What type aerial for Three Rock?

Alun

I'm getting around to buying an aerial for Saorview reception from Three Rock, and am wondering whether it'll make any difference whether I get the correct group aerial (C/D, I believe?) or a wide band one? I'm only about 10km from the transmitter and can see it easily from my house (on a clear day, unlike today, at least!) and would ideally like to put it in the attic if possible. There doesn't seem to be any difference in price, so what advantages, if any, would there be to a group C/D aerial in my specific case?

I should add that I'm getting reasonable reception from an indoor aerial at the moment, but getting the occasional picture breakup, so want to do the job properly.

John mac

stick a c/d aerial in the attic.

lucernarian

So long as there's an easy way to get a cable from the attic to e.g. the living room (by routing the cable through the ceiling or an existing empty conduit behind the wall or bringing it outside and then back in through the wall) then the attic should work fine once there's not foil-backed insulation between you and Three Rock! A wideband will work nearly as well as a group C/D but you only need reception in Group C/D after analogue switches off next year.

Just make sure you hang the aerial right and in a place which you can safely access. It won't work very well if it's left lying on the ceiling joists. Hanging it with some string from the rafters of the roof would work. If string can't be looped through, a staple gun or else some cable clips or nails can be useful here. Fixing a pole to a joist or other beam, and then fixing the aerial to the pole or timber baton or whatever you have at hand would also work. You can also buy aerial kits which have a wall bracket, these can be used in the attic or adapted to fasten to a beam.

mollser

Just curious, given clear line of site and distance etc, should a rabbit ears work in this case?

lucernarian

I'd say yes but local factors affect the use of rabbits ears the most. There's little to use with trying rabbits ears at least. Don't be suprised if closing the fridge door or switching on a nearby light causes a little picture breakup however.

winston_1

Rabbits ears are VHF aerials and totally unsuitable. Don't waste money when you can do the job properly.

lucernarian

If they work, can €2 or €5 be considered a waste? Especially with LOS to the mast? Rabbits ears are often used as a catch all term for indoor aerials anyway and the typical ones are adjustable to make them work better at UHF also. Finally, they appear to work no better or worse than much of the other overpriced muck that passes for indoor aerials in the big outlets, from my own subjective tests.

I've discussed these points and others before, I won't air them again here. The numbers of people on this forum who speak of success with indoor aerials in Dublin in particular can speak for itself. There are issues with using them and once they're highlighted readers can make up their own minds.

mollser, if you're enquiring about a particular setup, do let us know what you use and if it works!

John mac

here is my aerial, stuck onto the side of a radiator under the computer bench!

(i cant see the transmitter from here as its just behind a mountain top)
but its only 25km away.
it really depends on location.

(i have a proper aerial in the attic for the main tv but this does fine for the pc)

steveq

I had a rabbits ears aerial getting reception from Three Rock. It worked quite well (signal quality up to about 7/10) until about a month ago when the reception seemed to deteriorate (signal quality fluctuated between 2/10 and 6/10).

I bought a reasonably cheap small C/D outdoor aerial with a view to installing it in the attic or outdoors. I tried it in the living room beside the TV to make sure my cable connections were OK and found that the the reception was perfect.

I now have it sitting out of sight on the floor in the living room behind the TV. Signal quality is consistently up at 10/10 and no cost / hassle of a big install job .

Alun

I have a small UHF indoor aerial at the moment and reception is generally quite good, but I still get occasional glitches and sometime short periods of quite severe blocking.

I think the problem is that the direction it has to point is only about 10 degrees off parallel to the front of the house, and is placed slap bang in the middle of the house, so is currently pointing straight at a dividing wall through our next door neighbour's half of the semi, and probably through a large part of the rest of the street as well. If I can get an aerial into the attic, I can put it closer to the front of the house and it'll then be pointing out into clear air.

mollser

Just getting around to setting this up, and the aerial sticky thread seems more focussed on outdoor aerials.

John Mac - what is that aerial and where can I buy one?

I bought a one4all indoor aerial yesterday for €10 but now having looked it up they're meant to be poxy, and I can confirm that. It will be going back.

Which one of these should be up to the task??

http://www.argos.ie/static/Browse/ID72/14419536/c_1/1%7Ccategory_root%7CHome+entertainment+and+sat+nav%7C14419512/c_2/2%7Ccat_14419512%7CTelevision+aerials+and+boosters%7C14419536.htm

Are the amplified aerials supposedly better?

I'm in Sandyford, so just under three rock transmitter.
Thanks!

steveq

Hi,

I am surprised that your indoor aerial won't work. You are probably nearer to Three Rock than me and I got reasonable, if a bit patchy, reception from a "rabbits ears" aerial. Your new aerial should be better.

Do you get any reception at all?

mollser

It did a bit Steve, waving it around in the air I was able to improve the RTE2 picture, but not of the quality I would like. This is an analogue signal I'm testing with my existing tele. Its a one4all, so judging by the comments on boards I should be able to get much better performance from different brands...

My new Saorview tele is coming tomorrow so wanted all the pieces in place first!

I'm using an indoor aerial in Fairview. If I leave it on the window sill, the signal strength is at 90/91% and the BER is stable... until a car goes by. At that point I get breakup and sound dropouts.

Vince Cable

mollser wrote: »

Its a one4all, so judging by the comments on boards I should be able to get much better performance from different brands...

No you won't, one4all are just singled out because they are heavily marketed.

mollser

Ah right, fair enough. Are the amplified aerials any use??

I'll wait till the tele arrives and see what happens.