Poor tv signal

[Reg1958]

Hi all, can anyone recommend a decent aerial for great tv reception in my motorhome?
I have a very basic omni aerial fitted free by my supplying dealer when I bought the van.
I have 2 almost new falcon and avtex tv’s, a VP2 signal booster but can only rarely get a decent reception.
apart from a much better aerial is there anything else I can fit to boost my signal.
we have fire sticks on the tv’s but often can’t get an internet signal either.
Thanks in advance to anyone who replies.

 

[pappajohn]

As you've found out, the Omni directionals are as much good as a biscuit tin on the roof, though some swear they are good.
You need something like the link below.
Not cheap but pointing the same way as nearby house aerials and you should get all the channels.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11194427...d=link&campid=5339023013&toolid=20001&mkevt=1P

 

[scotjimland]

When you have a poor TV transmission signal, no amount of amplification will make it better .. just increases the noise..

My Omni aerial works in most places where there is a decent signal ..but in many rural areas it falls down.. zilch .. directional may be better , but no guarantee ..

Likewise, mobile phone signals ... great coverage in built up areas.. go into the wilds and you may be lucky .. or not ..

Solution

A use small portable sat dish called a Multimo , on a tripod, I have never failed to get a signal , even in the wilds ..
It' s a small powerful dish made in Germany but may be out of production,. but still available on ebay. ..old technology ,., yes, but it works , and it does it well... when all else fails the sat dish does the business.

I did a review on it here

Multimo Portable Sat Dish : Review

Just purchased one second hand from @Koppersbeat and an delighted with it .. thank you Helen, and also thanks for taking the time and effort to send by courier. Now down to the review.. It comes with a base that can be used on a table or on the ground, a U bolt for clamping to a tri-pod...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

and an example of one for sale on ebay here

Multimo Sat Dish

Predicted Reception Areas

 

[Howard B]

As you've found out, the Omni directionals are as much good as a biscuit tin on the roof, though some swear they are good.
You need something like the link below.
Not cheap but pointing the same way as nearby house aerials and you should get all the channels.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11194427...d=link&campid=5339023013&toolid=20001&mkevt=1P

I was looking at that antenna, only thing putting me off was having to cut a 50mm hole in the roof.

 

[Neil S]

I was looking at that antenna, only thing putting me off was having to cut a 50mm hole in the roof.

They are not guilty of leaking if installed correctly
I’ve the same fitted to my present Coachman caravan and Pilote Motorhome and not had any issues.

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[dunnah01]

Really struggle to get over 200 channels with this in most parts of the UK

Maxview B2414 Gazelle Omnidirectional UHF Aerial - White, 12/24V, 13.78 cm*5.04 cm*12.36 cm https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000TR04IW/?tag=mhf04-21

 

[Reg1958]

Thanks for your replies. I really like the look of the vision plus 570 but checking my aerial position I have no choice but to use an omnidirectional aerial !. Gutted!

 

[Mark and Mindy]

[Broken Link Removed]
A fancy looking TV aerial may look good is it a decent antenna?

An old wire coat hanger often works but for challenging applications the antenna has to match the transmitted waveform.

A TV aerial is shaped like it is to receive the radio waves that carry the TV signals from the transmitter. The pieces of metal veins at right angles are called elements, and they act like small antennas that pick up the radio waves and resonate at a certain frequency. The shield at the back is called a reflector, and it blocks the signals coming from behind the aerial and enhances the signals coming from the front. The length, size, and spacing of the elements and the reflector determine the frequency range and the gain of the aerial. Different types of TV aerials have different shapes and designs, depending on the polarity, group, and location of the TV services they are intended to receive.

 

[daveandsan]

When you have a poor TV transmission signal, no amount of amplification will make it better .. just increases the noise..

My Omni aerial works in most places where there is a decent signal ..but in many rural areas it falls down.. zilch .. directional may be better , but no guarantee ..

Likewise, mobile phone signals ... great coverage in built up areas.. go into the wilds and you may be lucky .. or not ..

Solution

A use small portable sat dish called a Multimo , on a tripod, I have never failed to get a signal , even in the wilds ..
It' s a small powerful dish made in Germany but may be out of production,. but still available on ebay. ..old technology ,., yes, but it works , and it does it well... when all else fails the sat dish does the business.

I did a review on it here

Multimo Portable Sat Dish : Review

Just purchased one second hand from @Koppersbeat and an delighted with it .. thank you Helen, and also thanks for taking the time and effort to send by courier. Now down to the review.. It comes with a base that can be used on a table or on the ground, a U bolt for clamping to a tri-pod...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

and an example of one for sale on ebay here

Multimo Sat Dish

Predicted Reception Areas

Don’t forget if do get a portable sat dish, unless your television has a built in sat receiver you will need a sat box.

 

[scotjimland]

Don’t forget if do get a portable sat dish, unless your television has a built in sat receiver you will need a sat box.

the OP has an Avtex which have a sat decoder

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[Les]

I have Avtex Ariel it’s powered from your my Avtex TV, don’t no if you can fit permanently I stick mine on roof through one of the roof vent it’s directional, don’t think it’s failed in UK

 

[Reg1958]

Thanks for all your replies. When I pulled up outside my house I tried retuning the TV’s and got no reception on either set.
I plugged them in to my house aerial and all was good so there is obviously a problem with the van aerial. Looks like a visit to the shops!,

 

[pappajohn]

I was looking at that antenna, only thing putting me off was having to cut a 50mm hole in the roof.

You'll need to cut a hole for the majority of roof aerials.
Putting it above a deep overhead locker or wardrobe is the easiest.

 

[pappajohn]

Thanks for your replies. I really like the look of the vision plus 570 but checking my aerial position I have no choice but to use an omnidirectional aerial !. Gutted!

Why, you can move the aerial where you want and seal the existing co-ax hole

 

[Howard B]

You'll need to cut a hole for the majority of roof aerials.
Putting it above a deep overhead locker or wardrobe is the easiest.

I was looking at the Teleco antennas, which only requiire a 42mm hole. I could probably fit it where my current mifi antenna site with a bit of a tweak.

https://www.grasshopperleisure.co.u...MInaK-54bVggMVldXtCh2tgQCpEAQYCCABEgIc7fD_BwE

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[Reg1958]

Unfortunately my TV fits horizontally in a small cupboard above the freezer!
There is no room for the extending pole fitted to all the best aerials hence why I have an omni aerial.
There is a shower n3xt to the freezer so nowhere even close is possible!

 

[xsparks]

If you do get a directional aireal there's a very good app, dtv direction. Seems to work all over the country. When it's windy I use a small periodic aireal on an aluminium pole attached to fiama clips, instead of my dish.

 

[xsparks]

 

[Howard B]

Solution

A use small portable sat dish called a Multimo , on a tripod, I have never failed to get a signal , even in the wilds ..
It' s a small powerful dish made in Germany but may be out of production,. but still available on ebay. ..old technology ,., yes, but it works , and it does it well... when all else fails the sat dish does the business.

I did a review on it here

Multimo Portable Sat Dish : Review

Just purchased one second hand from @Koppersbeat and an delighted with it .. thank you Helen, and also thanks for taking the time and effort to send by courier. Now down to the review.. It comes with a base that can be used on a table or on the ground, a U bolt for clamping to a tri-pod...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

and an example of one for sale on ebay here

Multimo Sat Dish

Predicted Reception Areas

This has got me thinking whether on of these might be a better option than fitting a directional antenna. Should plug straight into our Avtex TV.

 

[scotjimland]

This has got me thinking whether on of these might be a better option than fitting a directional antenna. Should plug straight into our Avtex TV.

yes.

your Avtex should have a satellite decoder.. mine has, but do check

it has never let me down.. UK TV anywhere in the UK and N. Europe ..

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[golly]

A use small portable sat dish called a Multimo , on a tripod, I have never failed to get a signal , even in the wilds ..
It' s a small powerful dish made in Germany but may be out of production,. but still available on ebay. ..old technology ,., yes, but it works , and it does it well... when all else fails the sat dish does the business.

Iv'e got one of those and a tripod somewhere , we rarely watch tv in the van, if we do we use one of these Amazon product ASIN B007JPOX8Oneeds a good signal though.
If anyone is up my neck of the woods and would like the Multimo and tripod, if I can find it £25 would buy it

 

[scotjimland]

Iv'e got one of those and a tripod somewhere ,
If anyone is up my neck of the woods and would like the Multimo and tripod, if I can find it £25 would buy it

at that price, thats stealing it..

 

[Howard B]

Iv'e got one of those and a tripod somewhere , we rarely watch tv in the van, if we do we use one of these Amazon product ASIN B007JPOX8Oneeds a good signal though.
If anyone is up my neck of the woods and would like the Multimo and tripod, if I can find it £25 would buy it

Where do you live?

 

[golly]

Where do you live?

County Durham

 

[greyowl989]

Just adding to this discussion:
Our new pvc came with an omni directional aerial and, like many, was surprised to find we were getting zilch signal in “good” signal aerials. It’s par for the course- you really do need a decent dipole ( ie standard type ) aerial on a mast if possible.

As an aside, our previous van came with an Oyster Vision sat dish - 80 cm ?? - great in France. Only problem was we always seem to be on CLs with high hedges / trees/ buildings in the way of the line of sight- nomatter how we reparkef the van on the pitch.

In the end, like others here I just got a cheap kit from amazon / basically a sky dish, basic tripod and cables etc - cost 30-40 quid. After the initial frustration in learning how to align it - it was actually dead easy and never looked back.

Unfortunately our new van is a space challenged PVC - not a cat in hell’s chance of storing it and so it’s down the rabbit hole of mifi / randomness of actually having a sim on a network with a signal and a fire tv stick.

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[scotjimland]

My Omni aerial works in most places where there is a decent signal ..but in many rural areas it falls down.. zilch .. directional may be better , but no guarantee ..

Just adding to this discussion:
Our new pvc came with an omni directional aerial and, like many, was surprised to find we were getting zilch signal in “good” signal aerials. It’s par for the course-

as I said in an earlier post.. ^^^^^^^
hasn't been my experience .. mine works fine where there is a reasonable signal.. so can only assume some work better than others..

 

[greyowl989]

as I said in an earlier post.. ^^^^^^^
hasn't been my experience .. mine works fine where there is a reasonable signal.. so can only assume some work better than others..

Yep - people’s experiences vary and it may well be the cheapo aerial Wildax fitted - I forget which it is right now. Last time out in cheshire we had a really good signal in fact but maybe we were spoilt having used that sky dish kit for the previous 6 years or so which I always could get a good freesat signal on an avtex.

I will read up on your post about what you have got ( sorry just skip read the thread before posting myself ) and maybe think about changing the antenna/amp

Richard

 

[Langtoftlad]

and it may well be the cheapo aerial Wildax fitted

To be fair, I'm not sure the glomex tv antenna that Wildax can be considered "cheapo"
I have always found mine adequate considering its omni not directional.
Perhaps my tv's tuner is more sensitive than some others.

 

[cyberyacht]

I had a Glomex tv antenna on my yacht that was brilliant. It was 35 feet up though.

 

[TheBig1]

Sounds obvious I know, but make sure the digital aerial is being powered. Some take 5v from the tv, you have to turn it on in settings. Others there is an amplifier that need to be turned on, often hidden in a cupboard

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