antenna info needed

fatboymsport

Hi all

i am nearly finished my new house and want to get a aerial up for TV i dont really want to get sky as i dont look at much tv.

i'm just outside kildare town so i think me nearest TX is mount lenister there is bad recption on a set top aerial on rte1&2 but tv3 and tg4 are ok.

i have tv points in most rooms but the wiring is a bit of a shambles so i wont worry about them until i get the main room sorted.

so basically what sort of an aerial do i need is there such thing as a dualband v/uhf one or do i need 2 im also intrested in the upcomming Dtt so want to be compatible with that.

i will be doing the work myself so what do people recommend i do not want to use an amplifer of any kind

Mayo Exile

You might be getting your reception from Kippure as well as Mt. Leinster. You need to check first to see which mast you are getting.

Have a look at this link for TV frequencies:

http://www.geocities.com/corkradio/tvch.html

Mt. Leinster - RTE1 and RTE 2 are VHF vertically polarised, channels F and I. TV3 and TG4 are UHF Group A horizontally polarised, channels 26 and 23.

Kippure - RTE1 and RTE 2 are VHF horizontally polarised, channels E and H. TV3 and TG4 are UHF Group C/D horizontally polarised, channels 62 and 59.

You say you are getting good reception already for TV3 and TG4 via a settop aerial. So an externally mounted aerial should give you very good reception without the need for a mast head amplifier & power supply. Attached pictures show examples. First is a UHF aerial, horizontally polarised (3 actually!). A UHF aerial for Mt. Leinster should have red plastic plugs to show its suitable for group A reception. A UHF aerial for Kippure should have green plugs, suitable for group C/D reception.

Also note that these colours are matched to the UHF groups as a guide in the webpage above.

Next pic is a VHF aerial. Strictly speaking its an aerial for DAB radio reception. But DAB radio operates in the same frequencies, so most VHF TV aerials will look similar to this example. It may have more or less elements though. Finally there is a UHF/VHF combiner. You need this if you are going to have two aerials. Run co-axial cable from the two aerials to this device, then a single cable to your TV. Finally, but importantly!, as it is a new job, put in good quality coaxial cable - use CT/WF100 if you can. Read this article about why. It seems a bit long but it is useful nonetheless.

Link: http://www.glodark.com/cable.htm

If you want at a later date to send a signal from your aerial to the other TV points in the house you will need to use a distribution amplifier of some sort. This will prevent loss of signal quality that occurs when using a splitter to send a signal from just one aerial to more than one TV.

As regards DTT, its meant to begin in Autumn of next year in MPEG4 standard. To pick up DTT, a UHF aerial is needed to receive them. So what you install now should pick up DTT in the future.

However it would seem tests (in the MPEG4 standard) are already coming from Mt. Leinster (if you can receive them).

See here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055345708

fatboymsport

thanks for the reply it was just what i was after.

and i have all the tv points wired with CT100 allready i am into Amateur Radio so Low Loss Coax is my life blood

i forgot about Kippure i will look into which one i am getting i know i can get both as when i do a scan i get each channel twice

Mayo Exile

No problem. Good to see you are using CT100. Also I forgot to add: look at other houses near you to see what aerial setups they have. Have they got the two aerials that you may need? Also look where they are pointing. This could help decide which transmitter is right for you. Kippure would be east and Mt. Leinster south.

As regards DTT, both these masts are due to come online at the same time for an Autumn 2009 launch of the service if you ignore the current tests from Mt. Leinster.

fatboymsport

the test from mt leinster is something that would intrest me so i will try getting signal from there first.

thanks again

Mayo Exile

Ok. Just be wary though about spending loads of euros on any equipment for DTT. No harm mentioning again that Irish DTT from here on out will be MPEG4 only.

Loads of threads here in the terrestrial forum at the moment on this topic.

fatboymsport

where is the best place to get antennas and the like in the lenister area.

and looking at that uhf antenna you showed above i was planning on a slightly larger one for more gain do the need to for a specific section of the band or are the widebanded.

i think im getting reception from kippure as it is closer and i can see it from the upstairs window.

thomasking22008

you can get one in maplin it cheaper for arrow aerial i bought for €50 for aerial and power booster about €20 i put it all my self for rte 1 and 2 and tv3 and tg4 all good picture

Mayo Exile

fatboymsport: as mentioned above, if going for Kippure - RTE1 and RTE 2 are VHF horizontally polarised, channels E and H.

TV3 and TG4 are UHF Group C/D horizontally polarised, channels 62 and 59.

Group C/D UHF aerial (for Kippure) should have the green plastic plugs at each end. This will show the aerial is for Group C/D in the UHF band. If you want a wideband aerial, it should have black plastic plugs to indicate this. How was your reception from Kippure via the set top aerial? Was that the good reception on TV3 and TG4 as you indicated in your original post? If it is/was, I would say a larger UHF aerial would not be needed. Just check this again.

Don't forget, you need a VHF aerial for RTE 1/2.

Don't where you would buy aerials in your area. Nobody in your locality?

Available here online too: http://www.cpconline.ie/

thomasking22008

my area is in atherney i have wideband aerial using uhf and vhf in atlic all rte and bbc and utv all very good picture signal come from westport and lougrea it use better

thomasking22008

but in south east alway have vhf and uhf depend good picture ok