Indoor Freeview HD Amplified Aerial

I've currently got an old "One For All" aerial hooked up to my Freeview TV but now getting fed up with it as it's temperamental about which channels it picks up.

I've seen some newer amplified aerials recently that claim up to 50db amplified signal. Not sure exactly what this means and if it will make any difference.

The other reason is my current aerial is quite unsightly being one of those with a plastic hoop and two long extendable aerials. The amplified aerials are the small flat square ones that can be attached to a wall.

Any advice on which of these products may be the ones to go for?

Comments

  • evil cevil c Posts: 7,833
    Forum Member
    You're never going to get a sparkling performance on HD from an indoor aerial and careful research on your part will be needed to find one. Price might not be the best judge for this. Your best bet by far is a rooftop aerial.

    Freeview Reception - all about aerials: http://www.ukfree.tv/fullstory.php?storyid=1107051054

    Digital UK: http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/

    Freeview transmitters: http://www.ukfree.tv/transmitters.php
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    I've currently got an old "One For All" aerial hooked up to my Freeview TV but now getting fed up with it as it's temperamental about which channels it picks up.

    I've seen some newer amplified aerials recently that claim up to 50db amplified signal. Not sure exactly what this means and if it will make any difference.

    The other reason is my current aerial is quite unsightly being one of those with a plastic hoop and two long extendable aerials. The amplified aerials are the small flat square ones that can be attached to a wall.

    Any advice on which of these products may be the ones to go for?
    Unless you have a TV transmitter in your back garden an indoor aerial is often bad news. They only work properly in strong signal areas.

    The 50dB refers to how much the built in amplifier increases the signal level received by the aerial. It may sound impressive but it is about as much use as a chocolate fire guard if the wanted signal is buried in the noise. No amplifier yet designed can extract the wanted signal and amplify that excluding the noise. All it does is amplify both wanted signal and noise. So you don't get any improvement in reception quality.

    Indoor aerials are at a disadvantage for several reasons. First off is the size. The size of an aerial can have a direct bearing on how well it extracts a signal from the air. It's not for nothing that a high gain outdoor aerial tends to be quite large. So an indoor aerial tends to have a lower signal output to start with.

    Then you add on the fact they are used indoors. Every wall and floor the signal has to pass through to get to the aerial degrades it. Further reducing the amount of signal it produces.

    Amplification cannot really compensate for the inherent lack of raw signal. So unless you live reasonably close to a transmitter and have a good strong signal to start with an indoor aerial might not give you decent reception.
  • iangradiangrad Posts: 813
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    OP : Question , are you staying put at you home for the next few months / years ?

    If yes get a outside aerial fitted -- problem solved

    Indoor aerials are hopeless unless you live in a very strong signal area and even then they can be temperamental . You know what to do LOL
  • Doghouse RileyDoghouse Riley Posts: 32,491
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    As I've mentioned elsewhere, a lot depends on where you are as to what sort of signal you can get with any aerial.
    In the seventies, I put a "recycled" 6ft dipole 405 line TV aerial in our loft, for my new Leak tuner/amp. It even had the original "thin" coax cable. I've not looked at it in decades.
    When Freeview first came out, I just plugged it into the back of the TV and got a perfect picture on all channels. Although the TV in that room was really only used as a second set as we've another TV on Virgin+... a few months ago, we swapped the old TV for a new Panasonic Viera HD and immediately got an excellent HD picture, equal to the one on the set on cable in the other room.
    We get a great picture on all channels, with the exception of the two "Movies for Men" where according to the data on the TV, the signal strength is less than 50% but it's still good enough to watch on the rare occasions its used and it doesn't break up.
Sign In or Register to comment.