Indoor Aerials

bobblebob

Are indoor aerials any good? Back when Freeview first became a thing indoor aerials were hit and miss. Have they improved now to the point they can be used for freeview HD?

thescouselander

If you mean those tiny ones you stick on top of/next to the TV then they're always going to be a bit rubbish as they're simply not big enough to provide the gain required to receive a decent signal in doors.

I've have a good bit of success using the high gain antennas that go in the loft though.

TadleyBaggie

I can see my transmitter (Hannington) but I've never been able to get a signal good enough for Freeview with an internal aerial.

SpanishBlue

I used to use a cheap (£7 or £8 I think) indoor aerial on a TV in the kitchen. Most channels were fine - certainly all the main channels, but a small number of channels would either break up or I could not pick them up at all. The TV did not receive HD, so no idea if they would work.

Marvqn1

I use an indoor aerial for Freeview and I recieve every channel with no picture break up.

It depends on the signal strength in your area. Based on what I've read, if an indoor aerial can get regular Freeview with a good picture then it should recieve Freeview HD okay.

ohreally

I use an indoor aerial and most channels show in the region of 90% signal strength.

teddysmum

We used to have an old fashioned all wire aerial for use with a portable on our canal boat and that was pretty useless, even at home, as the smallest movement or someone walking near it were enough to cause interference.


However, we bought one of those that looks like a mini plane to use in the caravan, choosing the one with mains amplifier, but at home it works fine without the mains part, though we are only about 4 miles from a transmitter, which is situated on a hillside, higher than we are.

Neil_Jones

My 7 year aerial picks Freeview up no problem. Had issues prior to digital switchover as the signal wasn't strong enough but now it isn't an issue. Issues on windy days though as I suspect it has to get a signal through a tree but apart from that, mostly fine.

And I can have it on the floor in front of a chest of drawers and the bedroom door and still get a signal from it, which bemuses me but there we are.

It may be luck of the draw as what chips are in the aerial, much like the chips in broadband routers some are better than others.

ashleypride

Neil_Jones wrote: »

It may be luck of the draw as what chips are in the aerial, much like the chips in broadband routers some are better than others.

It is not, a aerial is a lump of metal - it doesn't contain any chips.

Indoor aerials with integrated amplifiers are a marketing gimmick. An amplifier is to make up for any loss in the cable, or any occurring from splitting the signal. It cannot make a aerial perform any better.