Tv aerial

[lurker]

In the house I will be moving to......
Although I plan to have tv via bt internet, I also want one conventional tv aerial.
house had sky cable so currently has neither a roof aerial nor phone line.
I would prefer to put an aerial in the loft as I have no chimney.
anyone any experience of doing this?
does it need to be more “powerful” ?
where can I look to ascertain the size and type that I need?

 

[Nigel Burden]

My aerial is in the loft but I couldn't say whether it's more powerful. It was already in the house when we moved in in 1982, although I replaced the original years ago.

Below is a link to the BBC guide on choosing the correct aerial which might help. Otherwise get an aerial installer to do the job, they should have the knowledge of the correct type for your area.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/help-guides/freeview/what-type-of-aerial-do-i-need
Nigel.

 

[Myfordman]

Using an in roof aerial is only sensible in a strong signal area. The roof material especially when wet will lose a lot of the signal. It is NOT just a case of using an amplifier as once lost you cannot get the same quality of signal back again despite what anyone might tell you.

 

[flying haggis]

whereabouts in the county of leicestershire are you so that we can figure out which transmitter you need to point an aerial towards. I shall assume you will be recieving from Waltham in the mean time

 

[lurker]

The transmitter is Waltham, I am in Loughborough.
I sort of assume that there is an online website that lists these things?

edit: it would appear that there is a relay station in Leicester which is were my new neighbours aerials seem to be pointing.

 

[Lons]

Just a thought.
If they are leaving the sky dish up which is common then another option is to use that to get freesat, a basic box is quite cheap, possibly little more than a good aerial or pay more for recording facility.
You can also use an old Sky box to connect to freesat though I don't know if all progs are available it's very likely all the current freeview ones are and those boxes are available for almost nothing on facebook and gumtree. I've kept both our old ones in case I ever dump the Sky subscription.

 

[flying haggis]

the leicester relay will be very low power compared to waltham. this company Home Page - A.T.V. Poles, Brackets, Clamps & Aerials recommends a XB10A Aerial - A.T.V. Poles, Brackets, Clamps & Aerials for loft installation for waltham reception. they know there stuff so give them a call, tell them what you want to do and they will help

 

[flying haggis]

Just a thought.
If they are leaving the sky dish up which is common then another option is to use that to get freesat, a basic box is quite cheap, possibly little more than a good aerial or pay more for recording facility.

OP doesnt mention the prescence of a sky dish

 

[Lons]

OP doesnt mention the prescence of a sky dish

He said it has a sky cable so must have had a dish. whether there now is another matter.

Ah just realised that if it was cable services only similar to blocks of flats then ther might not have been a dish.

 

[Spectric]

You don't need a chimney to fit a TV aerial, any wall will do that allows the aerial to face the transmitter you wish to receive from.

 

[lurker]

My aerial is in the loft but I couldn't say whether it's more powerful. It was already in the house when we moved in in 1982, although I replaced the original years ago.

Below is a link to the BBC guide on choosing the correct aerial which might help. Otherwise get an aerial installer to do the job, they should have the knowledge of the correct type for your area.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/help-guides/freeview/what-type-of-aerial-do-i-need
Nigel.

From that I can see my neighbours are actually pointing to waltham.
very clever!

OP doesnt mention the prescence of a sky dish

I gave that to the scrap man

 

[lurker]

He said it has a sky cable so must have had a dish. whether there now is another matter.

Ah just realised that if it was cable services only similar to blocks of flats then ther might not have been a dish.

I said that it had sky cable but I ripped it out.
House was like a spiders web, inside and out

 

[topchippyles]

Have you looked at getting IPTV for your viewing.

 

[Duncan A]

From what you say, your neighbours have external aerials - presumably because a loft aerial would not do the job
Duncan

 

[lurker]

From what you say, your neighbours have external aerials - presumably because a loft aerial would not do the job
Duncan

I think it's just because it's the normal thing to do.
I agree that I might be making a rod for my own back.

 

[Spectric]

Here is some extra info, there is no such thing as a "digital aerial" which was a common talking point ever since the digital switch. You also do not need a wideband aerial because you only want to receive from your chosen transmitter group and this can help with issues surrounding interference from mobile phone mask. Yes that is another good topic, it is the reason why it went digital in the first place, they needed to allocate frequencies for mobile phones currently used by analogue tv and as there are only a limited number of frequencies going digital allowed for multiplexing of the Tv channels so you can transmit more channels using less bandwidth. So they were not thinking of us the end users at all, it was commercially driven.

 

[flying haggis]

as loughborough to waltham is probably about 15 miles as the crow flies I cant see why a loft aerial wont work. easier to put up than climbing on the roof or up a ladder on a wall so give atv a ring and diy. it will also last longer as it is protected from the weather. also factor in the cost of decent cable ie CT100 dont skimp it's not worth the hassle

 

[lurker]

My aerial is in the loft but I couldn't say whether it's more powerful. It was already in the house when we moved in in 1982, although I replaced the original years ago.

Below is a link to the BBC guide on choosing the correct aerial which might help. Otherwise get an aerial installer to do the job, they should have the knowledge of the correct type for your area.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/help-guides/freeview/what-type-of-aerial-do-i-need
Nigel.

From that I can see my neighbours are actually pointing to waltham.
very clever!

as loughborough to waltham is probably about 15 miles as the crow flies I cant see why a loft aerial wont work. easier to put up than climbing on the roof or up a ladder on a wall so give atv a ring and diy. it will also last longer as it is protected from the weather

16 miles apparently
it was to avoid getting up a ladder was my main objective.
I think I will put it in the loft and if there are problems then reluctantly fit it outside.

 

[lurker]

Would this be good enough
https://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-x-beam-mast-aerial/30515

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Mine was in the roof in my old house - I turned the last few inches of a three foot piece of 2" x 2" round and hung it from a truss so that I had easy 360 degree adjustment.