TV aerials....

[B.A Eauty]

Hi everyone, can someone suggest a TV reciever/aerial, i know silly money can be spent on them but does that mean brill reception even in those out of the way places we find ourselves in our vans.Cheers

[kevtherev]

digital or analogue?

[B.A Eauty]

Guessing best be digital, aren't they turning the anologue off.

[jamesc76]

yup all being turned off during august i belive!

I got one of these recently after reading loads of reviews, not actually had chance to try it out yet tho!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Status-Vision-Plu ... 4aac526ac1

[nevill3]

I purchased a Digital tv Dongle for my laptop, it came with a little magnetic aerial that I stick to the roof of the camper, It has worked Ok so far, I tried it at home and had to stick it on a radiator to get it to work indoors though.

I got the Dongle to cut down on all the extras that were perceived to be needed.

The Laptop serves as a DVD Player, TV, Laptop (where there is free Wi Fi too tight to pay for mobile broadband)

I Make backup copies of the DVD's we would want to watch and load them onto the hard drive so no DVD's to lose it also has I-Tunes with its very full library so all my music (and my daughters) is to hand too.

I also take my camera and phone leads so I can download the photo's from the memory cards to the laptop while we are away,
it frees up space on the cards if needed and provides a backup in case the phone/camera is lost or stolen.

The dongle is one of these..http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FREEVIEW-DIGITAL- ... 45fb619b1f

[foggygolf]

I was told the avtex aerials were the best, just bought one yesterday off eBay. Not tried it yet but will post when I do!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AVTEX-STH1000-12V ... 3768wt_689" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[B.A Eauty]

thanks for the ideas, does the dongle thing work ok in places llike the lakes??

[nevill3]

thanks for the ideas, does the dongle thing work ok in places llike the lakes??

I live in the Lake District so yes it does at my house, I can however see the transmitter.....it is only a relay one as we have very poor TV reception/service here......We only get about 20 ish channels on the TV........not very good at all. They do recommend that if the signal is poor then to use a "normal TV Aerial, they just plug into the dongle (make sure you buy one with the UK type socket). The reception is going to be about the same as normal mobile aerials.

I have found a good website that lets you put in your postcode or location and it gives you the direction of the nearest TV mast...see here
http://www.ukfree.tv/transmitters.php

[B.A Eauty]

Thanks nev, does it require software. Or can i run it through windows tv. Also. Coming up to the lakes in august can you suggest a good site other than coniston hall!!!

[ghost123uk]

My experience with the little magnetic aerial that comes with the laptop freeveiw "dongle" (hate that word) is that you have to be pretty close to a transmitter (or repeater) to get a signal you can work with.

I use a "Magic Circle Amplified TV Aerial" ( like this = http://www.camping-online.co.uk/mains-e ... erial.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) with 4 small magnets glued underneath and this gives much much more signal than the little magnetic thingy.
It's not really weatherproof though and I have in the past fastened a simple plastic bag around the base, secured with elastic bands in wet weather = seems to do the job

Those laptop freeview have to be "auto tuned" every time you go to a new location and this station scanning procedure can take 15 minutes (on both the 2 types I have anyway !)

[bigherb]

I was told the avtex aerials were the best, just bought one yesterday off eBay. Not tried it yet but will post when I do!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AVTEX-STH1000-12V ... 3768wt_689" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yep had one for three years works everywhere I've been, digital and analogue. Only problem I had the lever for the sucker was very stiff when I got it, a guick squirt of sparay grease sorted it.

[B.A Eauty]

have gone for the peak usb stick, should be winging it's way to me soon, we use the lappie for watching dvds etc so hope it does the job, seems to have good reviews, cheers all for your input, it's that we are out in the van in whitby this weekend and the tour de france starts. thanks,

[custard]

We have a cheap 10" TV with freeview included from Maplins. The TV came with a cheap & cheerful magnetic aerial which we attach to the roof. Before investing in expensive "gismo's" eg more powerful digital aerials etc we decided to try a portable UHF wideband TV amplifier from Maplins, it runs on 2 x AA batteries which last ages. We have always, wherever we have been in the country, not had any issues in picking up a great reception. The Maplins product code is TB07H we paid £9.99 about 18 months/2 years ago and has been the best little, cheap investment - would highly recomend you try it! It certainly has done the job for us.
Regards

[gpthedoctor]

I was told the avtex aerials were the best, just bought one yesterday off eBay. Not tried it yet but will post when I do!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AVTEX-STH1000-12V ... 3768wt_689" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yep had one for three years works everywhere I've been, digital and analogue. Only problem I had the lever for the sucker was very stiff when I got it, a guick squirt of sparay grease sorted it.

I got one of these last week and used at the weekend (camping @ silverstone couldn't fault it worked well even with numerous genies running near it. It has a built in +20db amp that needs power.

Also bought a 12V TV which was 1000% better than I thought it was going to be; 22", full HD1080p, PVR, Freeview, DVD combo and very slim - all for £160!!! No issues with back light bleed or viewing angle, check it out http://www.kogan.co.uk/shop/22-full-hd- ... n-pro-led/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;