We currently have a standard loft aerial which is about 5ft long and takes up a fair bit of room. We are converting our loft at the moment which means that we are not going to have space for the aerial. There will be a smallish cupboard where I am hoping to put an 8 way amplifier and also a new aerial. Can anyone recommend a decent compact loft aerial? I have seen a few made by 1byone but they only seem to be for outdoor use. Will outdoor aerials still work in a loft or will signal be lost?
Compact loft aerial
- Thread starter rob3000
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put it outside when you convert the loft , I like to use the high gain Labgear kit , mount it on the soffit or get a lashing kit for the chimney.
Why have you got a 5ft long aerial in the loft. If it takes that to get a decent picture a smaller aerial will catch less signal and the 8 way amplifier will spread it too thinly (non technical explanation)
Ideally get a decent aerial installed outdoors while you have scaffolding etc - especially if its going to feed 8 TV points
Ideally get a decent aerial installed outdoors while you have scaffolding etc - especially if its going to feed 8 TV points
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Far to many unknows IMHO...
All TV aerials are affected by obstructions..
Buildings and trees in the path from the transmitter to your aerial can reduce signal quality..
The distance you are from the transmitter.. AND the power your transmitter outputs its signals at..
(not all TV transmitters output the same power, nor the same orientation.. Check for Horizontal or Vertical polarity)..
If our aerial is directed toward the physically nearest transmitter, (approx 3miles away), it encounters a whole load of trees on the park opposite..
resulting in poor signals during the summer when the trees are full of leaves..
But if we direct it to a transmitter over 25miles away that chucks out over 10x the power, we get a much better signal all year round.
Once you go sticking an aerial indoors.. then further in a cupboard my guess is you will be loosing even more signal strength..
Many moons ago when all the analogue to digital conversion was going on..
I used a web site to check the basic specs of various local transmitters.. (including compass bearings from my postcode).
http://www.wolfbane.net/cgi-bin/tvd.exe?
It may not be up to date, and/or there may be better sites..
BUT.. basically you need to know what and where your transmitters are.
to then know the best aerial for for best transmitter.
What works ok indoors for one location may well be rubbish at another location!
Guinness
All TV aerials are affected by obstructions..
Buildings and trees in the path from the transmitter to your aerial can reduce signal quality..
The distance you are from the transmitter.. AND the power your transmitter outputs its signals at..
(not all TV transmitters output the same power, nor the same orientation.. Check for Horizontal or Vertical polarity)..
If our aerial is directed toward the physically nearest transmitter, (approx 3miles away), it encounters a whole load of trees on the park opposite..
resulting in poor signals during the summer when the trees are full of leaves..
But if we direct it to a transmitter over 25miles away that chucks out over 10x the power, we get a much better signal all year round.
Once you go sticking an aerial indoors.. then further in a cupboard my guess is you will be loosing even more signal strength..
Many moons ago when all the analogue to digital conversion was going on..
I used a web site to check the basic specs of various local transmitters.. (including compass bearings from my postcode).
http://www.wolfbane.net/cgi-bin/tvd.exe?
It may not be up to date, and/or there may be better sites..
BUT.. basically you need to know what and where your transmitters are.
to then know the best aerial for for best transmitter.
What works ok indoors for one location may well be rubbish at another location!
Guinness
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