Aldi 48 Element Digital TV Aerial

bagels

As I think the Aerial is categorised as Terrestrial, I hope its ok to post this here.

I'm interested in buying this TV Aerial and I'm hoping some posters here can offer their knowledgeable opinions as to whether I should.

48 Element Digital TV Aerial
https://www.aldi.ie/en/specialbuys/hurry-while-stocks-last/hurry-while-stocks-last/ps/p/48-element-digital-tv-aerial/

I also hope to buy this item:
Saorview Set Top Box
https://www.aldi.ie/en/specialbuys/hurry-while-stocks-last/hurry-while-stocks-last/ps/p/saorview-set-top-box/

If any of you see them in an Aldi store I'd be very grateful for a heads-up, thanks.

The Cush

bagels wrote: »

48 Element Digital TV Aerial
https://www.aldi.ie/en/specialbuys/h...tal-tv-aerial/

I also hope to buy this item:
Saorview Set Top Box
https://www.aldi.ie/en/specialbuys/h...w-set-top-box/

For that price the aerial is probably pretty flimsy, more suited for an attic installation if signal strength allows than an exposed external installation.

Regarding the Saorview box it'll do as it says on the tin but someone did mention here previously it doesn't have buttons for channel up/down, menu etc. so that if you lose the r/c you're ******.

hju6

https://www.aldi.ie/en/specialbuys/hurry-while-stocks-last/hurry-while-stocks-last/ps/p/48-element-digital-tv-aerial/

010101110110111

bagels

hju6 wrote: »

https://www.aldi.ie/en/specialbuys/hurry-while-stocks-last/hurry-while-stocks-last/ps/p/48-element-digital-tv-aerial/

010101110110111

Its 40 years or more since I've forgotten binary code so I'd be grateful if you'd translate, especially if your comment is relevant, thanks

watty

It's probably really a flimsy 12 Element aerial. I'd only use it in an attic. Today marketing counts each spike / rod as an element, which is really a lie.

"Digital" is misleading. Aerials are not "Digital". The only things that matter are

• Robustness
• Balun
• Front to Back Ratio (Interference rejection)
• Side Lobes (Interference rejection)
• Bandwidth / Group on UHF band.
• Actual gain without an amplifier and MUST state if compared to Dipole (dBd) or theoretical Isotropic radiator (dBi). The dbi figure is about 2 dB more than dBd as gain of a dipole is about 2 dBi

The length of boom vs wavelength is a better guide of gain than artificially inflated number of elements as there are three main designs:
Log Periodic: Lowest gain for number of elements, but most wide band. lowest side lobes.
Sparse Yagi: Only larger aerials, most gain for number of elements
Standard Yagi: Can have severe side lobes if gain designed too high for size.

Front to back ratio and side lobes depends on Reflector design and spacing of 1st director.

You are buying a "pig in a poke" with these kind of aerials as there is no spec. Often they are not even designed but copied poorly from some other cheap aerial.

The simplest & plainest Yagi are often best performance and always more robust.
e.g. The SR18 model chosen for a particular group.
http://www.blake-uk.com/sr-yagi
Even the SR10 will seriously outperforms the Aldi aerial in robustness and probably every other aspect.

For more gain I pair two or make a quad out of two pairs. Performance and robustness then better than Unix 100 or any other giant aerial from Triax or Kathrein.

St Senan

That Aerial is of the same type that TV shops flogged for €35-€50 to the public during the build up to the ASO. Phillix or SLX are the brand names, To be honest i wouldn't dream of putting that on a pole on your chimney or in fact outside at all. It would probably be ok for an Attic install in a strong signal area. The Aerial itself is even to big for the flimsy bracket that comes with it.

jpb14

Nothing wrong with the 48 element aerial.I bought 1 in Aldi Clonee and its a grand bit of kit.Perfect Saorview TV and Radio reception from it to all TVs in the house.A great bargain for 15 euro.:)

Peter Rhea

jpb14 wrote: »

Nothing wrong with the 48 element aerial.I bought 1 in Aldi Clonee and its a grand bit of kit.Perfect Saorview TV and Radio reception from it to all TVs in the house.A great bargain for 15 euro.

A lot of things, taken in isolation, have 'nothing wrong' with them. Have you compared your 'great bargain' to any other aerials costing the same or less?

jpb14

Peter Rhea wrote: »

A lot of things, taken in isolation, have 'nothing wrong' with them. Have you compared your 'great bargain' to any other aerials costing the same or less?

Whats with the bitchy post?
I had a 48 element aerial on my previous house wall from B&Q before that cost the guts of 70 euro and the Aldi aerial is just as good if not better and for a fraction of the cost at 15 euro.
I bought the Aldi 48 element aerial and installed it on my new house.Its a grand bit of kit that does the job perfectly for not alot of euros.
Please dont be so negative or bitchy towards my post,as all I am doing is giving the OP an honest review of the Aldi aerial.

Sterling Archer

I'd check that saorview box against this list http://www.saorview.ie/get-saorview/saorview-approved-product-listings/

Could give some hassle if it's not "approved

jpb14

For the record the Aldi aerial in the Ops link was being originally sold at 30 euro.Aldi then offered it for sale at half price,15 euro.
They were also recently selling 6kg powder fire extinguishers for 10 euro each,reduced down from 25 euro.I bought 2 of those aswell,1 for kitchen and 1 for upstairs landing in my house.

el pasco

jpb14 wrote: »

Whats with the bitchy post?
I had a 48 element aerial on my previous house wall from B&Q before that cost the guts of 70 euro and the Aldi aerial is just as good if not better and for a fraction of the cost at 15 euro.
I bought the Aldi 48 element aerial and installed it on my new house.Its a grand bit of kit that does the job perfectly for not alot of euros.
Please dont be so negative or bitchy towards my post,as all I am doing is giving the OP an honest review of the Aldi aerial.

I also got that aerial does grand job
You can make your own aerial with a bit of wood and a few wires if you want

jpb14

el pasco wrote: »

I also got that aerial does grand job
You can make your own aerial with a bit of wood and a few wires if you want

Glad to hear it.:)

Peter Rhea

jpb14 wrote: »

Whats with the bitchy post?
I had a 48 element aerial on my previous house wall from B&Q before that cost the guts of 70 euro and the Aldi aerial is just as good if not better and for a fraction of the cost at 15 euro. . .

. . . Please dont be so negative or bitchy towards my post,as all I am doing is giving the OP an honest review of the Aldi aerial.

This isn't 'Bargain Alerts'. I've handled a couple of a very similar looking aerial from another retailer & the quality of the plastic used certainly leaves something to be desired, with the parts holding the director elements deforming so, everything bends forward (probably no detrimental effect on performance, looks crappy though). These particular aerials couldn't be used outside without extra securing of the dipole assembly & attention paid to weatherproofing.

Add the fact that it's a fairly big, ugly looking thing, whose job could in a lot of cases be done by something more discrete, of equal or better performance &, similar or cheaper price.

Shane_ef wrote: »

I'd check that saorview box against this list http://www.saorview.ie/get-saorview/saorview-approved-product-listings/

If it isn't approved, they shouldn't be calling it a Saorview box.

jpb14

Peter Rhea wrote: »

This isn't 'Bargain Alerts'. I've handled a couple of a very similar looking aerial from another retailer & the quality of the plastic used certainly leaves something to be desired, with the parts holding the director elements deforming so, everything bends forward (probably no detrimental effect on performance, looks crappy though). These particular aerials couldn't be used outside without extra securing of the dipole assembly & attention paid to weatherproofing.

Add the fact that it's a fairly big, ugly looking thing, whose job could in a lot of cases be done by something more discrete, of equal or better performance &, similar or cheaper price.



If it isn't approved, they shouldn't be calling it a Saorview box.

Peter,please dont just go and rubbish something just because it was bought on the cheap or was got as a bargain.
My bargain of an Aldi aerial has survived recent hurricane strength storms and winds of 140kph,it has stood up to heavy driving persistant rain and also a blocked and overflowing gutter steadily pouring water down ontop of it.
So thats my 1st hand personal experience and review of my "15 euro bargain Aldi aerial".

jpb14

OP,that aerial was originally on sale about 3-4 months ago in Aldi stores nationwide for 30 euro.They had some overstock and Aldi dropped the price down to 15 euro,but that was about 2 months ago.
You might still be lucky to get 1,as there were some left in Aldi Clonee and also Drogheda about 2 weeks ago.
Best of luck,hope you find 1.15 euro and dont forget theres a 3 year warranty too.

Peter Rhea

jpb14 wrote: »

My bargain of an Aldi aerial has survived recent hurricane strength storms and winds of 140kph,it has stood up to heavy driving persistant rain and also a blocked and overflowing gutter steadily pouring water down ontop of it.

In your attic?

jpb14 wrote: »

So thats my 1st hand personal experience and review of my "15 euro bargain Aldi aerial".

You've fallen for 1 of the oldest retail tricks, assuming something is a bargain because it was previously for sale at a grossly inflated price.

jpb14

Peter Rhea wrote: »

In your attic?



You've fallen for 1 of the oldest retail tricks, assuming something is a bargain because it was previously for sale at a grossly inflated price.

Peter,the aerial is mounted on the back wall of my house.I have 2 houses,lots of folk in this country have more than 1 house.
I would have thought that you would know and understand that,seen I did refer to it surviving hurricane strength storms,leaking gutter and driving rain in my previous post on this thread..
Aldi rarely reduce their stock items to half price
If they dont sell they go back to their UK shipping base for the UK market or back to Germany.A friend of mine is a retail manager in Aldi.
They selected a few shops around Ireland and gave each shop x-amount of aerials at half price.Same with the extinguishers.
The half price aerials were not "natiowide".

Hoffmans

well its 2€ cheaper than the ireland 6 nations rugby top which is basically worthless now...

have one on the chimney full signal no bothers atall with it..

flutered

i have used that particular ariel before no probs, it is either a hersmann ariel or a copy of one, back in the bad old days when i was installing the reflector signal channells, the hersmann was the best one could get, it had a price tag of 50 pounds.

jpb14

flutered wrote: »

i have used that particular ariel before no probs, it is either a hersmann ariel or a copy of one, back in the bad old days when i was installing the reflector signal channells, the hersmann was the best one could get, it had a price tag of 50 pounds.

Cant go wrong for the price and the 3 year Aldi warranty too.:)

jpb14

Galway wrote: »

I just meant that OP makes it his business to rubbish any opinion that is not his. It is futile as that OP will always come back with the last word. Now I don't particularly like the Aldi aerials and would not use one - but if it works for you, I respect that. Personal comments have no place here.

I dont think the OP is the person who is rubbishing opinions,its another poster who seems to have an issue with other peoples opinions.
Well like you said there yourself,if it works then it works.
And it does work for me,very well indeed.It works for other people here,who have also posted to say that they have it installed on the outside of their house.I agree that the Aldi aerial wont win any fashion awards but who cares what it looks like,as long as it does what its supposed to do,then thats all that matters to me.

Peter Rhea

flutered wrote: »

i have used that particular ariel before no probs, it is either a hersmann ariel or a copy of one.

That thing is in no way comparable to a Hirschmann aerial, except very unfavourably.

Look, this isn't my 'opinion'. It wasn't my 'opinion' that the identical looking aerials I dealt with before, needed a small bolt through the boom to stop the dipole assembly falling off. Just connecting the cable into them was enough to lift it off the boom, never mind what the wind would have done to them.

I'm not unreservedly condemning the Aldi aerials, just offering a bit of critical balance based on experience.

Ronnie Raygun

jpb14 wrote: »

... as long as it does what its supposed to do,then thats all that matters to me.

Great. A more professional approach would be to recommend something from a known reputable brand, with a spec. sheet.

Can't deny it's convenient for someone to walk into a familiar shop & walk out with a shiny "bargain" under their arm, but it's about all these supermarket aerials have going for them.

Galway

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

Great. A more professional approach would be to recommend something from a known reputable brand, with a spec. sheet.

Agreed instead of belittling people's choices & opinions, it would be far more useful.

Sterling Archer

Peter Rhea wrote: »

If it isn't approved, they shouldn't be calling it a Saorview box.

This is a retailer were talking about, if it receives a saorview signal, technically they will call it a saorview box, doesn'y mean it has the correct decoder built in the work correctly, or stack the channels correctly

watty

I pointed out earlier that these aerials have no real spec and supplied a link to real aerial supplier.

A couple of seasons of wind and ice outdoors and these are trash. I have aerials that are 30+ years old and still good.

watty

Shane_ef wrote: »

This is a retailer were talking about, if it receives a saorview signal, technically they will call it a saorview box, doesn'y mean it has the correct decoder built in the work correctly, or stack the channels correctly

Saorview is a registered trademark. It's also contravention of Sale of Goods Act (SOGA) to mis-represent products in this way. They can't even claim 100% compatibility with Saorview without certification. They can only claim that may receive Digital TV in Ireland without certification.

The same is the case in UK with Freeview and Freeview HD. Some countries don't even allow retail sale of products without appropriate certification.

The French banned import and Sale of incompatible Digital TV product before ASO. Here the Government refused to do anything even though the spec official from February 2008.

But nevertheless anyone sold a TV or Box with claim that it's suitable for Irish Digital TV when it's not can claim refund or replacement for 2 years and even up to 6 years for consequential damages if they have proof of payment. No packaging needed.

The vast bulk of TVs sold 2009 to 2012 in Ireland did NOT support Irish Digital, even though suitable TVs were available!

MiCr0

[mod]
What is wrong with the people in this forum?
A user asks a simple question about an aerial and gets a reply stating that it will work for what he's asking. In less than 20 posts its gone OT and users are belittling each other.

The Cush

Peter Rhea wrote: »

If it isn't approved, they shouldn't be calling it a Saorview box.

Shane_ef wrote: »

This is a retailer were talking about, if it receives a saorview signal, technically they will call it a saorview box, doesn'y mean it has the correct decoder built in the work correctly, or stack the channels correctly

It's one of the Saorview approved Akura boxes - http://www.saorview.ie/product/akura/

watty

MiCr0 wrote: »

[mod]
What is wrong with the people in this forum?
A user asks a simple question about an aerial and gets a reply stating that it will work for what he's asking. In less than 20 posts its gone OT and users are belittling each other.

All the rain & Wind:
Rotting our brains and mis-aligning the dishes.

Peter Rhea

The 'I bought one & it works fine for me' brigade are a strange lot.

No need to get personally offended, simply because better products exist.

Galway

Peter Rhea wrote: »

The 'I bought one & it works fine for me' brigade are a strange lot.

No need to get personally offended, simply because better products exist.

No one would disagree that better products exist. Just a bit more tact in expressing that viewpoint might be needed.

icdg

I'm not sure this thread is going anywhere or that there's been any post talking about the actual product concerned in about two pages. Thread closed