DY14WB

jonnygee

Does anyone know where i can buy a DY14WB aerial in Ireland.

Peter Rhea

You mean the type sold by ATV? I think it's a Fracarro make, try searching for that.

The Cush

Peter Rhea wrote: »

I think it's a Fracarro make, try searching for that.

Fracarro Omega 14

www.mtduk.tv/LiteratureRetrieve.aspx?ID=105448
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showpost.php?p=47054565&postcount=9

popgun

Try Armstrong electronics in bluebell avenue,dublin. 014509480 or maybe electroplus in knockmitten lane, dublin 014196240. If neither have it I'm sure they could either order it or tell you where to go.

jonnygee

wil try those, iv,e settled on buying that aerial but am finding it difficult to source here. thanks for the replies.

jeltz

That kind of aerial is derived from ones used in broadcasting and also for amateur radio and some other technical uses. The reason is that it has good VSWR characteristics and a 'smooth' gain plot neither of which is really needed for domestic tv reception but may be preferred for DX ing though again you could live without.

It is more popular on the continent, the Wisi version is popular in the Low Countries and surrounding countries because it has very low wind loading. With the huge number of transmitters in the area they often have a number of antenna on the mast and wind is a big problem in the flat lands. There are a lot of through the roof installs that sound scary when the big wind blows.

In some places they refer to aerials as a 'rake'! Its fun to say you have a rake on your roof.

The Wisi EB-66 is channelized to continental standards which are different to our own (generally band IV and 'band IV and a bit', say to E42 and roughly Group E and wideband being most common among continental brands with diplexers etc to match). There are four versions measuring between 194 to 233cm. Its not cheap, but then you get what you pay for.

That website is an odd meandering one. It is obviously intended to browbeat people into buying stuff. Stick to tvtrade.ie or cpc farnell ireland or uk, both are well regarded.

Looking through the website I can recognize quite a few of the aerials. Thats because the aerial manufacturers deliberately make them recognizable and not because I need a life.

Bear in mind he is over-complicating all of this. Do I get an award for getting through all of it? Its only a tv aerial for gawds sake!

XB22WB - instantly recognizable as the famous Fracarro 'bow tie' that has been around for decades, at least 30+ years. Big but I think they do smaller ones. Years ago when there was less choice it was highly regarded for analogue DX where it was frequently the subject of grainy black and white photos in childish thingy waving contests. The Kathrein AOT 65 is more highly regarded on the continent and is better on the low frequencies. Both are close to 3 meters long. Theres the shorter slightly lower gain AOS 65 but the cheaper Wisi is just as good and more robust. If anyone says the Fracarro is better than the Kathrein just say "Muntje used the Kathrein maaaaan" cause he did!

XB16 E - obviously an Antiference with that distinctive x shape it is the XG16EW, the EW means it is a group E that covers Wideband. If you wanted true wideband coverage, this diplexed with a group A rear mount DX8A beneath it on the pole would give stellar high gain wideband coverage with less windloading than two big cradle mounts.

XB16 A, B, K - obviously a Blake with the Jaybeam style x shape. Blake DMX16 range.

DY14WB - Fracarro Omega, Wisi plus a range of other brands available on the continent. These are mass produced in China in different lengths with different reflector styles which give some a higher wind loading than others. The smaller ones aren't any better than a similar size yagi which is why they are not readily available here. The ones you want are about 240cm long. It might be easier to get the Antiference XG16EW from CPC.

XB10 - Blake DMX10, I have one. I also have an Antiference XG and you can freely substitute a XG8, XG9 or XG10 as needed.

Yagi 18 - Blake SR18, you can substitute Antiference TCX18 or Triax SG18 as needed. The TCX is the updated version of the very popular TC range.

Contract aerials - fine where signals are strong, loads round here that have weathered 30+ years of storms. He'd rather you got something from him at £35 than say an Antiference RX12 at £6 or RX20 at £10 which a lot of installers are using instead of contracts these days.

Log Periodics - available under a range of brand names, mass made in China. He seems to do the full range of tiddlers, small/medium and large ones. In almost all cases it is safer to get the large ones which are about a meter long ('Log 40'). The tiddlers are for where you live 5-7 miles from a main transmitter and can see it clearly.

Grid - seems to be a Blake grid. Strangely he does not say what a grid is actually for! Loads of grids round here pointing into stands of trees and small forests where the narrower beamwidth of a yagi is not so useful. I have no idea why he does not sell them. Perhaps he regards them as a kind of christmas decoration that has been left on the house. If so, there are loads of forgetful people around. . . :rolleyes:

Remember the laws of physics mean true wideband coverage is impossible with a yagi, only a log periodic gives true flat wideband coverage, with the grid also useful.

The ONLY way to get true wideband coverage with yagis is to diplex a Group A and a Group E, or a Group A and a Group W. When they become avaiable a E21 - E60 Group W is better than the E21 - E69.

If there is another 4G sell off and we are left with E21 - E48 then Group K will become the wideband yagi BUT combining Group A and Group B aerials will still give maximum wideband performance.

Blake are round the corner from him 1.7 miles according to Google maps so I guess that is why he uses them.

My head hurts after battling that website.

I wonder what the newcomer to aerials would make of it?!

jeltz

I forgot to say that Taylor Brothers of Oldham carry some Wisi aerials, though not the EB-66. It can be got from the continent for less than a Fracarro alternative.

If you are using an amplifier you might find that because the aerial gain is so high it increases the chance of interference from distant transmitters on adjacent channels. A notch filter may help. Channel pass filters and channel group filters can also be useful at times. Channel pass filters are particularly useful if you want to combine one channel (eg the Saorview mux) from a second aerial with the wideband aerial without adding the noise or other channels from the second aerial which would interfere with the wideband output of the first aerial. Taylors Brothers www.taylorbros.co.uk (under 'Filters and Filter levellers CATV') carry a full range which are hand tuned to your requirements and their customer service people are very helpful.

Wisi used to do a grid cut for E21 - E60 to suit some of the old continental broadcast systems. It became obsolete but now Europe is E21 - E60 no doubt they will make it again (it is not on the website). It has slightly better performance on the lower frequencies than the current E21 - E69 version which is perhaps the best grid available on the market today.

Peter Rhea

jeltz wrote: »

If you are using an amplifier you might find that because the aerial gain is so high it increases the chance of interference from distant transmitters on adjacent channels.

Can't DVB-T tolerate something like a 25dB higher signal level in an adjacent channel? You're not going to pull that in from a 'distant transmitter'.

jeltz

It does happen, especially when atmospheric conditions force it. It may only happen for part of the year but is still annoying when it happens.

Peter Rhea

I'd seriously doubt anything like that would ever happen in this part of the world. I don't think conditions ever get to be that extreme.

jeltz

With a big 240cm extra high gain aerial and a powerful amplifier it is best to be prepared for the possibility.

Hopefully he will be interference free and be able to enjoy his telly without annoying interruptions.

Peter Rhea

He'd get problems from co-channel interferers long before anything on an adjacent channel got to that kind of level (apart maybe from 4G/LTE, if his wanted transmissions are near the top of the band).

jeltz

4G LTE filters are now available. Triax has non- and power pass versions available, though only to installers so far.

In time it will be like TETRA filtration and will be in almost all amps, etc.