top / room aerials are found to work well.}

4. Not always. An ampllifier aka booster may make up for signal losses when splitting the signal from one antenna to multiple receivers, or with very long cable runs in some houses. In some locations it may be needed (on the antenna mast head) because the signal is too weak for a passive antenna alone to work reliably.

@OP Read this http://www.aerialsandtv.com/aerials.html#basic and
http://www.rica.org.uk/content/indoor-aerials tests some.

vale46_2

i got this from Argos a few weeks back works a treat
Telecam TCE2000 Indoor Aerial.