TV Aerial

[Oakley's Taxi]

We're very new to this motorhome malarchey and are looking for some advice on getting an aerial attached to our newly purchased Elddis 130. The dealer that I purchased from can fit a STATUS 530/5 or 530/10 for around £200.

Is this a good deal??

I have looked at purchasing a simple IMAGE 430 for a lot less and just fitting it on arrival at site but I'm guessing the reception would not be anywhere near as good. Is this a good guess???

Thanks.

 

[Robinhood]

If you use the 430 with with the signal amplifier there will be little difference in signal quality (in fact it might be slightly better than the 530).

What you will lose against the 530 is the ability to adjust the aerial direction from inside the 'van (whilst being able to see the TV and check the signal), and it is easier to change the aerial from horizontal to vertical than the 430. (If you decide you are going to use a separate signal finder then the former is not a big issue).

Against this you will be £150 better off, and won't have an extra hole in your roof.

£200 doesn't seem a bad price.

 

[iceni]

Hi The round omni directional status antenna is not very good at all. i have lost count of how many people have asked me if I have had a tv pic (i had one on my old van) and when quizzed they invariably had the status.

I have the pointable one now which is a bit better but i have a roof mounted sat dish now so dont use the antenna muchm

Make sure if you have the round mushroom one fitted that they give you the latest level as I asked about a replacment booster for my older one and they told me that the new booster spec wont work with the old ones and would need a whole new antenna.

phill

 

[GJH]

There was a Status 315 (plus booster box) fitted to our van when we bought it. Sometimes it receives nothing and at others it is fine. Because of the hit & miss nature we bought an Image 420 not long after we got the van. It's similar to the 430 but doesn't have the FM radio aerial arms at the rear - but as we wanted it just for TV so why pay the extra?

I fitted a couple of the Uni-plates to the side of the van and attach the aerial using the brackets and a sectional aluminium pole.

We subsequently bought a free-to-air satellite kit from Aldi and tend to use that in preference to the Image aerial on the trips (during shorter day months) when we tend to use TV more.

Graham

 

[Pugboxter]

My TV aerial cost £5.95, just been to Anglesey where I managed to watch TV from Winter Hill north of Manchester 100 or so miles away. It did take a bit more work to get it all set-up, but will knock the spots off any Status aerial.

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Here's the bracket I had made which I then glued to the roof along with the lunch-box for the coax whilst travelling

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[iceni]

Nice set up that
A yagi (the type normally fitted to a house) will always outperform a status type but you have to find out where to point it first. I bought one of those tv sig finders from the nec in feb which saves a lot of time.
It lal depends on how much you want to watch telly. some folks dont bother if theres no picture and others will go mad if they cant see corrie.

If your the latter you might like to think about a set up that you can errect like the one in the picture. just in case. Height is always a factor too and the higher the better.

i used to use a lightweight TV antenna on one of those telescopic fishing poles which worked well.

Phill

 

[Pugboxter]

Thanks Phill,

I have a quick look to see where the main transmitter is before going somewhere and then just guess the direction when I arrive, so far that has worked every time, I guess if I did have problems I could home in using the signal meter in the TV.

On Anglesey it just so happened that Winter Hill and the one on Anglesey were more or less in the same direction, and I did retune to the nearest one when I found that transmitting 50 watts on VHF via the collinear above caused the picture to freeze with only a 50% signal. the 95% signal from Anglesey sorted that one.

It is also best to seek out the main transmitter for the area as they transmit the full range of channels.

Have a look here to find out where the transmitters are located Link Removed

easy peasy then

 

[dencol]

Should start by saying that I only use TV for local news / weather / travel info so didn’t want to spend too much on an Ariel set up. Did look at the status arials but didn’t want a hole through the roof or the same problem with the brackets on the side of the van for a removable pole.

Found a freestanding collapsible pole and tripod made by Sunn Camp called a lantern stand in a local camping shop and picked up a cheap regular Ariel and bracket from B&Q for a couple of quid the whole setup cost about £25.

Now set up in few minutes (just point the ariel in roughly the direction of other van arials) and jobs done. The lantern stand can be pegged to the ground to keep secure and the ariel wire feeds through the window.

Could take down everytime I go off site in the van as only takes a few minutes but to be honest never bother and no one has tried to nick / borrow it. I also find it is a more obvious pitch marker.

Colin