Hi all. I am in the process of getting my hiace van ready for travelling. This will be my first "adventure", and I hope to see central/west qld during september. Any ideas for a tv aerial that will actually work. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, cheers.
Dougwe said
08:37 AM Jul 27, 2015
Edit.......Double post for some reason.
-- Edited by Dougwe on Monday 27th of July 2015 08:40:47 AM
Dougwe said
08:39 AM Jul 27, 2015
I have a "Jack" antenna fitted to the top of my van and so far have found it great. It is there all the time, takes up little space, not high up so doesn't cause any height problems and just rotates to tune in. It's there all the time.
I had "Saturn", one of those big round ones for my old Avan but got rid of it quickly as I didn't like it. Saturn say it is not directional but I found it was very directional.
Leather Tech said
07:38 PM Jul 27, 2015
I have a vast satellite which works great as long as the trees aren't in the way. Doug dose the Jacks work around tall trees?
Peter_n_Margaret said
08:07 PM Jul 27, 2015
We leave the TV home in the shed when we travel.
Much more interesting things to do....
Cheers,
Peter
aussie_paul said
08:13 PM Jul 27, 2015
Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
We leave the TV home in the shed when we travel. Much more interesting things to do....
Cheers, Peter
Nah, couldn't do that Peter. Not with my physical disabilities. I guess it is the old "horses for courses" scenario. To each their own..
Aussie Paul.
03_Troopy said
09:24 PM Jul 27, 2015
Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
We leave the TV home in the shed when we travel. Much more interesting things to do....
Cheers, Peter
But what sort of antenna do you have and how well does it work?
Dougwe said
03:36 AM Jul 29, 2015
Leather Techs wrote:
I have a vast satellite which works great as long as the trees aren't in the way. Doug dose the Jacks work around tall trees?
Sorry for the delay LT, I missed this question.
I haven't had the Jack in that situation really so not sure sorry. Trees can sometimes be a problem to any antenna though unless satilite.
Keep Safe out there.
Nomad1946 said
07:30 PM Aug 7, 2015
How would one determine the type of TV aerial? Our c'van has what looks like a pre HD aerial and we've purchased a HD Tele and are wondering if a new aerial is required .....
hako said
08:48 PM Aug 7, 2015
justme wrote:
Hi all. I am in the process of getting my hiace van ready for travelling. This will be my first "adventure", and I hope to see central/west qld during september. Any ideas for a tv aerial that will actually work. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, cheers.
We regularly travel out west to Charleville and up through Clermont Emerald to Townsville. We use an elcheapo powered aerial that we can clamp to a broomstick if necessary....all you need is to get it above the height of you hiace and point in the correct direction. These elcheapos come with cables and powered booster ready to plug in so you don't have to worry about putting holes thru the body etc, just run the lead thru a gap in a window or door or up thru a hole in the floor. We always get the same reception as others around us generally speaking. If you stay near towns you will usually get a picture - get the app for your phone to tell you what direction to point aerial to. Another good thing about the elcheapos is that they are portable and fold down, but best of all they are cheap, so if you don't like it then you haven't wasted hundreds of dollars. Take a memory stick with some movies on it as well because if free camping you will not pick up TV. Even a long distance radio can struggle sometimes. That's when you learn to appreciate the bush.
How would one determine the type of TV aerial? Our c'van has what looks like a pre HD aerial and we've purchased a HD Tele and are wondering if a new aerial is required .....
The antenna has nothing to do with whether you have B&W, colour, analogue, digital, standard definition, or HDTV. All it does is receive a signal. The only thing that has any effect is whether it has been designed for the frequency of the carrier wave, and whether it is mounted to match the polarization of the signal (horizontal or vertical polarization)
So to answer your question NO.
hako said
10:36 AM Aug 8, 2015
Nomad1946 wrote:
How would one determine the type of TV aerial? Our c'van has what looks like a pre HD aerial and we've purchased a HD Tele and are wondering if a new aerial is required .....
If the old aerial was designed for VHF as used before set top boxes and UHF digital signals then you need to upgrade to a UHF aerial....in other words if older than 10 years then it should be upgraded.
Good Luck
Jaahn said
02:47 PM Aug 8, 2015
justme wrote:
Hi all. I am in the process of getting my hiace van ready for travelling. This will be my first "adventure", and I hope to see central/west qld during september. Any ideas for a tv aerial that will actually work. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, cheers.
Hi,
We bought a phased array with a booster and a lead attached. They are flatish and we pack it in the box it came in. Similar in performance to the one Hako said but just a different design. Does not seem to be offered currently on ebay.
We also have a mast to hold it up above the roof. An old windsurfer mast actually cut down a bit to fit inside the van. Not a big investment and will get a signal if there is one. Every town has a signal but get out of town a bit and there is nothing. Particularly if in a National park or the like down near the river.
The biggest pain is having to retune the digital set every time you stop but it is automatic.
Jaahn
PeterD said
03:57 PM Aug 8, 2015
hako wrote: If the old aerial was designed for VHF as used before set top boxes and UHF digital signals then you need to upgrade to a UHF aerial....in other words if older than 10 years then it should be upgraded.
Dual band antennas have been around for more than 40 years. I have not seen many antennas promoted for caravans that are not dual UHF/VHF and they have been around for over 25 years.
The antenna in Haco's link is as good as you will get for a portable antenna. If you want better then you will have to go bigger with many more elements. The only problem with some of them is they don't work well with the amplifier switched off (you need to switch the amplifier off to stop signal overload when close to high power transmitters.)
I also go along with the idea that anyone talking about "digital antennas" is talking crap.
justme said
06:05 PM Aug 8, 2015
thanks for all the replies. I'll just get a basic one, and if there is no reception, I'll just take in the surrounds. Hopefully I can catch up with a few other travellers for a cuppa and chat.
Hi all. I am in the process of getting my hiace van ready for travelling. This will be my first "adventure", and I hope to see central/west qld during september. Any ideas for a tv aerial that will actually work. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, cheers.
Edit.......Double post for some reason.
-- Edited by Dougwe on Monday 27th of July 2015 08:40:47 AM
I have a "Jack" antenna fitted to the top of my van and so far have found it great. It is there all the time, takes up little space, not high up so doesn't cause any height problems and just rotates to tune in. It's there all the time.
I had "Saturn", one of those big round ones for my old Avan but got rid of it quickly as I didn't like it. Saturn say it is not directional but I found it was very directional.
Much more interesting things to do....
Cheers,
Peter
Nah, couldn't do that Peter. Not with my physical disabilities. I guess it is the old "horses for courses" scenario. To each their own..
Aussie Paul.
But what sort of antenna do you have and how well does it work?
Sorry for the delay LT, I missed this question.
I haven't had the Jack in that situation really so not sure sorry. Trees can sometimes be a problem to any antenna though unless satilite.
Keep Safe out there.
How would one determine the type of TV aerial? Our c'van has what looks like a pre HD aerial and we've purchased a HD Tele and are wondering if a new aerial is required .....
We regularly travel out west to Charleville and up through Clermont Emerald to Townsville. We use an elcheapo powered aerial that we can clamp to a broomstick if necessary....all you need is to get it above the height of you hiace and point in the correct direction. These elcheapos come with cables and powered booster ready to plug in so you don't have to worry about putting holes thru the body etc, just run the lead thru a gap in a window or door or up thru a hole in the floor. We always get the same reception as others around us generally speaking. If you stay near towns you will usually get a picture - get the app for your phone to tell you what direction to point aerial to. Another good thing about the elcheapos is that they are portable and fold down, but best of all they are cheap, so if you don't like it then you haven't wasted hundreds of dollars. Take a memory stick with some movies on it as well because if free camping you will not pick up TV. Even a long distance radio can struggle sometimes. That's when you learn to appreciate the bush.
Good Luck.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Caravan-Boat-HD-VHF-UHF-FM-TV-Antenna-w-Booster-EM900-/390362884293?hash=item5ae370e8c5
The antenna has nothing to do with whether you have B&W, colour, analogue, digital, standard definition, or HDTV. All it does is receive a signal. The only thing that has any effect is whether it has been designed for the frequency of the carrier wave, and whether it is mounted to match the polarization of the signal (horizontal or vertical polarization)
So to answer your question NO.
If the old aerial was designed for VHF as used before set top boxes and UHF digital signals then you need to upgrade to a UHF aerial....in other words if older than 10 years then it should be upgraded.
Good Luck
Hi,
We bought a phased array with a booster and a lead attached. They are flatish and we pack it in the box it came in. Similar in performance to the one Hako said but just a different design. Does not seem to be offered currently on ebay.
We also have a mast to hold it up above the roof. An old windsurfer mast actually cut down a bit to fit inside the van. Not a big investment and will get a signal if there is one. Every town has a signal but get out of town a bit and there is nothing. Particularly if in a National park or the like down near the river.
The biggest pain is having to retune the digital set every time you stop but it is automatic.
Jaahn
Dual band antennas have been around for more than 40 years. I have not seen many antennas promoted for caravans that are not dual UHF/VHF and they have been around for over 25 years.
The antenna in Haco's link is as good as you will get for a portable antenna. If you want better then you will have to go bigger with many more elements. The only problem with some of them is they don't work well with the amplifier switched off (you need to switch the amplifier off to stop signal overload when close to high power transmitters.)
I also go along with the idea that anyone talking about "digital antennas" is talking crap.