UHF aerial recommendation

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WildBill

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#284277 21-Dec-2009 01:27

dale77:
Possibly the installer 10+ years ago couldn't be bothered thinking about which UHF size was required, so he just bought the biggest one.

Hi Dale77,

When that aerial was installed (13 to 19 years ago) Sky installers were paid the same amount of labour irrespective of what size aerial they put up. (I was a Sky installer for 18 years). That's why I'm certain he wouldn't have bothered with the extra time and hassle of installing a 91 element aerial instead of a 23 element aerial unless he had to.

Regarding your signal being too strong, if your VHF aerial was amplified then that would have been what was overloading the system, requiring an attenuator, not the unamplified UHF signal!

Cheers, Wild Bill.

Hamilton, NZ.

jonathan18

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#284336 21-Dec-2009 11:35

On a similar vein - what recommendations do people have for those of us that DO require a UHF/VHF aerial?

We are moving (to Palmerston North), and the new house has no aerial at all. As our current TV has an analogue tuner, we will still need VHF for a while yet, so a single UHF aerial - no matter how good it is - won't work.

I see the recommendations for a Gizmo aerial - would one of these be my best bet for a joint UHF/VHF aerial? If not, any other suggestions? (Also, if anyone knows the name of a good installer in PN - preferably one that can also do speaker cable install - that would be great.)

Thanks!

cyril7

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#284338 21-Dec-2009 11:51

For the cost of an VHF antenna in addition to a UHF I would rather put that VHF ant money toward a DTT tuner for your TV, I see no sense in spending money on dated technology thats on death row, but hey thats my opinion.

I install these UHF antennas, they work very well and are pretty robust for those well documented palmy winds.

Cheers
Cyril

jonathan18

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#284343 21-Dec-2009 12:05

Thanks, Cyril.

We already have a Vantage box, but that's often used for recording something; we therefore do sometimes need to be able to either watch TV using the TV's tuner or even record something on the old DVD/HD recorder.

I also don't want to have to install 2 aerials, hence wanting to find an acceptable combo aerial. What's your view on the Gizmos?

cyril7

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#284345 21-Dec-2009 12:18

Hi, the Gizmos are probably ok in a high level enviromnent as you will be in in palmy city, but in reality they are a cludge design with little directive selectivity and not a lot of gain. Personally I would avoid them where possible, however I know they are very popular in ChCh.

Cyril

jonathan18

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#284369 21-Dec-2009 13:51

Ta for the advice, Cyril - are there any combo UHF/VHF aerials that you think will work well in PN? Cheers.

Dell

Shop now for Dell laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

cyril7

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#284370 21-Dec-2009 13:56

Hi, Hills make the Optimax range that has a combination unit that does 2,4,7,11,UHF, but for the price you may as well get yourself another decoder honestly. Otherwise its a complete seperate.

Cyril

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