Building a new house - do I need an antenna?

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nofam

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#220399 9-Aug-2017 10:35

Hi guys,

Currently building a new house, and with the advent of TVNZ live, I'm wondering if not getting an antenna installed at this stage is worth a try? I've had the sparky run coax for future proofing, but given how little actual TV I watch, I was wondering if the live TV offerings from TVNZ/TV3 are viable alternatives?

I'll be buying an LG 55" C7 OLED, so would using these websites via WebOS be a pleasant experience or would I be better to go the Chromecast route?

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#1841674 9-Aug-2017 10:38

I've not used UHF for years, and I wouldn't bet against Sky ditching satellite and moving to internet streaming so you probably can go for a nice clean roof. But run a cable to the roof just in case.

nofam

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#1841676 9-Aug-2017 10:43

Thanks mate, have done just that - two runs of coax for UHF/Satellite back to the lounge. Really don't want any penetrations in my roof if I can avoid it, and terrestrial Freeview is marginal in my area, so I'd likely need a masthead amp - hence why I'd really prefer not to bother!!

coffeebaron

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#1841684 9-Aug-2017 10:50

I wonder how far away we are from TV/Sky being streamed over fibre and out a dedicated port on the ONT?

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kryptonjohn

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#1841685 9-Aug-2017 10:50

I hear you. We just spent $15k on a new roof. The idiot roofers cut holes in the roof for existing hot water cylinder vents for cylinders we told them had been removed. So they had to come back and replace those long run iron sheets. There's no way I was having holes. The cable to the sky dish is just poked out underneath the outer edge of the steel at the spouting.

We also rewired the house which was easy with all the linings off. I'm now still finding places where I wish I had a power point, dammit. The sparky probably should have known better but hallways need power points for the vacuum, I think and you should always have some outside power points. We put one in for garden lights but now I wish I had some more for running the pressure washer and other outside power tools.

RunningMan

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#1841686 9-Aug-2017 10:52

As long as you have the option to add one later, don't bother if you don't need it now. Now is the time to run the cable though - perhaps some runs from the roof to a central networking location, then out to any place you may want a TV. Run some network cabling at the same time out to every room, and a conduit to bring fibre / copper in to this location from outside.

nofam

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#1841689 9-Aug-2017 10:54

kryptonjohn:

I hear you. We just spent $15k on a new roof. The idiot roofers cut holes in the roof for existing hot water cylinder vents for cylinders we told them had been removed. So they had to come back and replace those long run iron sheets. There's no way I was having holes. The cable to the sky dish is just poked out underneath the outer edge of the steel at the spouting.

We also rewired the house which was easy with all the linings off. I'm now still finding places where I wish I had a power point, dammit. The sparky probably should have known better but hallways need power points for the vacuum, I think and you should always have some outside power points. We put one in for garden lights but now I wish I had some more for running the pressure washer and other outside power tools.

Ouch, yeah roofers are a special breed! Just finalizing wiring now, and have one IP68 external powerpoint, plus two junction boxes going in for future proofing (landscaping, and spa pool etc). Have actually tried to minimise the powerpoints where possible - but we're installing a Beam vacuum system, which helps, so no powerpoints in the hallway etc

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nofam

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#1841691 9-Aug-2017 10:57

RunningMan:

As long as you have the option to add one later, don't bother if you don't need it now. Now is the time to run the cable though - perhaps some runs from the roof to a central networking location, then out to any place you may want a TV. Run some network cabling at the same time out to every room, and a conduit to bring fibre / copper in to this location from outside.

Not bothering with cat6 to the bedrooms (just the lounge and office) as I've invested in Unifi networking gear (AC Pro access points, PoE switch, gateway and cloud key) so my wireless infrastructure will be sufficient. To be honest, I doubt my 2 year old will ever know what a network port is. Even the TV will be sitting directly under one of the AP's, so using this via wifi should be a smooth experience with band steering etc

I haven't got conduit from the ETP to the comms/power cupboard in the middle of the house, but the sparky's have run the fibre already, so it could be used as a draw wire in the future if need be?

timmmay

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#1841694 9-Aug-2017 11:04

I wouldn't bother. My 100 year old house has never had one, I've been there ten years and never needed one. I use Kodi on an R.Pi2 and that shows public TV just fine.

When I re-roofed the roofers made a heck of a mess of the iron, massive scratches and such. I made them replace around a dozen sheets of iron that were badly scratched, and they touched up another dozen. Then I had to have them come back and screw it down properly.

kryptonjohn

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#1841696 9-Aug-2017 11:06

Yep am keeping an eye out for some bargain UAPs... Someone's always flicking them on Trademe.

One smart thing our sparky did was run a combo fibre / cat6 cable from the ETP to the office. We are on VDSL but if the neighbours can agree among themselves to put fibre up the common driveway it should be a cinch to connect.

Chorus's recommendations here, but probably overkill. Just need enough Cat6 to locate the UAPs.

https://www.chorus.co.nz/help-and-support/wiring-broadband/home-wiring-contractors

nofam

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#1841697 9-Aug-2017 11:06

timmmay:

I wouldn't bother. My 100 year old house has never had one, I've been there ten years and never needed one. I use Kodi on an R.Pi2 and that shows public TV just fine.

When I re-roofed the roofers made a heck of a mess of the iron, massive scratches and such. I made them replace around a dozen sheets of iron that were badly scratched, and they touched up another dozen. Then I had to have them come back and screw it down properly.

Interesting - I've just set up Kodi on an R.Pi3 - what addon do you use for TV? I've been so busy getting it to work with network shares etc that I haven't even looked into the TV aspect!!

timmmay

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#1841707 9-Aug-2017 11:17

nofam:

Interesting - I've just set up Kodi on an R.Pi3 - what addon do you use for TV? I've been so busy getting it to work with network shares etc that I haven't even looked into the TV aspect!!

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#1841713 9-Aug-2017 11:31

coffeebaron: I wonder how far away we are from TV/Sky being streamed over fibre and out a dedicated port on the ONT?

Vodafone did it via a VLAN with Multicast enabled and it worked well. At times.

DarthKermit

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#1841714 9-Aug-2017 11:31

If you don't need an antenna, best to not have one. But you could at least run some coax while it's easy to do so in case you ever decide you want one.

alasta

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#1841716 9-Aug-2017 11:36

I won't bother when I eventually move into a place with Fibre. Youtube and 3Now on Apple TV are good enough, although the framerate on 3Now seems quite slow compared with the same content on Freeview.

To be honest now that quality news and current affairs like Campbell Live and 3rd Degree are gone I find it hard to even justify having a TV at all.

davidcole

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#1841718 9-Aug-2017 11:44

DarthKermit:
If you don't need an antenna, best to not have one. But you could at least run some coax while it's easy to do so in case you ever decide you want one.

or at a minimum run coax from where aerial would go in roof back to a distribution point. And then another run to where the tv goes.

Migh thelp if you decide on tuner based recording/or connection to a tv. Just forget the aerial at this point.

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