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Amplified extra high gain?
[Deleted User]
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I live in Farnborough, Hants and have a Sony KDL46X2000 LCD TV and a Sony RDR-HXD870B DVD Recorder BOTH with built in Digital Freeview.
I am getting some Freeview channels but not that many. (12 or so including radio).
However the EPG on the DVD recorder is showing some program details from many channels that I cannot receive. It dosn't show all the possible channels as many fields are left blank.
If I understand it correctly this page http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe with an OS Grid Ref of SU843552 suggests that all three digital transmitters could benefit from an amplified extra high gain aerial?
This site http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/postcodechecker/main/display/detailed/gu140qq/1/1 suggests that by using Crystal PalaceTransmitter 43 Good and 12 variable channels could be received.
Do you think its possible to pick up from Crystal Palace. (I don't actually know which transmitter I use at the moment anyway.
Does the fact that I can see Program details within the EPG indicate that I could receive sound and picture with a better antenna.
Any help or suggestions are welcome. Thanks
I am getting some Freeview channels but not that many. (12 or so including radio).
However the EPG on the DVD recorder is showing some program details from many channels that I cannot receive. It dosn't show all the possible channels as many fields are left blank.
If I understand it correctly this page http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe with an OS Grid Ref of SU843552 suggests that all three digital transmitters could benefit from an amplified extra high gain aerial?
This site http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/postcodechecker/main/display/detailed/gu140qq/1/1 suggests that by using Crystal PalaceTransmitter 43 Good and 12 variable channels could be received.
Do you think its possible to pick up from Crystal Palace. (I don't actually know which transmitter I use at the moment anyway.
Does the fact that I can see Program details within the EPG indicate that I could receive sound and picture with a better antenna.
Any help or suggestions are welcome. Thanks
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I would add that you may also need a masthead amplifier to get the signal up to an acceptable level.
Thanks for prompt reply. When I enter Hannington in www.digitaluk.co.uk checker it indicates no channels are likely to be available to me at present but 55 Strong Channels in 2012.
However as I said before entering Crystal Palace suggests a lot more channels would be available to me now. Do the stats indicate what chance I would have of receiving from CP?
Hannington has a big null in it's coverage to the east to avoid channel clashes with Guildford. From what others have posted on DS in the past this seems to make reception tricky in that part of the world from Hannington.
A quick and easy check to determine transmitter is to see what BBC local news you get (assuming BBC1 is one of the channels you can get). If it's South Today then you are getting Hannington. Anything else and it's CP or Guildford (Guildford requires a vertically polorised aerial so that helps distiguish it from the other two). Similarly ITV do Thames Valley news from Hannington.
Oh and Wolfbane suggests I too need an extra high gain amplified aerial. Though I actually have a rather old and who knows what condition (but certainly not "extra high gain") aerial, crappy old coax with a joint in the middle that has long since lost any protection it had from the elements and it all works perfectly Strange world these digits inhabit
On an old analogue TV that I have when I select Teletext BBC1 shows as BBC South and ITV shows as ITV South. I guess this means Hannington?
I can also receive "snowy" Carlton when my normal ITV is Meridian.
On looking at Neighbours roofs there seems to be antennas pointing in all different directions and some seem to have two in different directions.
Any ideas as to whether I can get Crystal Palace here to a decent standard?
Oh well, I guess I take the plunge and find a decent installer to talk to.
Thanks for all your input everybody!
Its shows the letters ROW.
Any ideas?
Does all this support the idea that I should get a new antenna and get it pointed to a better transmitter or have I missed the point somewhere?
Thanks again in advance
Rowridge 31, 24, 27, 21
Hannington 39, 45, 42, 66
for BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Ch4 respectively.
If you are getting a different set altogether, report back here with the numbers and we will try and work out what you are getting.
Ignore the Wolfbane site. It says I should have an "amplified extra high gain" antenna for Winter Hill analogue, the "Tower of Power" everyone here has always got a clear picture from using rubbish small rooftop aerials. I've also watched Freeview in a place where that site says "nothing within DX range" on analogue.
Its Hannington then.
Any thoughts on repositioning to Crystal Palace?
Your current options for Freeview (due to the null in the Hannington pattern as Chrisjr points out) is either Crystal Palace or Midhurst. I can get reasonable DTT signals from both here in Frimley. It will depend on whereabouts in Farnborough you are, with your height and any local obstructions, as to the sort of reception you will get. The only real way is to try it out. For Crystal Palace you will be better off with a Group A aerial. Your current aerial (assuming you are using Hannington) should be ok for Midhurst.
Very rough directions for you to see where the local aerials are pointing are: east for Crystal Palace, west for Hannington and south for Midhurst.
Good luck,
Pop
Edit - just looked at the paths between you and the transmitters using Megalithia Terrian, and it would seem Crystal Palace would be the slightly better option.
Try to download Google Earth
Find the transmitter mast and your house and use the ruler to draw a line form your house to the mast.
Zoom in on your house and print the pictures.
Eksamples:
Google pic 1
Goggle zoom
Lars
So that site may not be 100% reliable.
Wolfbane is like all the prediction sites, it's just a crude geographic estimate - it has little relation to actual performance.
But there's no way to do it accurately, so it's probably the best you can hope for?.
In reading your thread it seems like we would benefit from a better aerial as the freeview only picks up a few BBC stations reliably and even these pixelate every now and again.
We have a Virgin Media service already in place and I have found that the new TV exposes the compression that the cable services use in their broadcasts. The freeview does seem to be quite a bit better (on the BBC at least).
I contacted the place where I bought the TV with a view to getting a decent aerial company to do a site survey and possibly upgrade what we have. It seems a shame to have a decent TV and to then send in a signal that is compressed (assuming that Freeview would, on balance be better).
Given that we are in Frimley (opposite Johnsons Wax), for those who have knowledge of the area, do you think that the £120 to £180 (+VAT) that we have been given as an indicative cost to upgrade the aerial will be money well spent? Also, is this sort of figure for a standard aerial replacement or a wideband unit (£180) about the going rate for this area ?
Many thanks for your help.
Ian
my background is in mixed signal micro electronics rather than RF communications electronics.
Please could you explain a little more or point me toward an explanation of what is meant by
"muxes and analogues". Sorry to appear totally thick.
Thanks
Ian
If I understand correctly, on the basis that I'm on the fringe of reception from Hannington (where my aerial currently points), I'm picking up something on the BBC stations because the transmitter is running maximum power on Mux 1. With a better aerial I might get even better signals on Mux 1 and mux B, might get something on mux c and d but may always struggle with 2 and A.
So, to check for the quality of the installation, aside from checking a few channels on a strong mux, I should look through a number of channels on 2 and A to see if a) I can even get them b) if the picture breaks up frequently.
I think I now see your point of the spectrum analyser: if it was able to monitor the signals, I should be able to pick each one out of the noise floor if I look on the end of the UHF cable that plugs into the back of my TV.
So you cannot base reception on the published power levels from Hannington since the digital antennas are only on two sides of the mast pointing roughly west and south. If you have your anorak to hand you can see them here, the white rectangular things just below the big white cylinder right at the top of the mast (the analogue antenna)
It does affect reception to the north east to where I am as well, though from other posts on DS perhaps not a badly as your direction. Certainly in the very early days of digital I could not get a subscription to On-Digital or ITV Digital because the post code checkers they issued said digital was impossible where I am. I had been enjoying perfect Freeview reception for a couple of years before the Freeview etc. post code checkers caught up
Please see my comments in post #13 regarding reception in Frimley. I'm not too far from you, but I'm on top of the hill just behind you in the direction of Crystal Palace. As chrisjr points out, Hannington will not be suitable until DSO because of the null in the radiation pattern. The other options are Crystal Palace or Midhurst. Make sure the aerial fitter you employ does a full survey with signal analyser to choose the best transmitter (and appropriate aerial group) for your particular location. Assuming you are right down by Johnson's Wax, Paddock Hill right behind you may just be a hill too far for the Crystal Palace signal, but without measuring it there's no real way to find out.
Good luck,
Pop
Virtually all of the aerials in this part of Frimley seem to point towards Hannington. All of them are the basic 18 (?) element design. NTL have done reasonably well here by converting many to cable (including us). Hence the basic aerials left as an ornament on the roof tops.
The chap in the shop on London Road told me some time ago that it's quite difficult to pick up anything from Crystal Palace in this particular spot.
The company that I have chosen comes recommended from the Sony Centre in Camberley. They are a small company based locally and are supposed to be very experienced. Setting up an aerial in this area is clearly more than twisting an aerial until a picture appears. I'm somewhat in their hands but the great thing is that with every post I'm learning more and more. With luck they will offer me decent advice and allow me to make an informed decision.
If all else fails, I still have the signal from the Virgin Media box. It would be just great if I could rely upon Freeview though because the picture seems to be so much better.
Thanks
Ian
Those aerials pointing to Hannington are good for analogue only at the moment. At digital switchover (in 20012 in this area) the null in the Hannington radiation pattern will be removed and transmitter power increased. If you were to wait until then you might find that existing aerial systems would be adequate for Hannington.
Meantime, I've only been able to get 3 Muxes (out of 6) from Hannington, but have decent (not perfect) reception from Crystal Palace and Midhurst.
Good luck with the aerial firm and make sure there is some sort of guarantee of what your reception now (not after 2012!) will be if they propose to upgrade your aerial system.
Pop