Attic TV aerial

Beagle Boy

Hi guys,

I posted this in the Home Entertainment forum but someone recommended I post it in this one so here goes:

Hi guys,
I want to install an aerial(s) in my attic and was hoping someone could give me a few pointers. Curently I have just stripped down the cables (there are 3 in the attic) and hung them from one of the rafters and the reception is awful.

I called in to Maplin and they said I will need 2 aerials - 1 for UHF(tv3 & tg4) and 1 for VFH(rte1 & rte2). Can anyone tell me if it possible to get a single aerial to pick up both UHF and VHF? (I would be hoping this is cheaper that buying 2 ariels)

Also can anyone tell me whats involved in hooking up 2 aerials? (if I do need 2 aerials) Do I need some way of spliting the cable?

Finally I have about 3 cables coming out of the wall behind my telly, one of which I have connected to the tv, How can I tell which is the corresponding cable in the attic (there are 3 there also)?

By the way I live in Galway.

thanks,
BB

dmm1000

hi there

just wondering can anyone else confirm what those guys told you
TV3 and TG4 on UHF - thought everything was on VHF - can anyone confirm this for this fella ?

byte

TV3 and TG4 are not carried on VHF from any Transmitter in the country. They're UHF-only. RTE1 and RTE2 are VHF from some sites, the others are UHF.

The only places that TV3 and TG4 might be on VHF, is on a Cable system.

ShaneOC

Beagle Boy wrote:

Hi guys,
I called in to Maplin and they said I will need 2 aerials - 1 for UHF(tv3 & tg4) and 1 for VFH(rte1 & rte2). Can anyone tell me if it possible to get a single aerial to pick up both UHF and VHF? (I would be hoping this is cheaper that buying 2 ariels)

As has been said you first need to determine if RTÉ1 and RTÉ2 are on VHF or UHF. If they are on UHF you should only need the one aerial. If they're on VHF you will need two.

Beagle Boy wrote:

Also can anyone tell me whats involved in hooking up 2 aerials? (if I do need 2 aerials) Do I need some way of spliting the cable?

If you need a UHF and VHF aerial you will also need a diplexer. This takes a UHF and a VHF input and outputs the combined signals on a single cable.

Beagle Boy wrote:

Finally I have about 3 cables coming out of the wall behind my telly, one of which I have connected to the tv, How can I tell which is the corresponding cable in the attic (there are 3 there also)?

If you have a multimeter you can check which cable is which. Set your multimeter to the setting which checks circuits. Then join the shielding wire to the inner wire on one of the cables in the attic. Then behind the TV get the multimeter and press one of the contacts to the shield wire and the other contact to the inner wire. When you get a complete circuit you have the cable which you joined in the attic. Repeat until you have identified all of the cables.

This is actually much easier to do rather than type

Ulsterman 1690

In Galway you need a UHF aerial and a VHF aerial if you want the four Irish channels. You also need a combiner (a proper one not those horrible plastic y things) Maghera (near Gort) is your transmitter

If the signal is strong you might get away with picking up all four channels on a VHF aerial but results can be unpredictable

Combined VHF/UHF aerials can be bought abroad although Ive never seen one ! by all accounts theyre rubbish !

L1011

Ulsterman 1690 wrote:

Combined VHF/UHF aerials can be bought abroad although Ive never seen one ! by all accounts theyre rubbish !

I use one... a set-top Philips one with a 40dB amp in its base, looking out my attic window. Gives me as good picture as the VHF+UHF ones on the roof with a masthead amp and a combiner did.

And this is a fairly poor signal area, as I've shown on the IRC channel with a less amplified, lower down set-top antenna.

Beagle Boy

Hi guys,

Thanks a million for all the replies. Its great to get this sort of response.

I've checked on our little portable and RTE1&2 are on VHF so it seems to be clear that I need two aerials and a combiner/diplexer.

Will I need some extra cables to hook up to the aerials and onto the diplexer? (I assume the diplexer will be connected to the cable which goes down stairs)

Once again thanks,
BB

Ulsterman 1690

MYOB wrote:

I use one... a set-top Philips one with a 40dB amp in its base, looking out my attic window. Gives me as good picture as the VHF+UHF ones on the roof with a masthead amp and a combiner did. .

When I said ive never seen one I was referring to the passive outdoor variety.

L1011

Ulsterman 1690 wrote:

When I said ive never seen one I was referring to the passive outdoor variety.

Oh right.

I'm sure they're more common in the US than here, they've had dual transmission since the 1950's, we've only had a situation where you needed two (or three) since 1996.

byte

Beagle Boy wrote:

Hi guys,

Thanks a million for all the replies. Its great to get this sort of response.

I've checked on our little portable and RTE1&2 are on VHF so it seems to be clear that I need two aerials and a combiner/diplexer.

Will I need some extra cables to hook up to the aerials and onto the diplexer? (I assume the diplexer will be connected to the cable which goes down stairs)

Once again thanks,
BB

Yes, you'll need a few metres of extra cable to connect up your array. And the diplexer output will then feed the TV.

Fr0g

Hi hope you don't mind me butting in here but it might be relevant to the OP. I have vhf/uhf aerials in the attic and I get ghosting on VHF (RTE1+2) is there anything you can do to minimise this?

byte

Fr0g wrote:

Hi hope you don't mind me butting in here but it might be relevant to the OP. I have vhf/uhf aerials in the attic and I get ghosting on VHF (RTE1+2) is there anything you can do to minimise this?

Perhaps move the VHF aerial about, or else move it outside. Is there trees or hills in its line of sight?

Fr0g

I am hoping to avoid moving it outside, the reception is very clear on vhf i have moved it about and it is in the best position just the annoying ghosting effect. Good los no trees or hills. I'm guessing the signal is bouncing off the roof in the attic or it is getting distorted in some way by the roof tiles. I just thought there might be a few tricks you guys might know for reducing the effect.

byte

Yup, the signal is getting reflected from somewhere, so if you've clear LoS, then I guess it's the attic. VHF sometimes seems more prone to ghosting than UHF.

watty

The roof makes ghosts.

Pyro Boy

hey i was with a retailer when i was buy a new flat screen TV and was told that the Panasonic 37 inch plasma couldn't receive the Vhf signal because it is an old technology and I'd need a different TV....(i live in Monaghan) i don't have the model of the tv but i thought all these tv would still be able to receive analog tv. I was looking at tv's that are advertised having a dual tuner ( digital (mpeg2) and analog) . Can you help?

L1011

Many of the analogue TVs on the market here are taken in from the UK market where they don't have VHF analogue. So some of them don't have VHF... suicide for a retailer to sell them though, as it means no analogue cable, and no RTE1/2 in huge areas of the country.

lucernarian

That's bad.. I thought most TVs in the UK had VHF tuners now so they could be used on analogue cable in the UK. But I don't know how prevalent analogue cable is over there.

Do you get any TV3 signal where you are? If it's not too bad, it might be worthwhile trying to pick up Clermont Carn with the added bonus of receiving the test broadcast and future RTÉ DTT broadcasts next year.

Antenna

Fr0g wrote: »

I have vhf/uhf aerials in the attic and I get ghosting on VHF (RTE1+2) is there anything you can do to minimise this?

are you using a VHF/UHF diplexer to combine them? If you're just joining up the coax cables together, this can result in ghosts.

Check that the cable 'outer' (shield) in all coax connections/plugs is making good contact!
Also install aerial away from electric wiring in the attic.

You probably have not made this mistake, but is your VHF aerial vertically polarised, as it should be for your area (rods vertical, not horizontal)?
Sometimes DIYers install aerials with the wrong polarisation, leading to weak, ghosty reception.

Fr0g

Antenna wrote: »

are you using a VHF/UHF diplexer to combine them? If you're just joining up the coax cables together, this can result in ghosts.

Check that the cable 'outer' (shield) in all coax connections/plugs is making good contact!
Also install aerial away from electric wiring in the attic.

You probably have not made this mistake, but is your VHF aerial vertically polarised, as it should be for your area (rods vertical, not horizontal)?
Sometimes DIYers install aerials with the wrong polarisation, leading to weak, ghosty reception.

Well this post is from 2.5 years ago. I am not using the aerials at the moment i'm getting 4 irish stations through sky. However I am hoping to use them for the dtt service if it ever gets off the ground so I will be looking to optimize them for the new service. I will have to get the box (i'm assuming that it will be MPEG4) and will then look into it. I will only need one of the aerials then (im guessing here).

I did double check everything at the time and the connections and polarization etc. were fine. I just have to wait and see how the dtt service pans out.

Fat_Fingers

I'm in Dublin , have aerial in the attic. On Analogue picture is good on RTE1 and 2 , bad on TV3 and unwatchable on TG4. But on the DTT all perfect, never any problems. Signal is always 99-98% quality. I've never seen it go bellow 98%

Fr0g

Fat_Fingers wrote: »

I'm in Dublin , have aerial in the attic. On Analogue picture is good on RTE1 and 2 , bad on TV3 and unwatchable on TG4. But on the DTT all perfect, never any problems. Signal is always 99-98% quality. I've never seen it go bellow 98%

Good to hear that dtt is working with an attic setup. I set up mine with the future and dtt in mind although it wasn't available at the time.

Just out of interest what box are you using and is it mpeg2 or mpeg4?

Would it be worth getting a box now? Is the service constantly available?

Thanks

Fat_Fingers

When they were broadcasting mpeg2 i was using my TV , now that they are broadcasting in mpeg4 i'm using Techomate 6900 Super. Picture is perfect , there are never any interruptions in programing, mind you i can only watch TV evenings so i don't know if service is disrupted during the day.

I can't tell you if it would be worth for you getting the box now...

My box will not give me access to interactive services once they are available. Sort of no "press red button" for me.

But on the other hand i have Irish DTT and Freesat all in one box and i can sort them in favorite groups . For example i have "general" group and all irish channels, all BBC's, all ITV's all, CH4's , UTV and Five in that group. I can timeshift (pause life tv , like Sky+ feature) and record programs.
Mind, you , i never record anything but timeshift is very handy!