TV antennas

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asteven221

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I need to hook up my TV to an antenna and would be interested to hear what others use onboard.

I realise that it's a bit hit & miss in terms of picture quality, but hopefully there might be a consesus of opinion that "brand X" "model Y" is as good as I am likely to get.

Of course I could consider a satellite setup, but (for me) it's not worth the money for the limited amount of telly we watch onboard.

We can put up with less than perfect picture!
 
We can put up with less than perfect picture!

Want an honest answer ..they are all the same a bit of bent wire hanging in the sky with a 10p chinese preamp vainly attempting to boost a variable strength TV UHF signal.
Some come in a posh plastic flying saucer form for those who just love to waste their money on flash looking gizmos,next there are little birds nest thingies for the budget minded and last for your tin slug dweller who do not give a toss,a proper house antenna on a bit of scaffold pole which is turned by hand.
The last works best and is cheaper.
You pays your money :)
 
I have a ariel on the hard top but in some places its good others its really bad. I always fancied getting the sat domes but at a £2,500 price tag swmbo would go mad. Ive often thought about a caravan one like here on ebay no 330439130029 now I know you may have to ajust it as the tide moves but not that often, and for a £100 its worth a try.
 
SolentPhill said:
I have a ariel on the hard top but in some places its good others its really bad. I always fancied getting the sat domes but at a £2,500 price tag swmbo would go mad. Ive often thought about a caravan one like here on ebay no 330439130029 now I know you may have to ajust it as the tide moves but not that often, and for a £100 its worth a try.
Click to expand...

There was a recent thread on here about those Phil, or a very similar one, being sold for 50 or 60 quid at Aldi.
 
Thanks for the replies. I have an Archos 5 media tablet that has 160gb disk, which I use for films and all manner of recorded tv programmes from the house. That is a great solution as it also has about 5000 songs on it as well. That's hooked into the audio system.

That all works fine, but sometimes I want to watch whatever is on the tv e.g the news, which can be a bit snowy but watcheable for a wee while. I have a domestic amplified antenna which drive me mad adjusting it constantly whilst on a mooring. So that's out! I found a Glomex flying saucer type antenna which had been removed by the previous owner as he installed a sat system. I reinstalled that which gave no picture at all! I assume it's either faulty or useless!

My last boat had an active antenna which name escapes me. It was about the size of a jam jar and was like a very small dome in shape. It worked well but was installed at the top of a 58 foot mast! That's probably why!

Would everyone agree with my conclusion that I would be as well spend say £70 on an amplified omni directional anntena, install it on the radar arch and just take the picture I get as nothing else is likely to be any better? BTW I realise that a domestic directional outside antenna is going to offer the best picture, but I am afraid it looks too ugly for SWMBO !!
 
A omnidirectional antenna will never be as good as a directional one. In most cases an aerial like a Glomex or a Status will work fine. You will find though that it is the sensitivity of the receiver that makes the most difference.

If you are using something like a £130 Goodmans or Alba TV (or the like), or even a £19 digibox then chances are that the picture may well be 'broken' and unwatchable. An expensive TV like a Sony or a Panasonic might well perform better. It's a case of try it and see.

I find that the biggest problem isn't signal strength however, but interference from poorly screened devices that cause picture breakup. An omidirectional aerial will amplify all these unwanted signals from all around whereas a directional aerial will ignore everything not in a 'narrow' angle from the direction it is pointed.
 
I couldn't think of where exactly I would mount a Glomax or other permanent omni directional aerial, also as we don't watch a lot of TV I didn't really want to go to the expense and effort of wiring in a permanent aerial in... we don't have anything like a radar arch or the like so i bought one of these.

http://www.parkmyauto.co.uk/parkmyauto-motorhome-caravan-boat-nv-dva-536-portable-indoor-outdoor-tv-aerial-arial-ariel-858-p.asp

Ok, Ok, ignore the horrible Price drop TV / QVC influenced advertising cr*p and fear not the actual aerial itself does not have "Parkmyauto" printed on it. But it works brilliantly, no power needed, just plug into aerial socket and stick it on the cabin roof, comes with 5m of cable. I have a plan to permanently plumb in the aerial cable to the coachroof behind the scenes when I have a couple of hours to spare so happy I am with it..
 
We have had several ,marine ones over the years but all are unpredictable, helps to keep mooring lines tight to limit movement.

Has anyone tried to use the stainless steel grab rails as an aerial ?
 
Just an update. Thanks Firefly I bought the antenna on your advice from parkmyauto and tried it last night. It's brilliant! Much, much better picture than the Glomex unit and also much better than a mains powered amplified indoor domestic ariel I was using. No power required, no amps.

Thanks a lot Firefly. I would definately recommend this antenna. It's also a lot cheaper than the marine units. Also www.parkmyauto.co.uk (despite the cheapy name), were actually spot on to deal with. I ordered at 1700hrs and got delivery the following morning.
 
asteven221 said:
Just an update. Thanks Firefly I bought the antenna on your advice from parkmyauto and tried it last night. It's brilliant! Much, much better picture than the Glomex unit and also much better than a mains powered amplified indoor domestic ariel I was using. No power required, no amps.

Thanks a lot Firefly. I would definately recommend this antenna. It's also a lot cheaper than the marine units. Also www.parkmyauto.co.uk (despite the cheapy name), were actually spot on to deal with. I ordered at 1700hrs and got delivery the following morning.
Click to expand...

I am glade you also found it worked so well.... I don't quite get how these little non powered aerials work so well when the much larger powered Glomax type everyone moans about... Thanks for feedback!! If they re-branded in a professional non cheappy way and marketed it to the marine industry I am sure they would sell hundreds...
 
Firefly625 said:
I am glade you also found it worked so well.... I don't quite get how these little non powered aerials work so well when the much larger powered Glomax type everyone moans about... Thanks for feedback!! If they re-branded in a professional non cheappy way and marketed it to the marine industry I am sure they would sell hundreds...
Click to expand...

Yep I will back this up ordered it Friday 2:30 pm after reading this post it arrived Saturday morning and was put to the test Sunday and I can report it works a treat on the DVB signals.
I was getting so frustrated with the Spiders Web omni directional thing even with a power booster.
Even got the xxx channels.:D
Well worth £39.40 p&p. £7.50

Go direct to them NOT ebay they are selling them on there for £52.79 +£8.01 p&p
So you can save over £10
 
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PaulGooch said:
There was a recent thread on here about those Phil, or a very similar one, being sold for 50 or 60 quid at Aldi.
Click to expand...

I got that one off ebay was £100, said to the guy I would try or send it back, yes it is a smaller but not a lot satelite dish but it clamped to my flagpole, (have since got a pole same size) having a compass on board meant I could point 28 degree south of east and there it was a really clear signal to watch the football in the same quality as home.

The problem I thought was as the boat moves, there were a few boats going past and it didnt move, but at low tide we started to get fuzzy bits so I angled the dish up a bit, the following day at mid tide I set it again and then didnt need to change on high or low.

The down side is its a temp fix and has to be stowed and put up each time but if you watch TV and like quality, this worked.
 
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