Would this US indoor HDTV antenna help with Freeview reception?

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Would this US indoor HDTV antenna help with Freeview reception?

lchiu7

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#123311 3-Jul-2013 08:44

A friend has marginal Freeview reception, only being able to get of the muxes since TV1 and TV2 do not come in while TV3, 4, Prime Maori etc are okay.

This is with an internal antenna.

It's awkward to get an external antenna installed and I was wondering if this indoor antenna might help. It has been very favourably reviewed in the US for their HD broadcasts which while MPEG2, also use UHF.

https://store.gomohu.com/the-leaf-indoor-hdtv-antenna.html

The Mohu guys said it should work but the RF connector (presumably F connector) would not be compatible with NZ television. I suspect that's just an adapter to convert F to our connectors.

Thoughts?

Thanks

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

B1GGLZ

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#848543 3-Jul-2013 09:04

Basically No.
If your current indoor antenna gives marginal reception then you are wasting time and money with another one.
You need an external antenna.

sbiddle

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#848550 3-Jul-2013 09:15

B1GGLZ: Basically No.
If your current indoor antenna gives marginal reception then you are wasting time and money with another one.
You need an external antenna.

+1

It may or may not work and performance of indoor antennas can vary a lot. At the end of the day however an external antenna would guarantee that you will get a good signal.

lchiu7

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#848617 3-Jul-2013 10:38

My friend sent me this picture of her antenna.

Is this worth getting an antenna guy to come and look at?

I should add my friend lives in Churton Park and I'm not sure KauKau is in line of sight.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

khull

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#848627 3-Jul-2013 10:58

I bought the exact Mohu antenna for the dad's place. They definitely work at our place in central auckland with perfect reception - Digital signals are better propagated - Our place fares very poorly with indoor analog antennas, the Mohu is an improvement when switching to analog but Freeview is perfect.

I can post photo evidence next time I visit for those skeptical

lchiu7

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#848647 3-Jul-2013 11:14

Thanks for relating the personal experience. I guess it's a balance now between getting a guy to come out and do something or buying the Moku.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

hdinsider

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#848651 3-Jul-2013 11:20

The aerial in the photo is definitely a uhf one and should work 10x better than any internal one. Why isn't it connected up?

don't mess with me.... i'm the hd insider....

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lchiu7

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#848661 3-Jul-2013 11:47

hdinsider: The aerial in the photo is definitely a uhf one and should work 10x better than any internal one. Why isn't it connected up?

It is but for some reason we can't receive TVNZ stations.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

hdinsider

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#848669 3-Jul-2013 11:57

Sorry, I thought that you had reception problems with an internal antenna as in your first post.

Call an expert and ask how much it will cost to come around and advise on the best solution. Looks like the aerial would be ok, but maybe there is bad cable, splitters or an old masthead amp in there somewhere that needs to be sorted out.

don't mess with me.... i'm the hd insider....

K1w1G33k

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#848676 3-Jul-2013 12:07

hdinsider: Sorry, I thought that you had reception problems with an internal antenna as in your first post.

Call an expert and ask how much it will cost to come around and advise on the best solution. Looks like the aerial would be ok, but maybe there is bad cable, splitters or an old masthead amp in there somewhere that needs to be sorted out.

B1GGLZ

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#848681 3-Jul-2013 12:23

hdinsider: Sorry, I thought that you had reception problems with an internal antenna as in your first post.

Call an expert and ask how much it will cost to come around and advise on the best solution. Looks like the aerial would be ok, but maybe there is bad cable, splitters or an old masthead amp in there somewhere that needs to be sorted out.

+1

Your original post said it was using an indoor antenna.
If that antenna isn't working for TVNZ then there is a fault somewhere in the installation.

robjg63

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#848689 3-Jul-2013 12:31

+1 on the above.

Outside Aerial is definitely best and it probably just needs a connection fixing to get it working.
The money you are looking at spending on the indoor aerial might well be enough to fix the current aerial properly...

Are there existing aerial sockets on the wall in a couple of rooms?
Have they tried another socket?
Maybe a splitter box in the roof cavity and someone has mucked about with it.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

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lchiu7

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#848871 3-Jul-2013 17:22

Probably mistated the situation. The aerial is there but in sad shape (after the winds) it looks like and I thought it might be better just to go internal.

But perhaps a call to an aerial guy might make the situation clearer.

Thanks to all.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

hdinsider

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#848915 3-Jul-2013 19:43

Probably the best option if you don't want to get up there yourself. Check that all of your connectors look OK inside first. Could be as simple as a loose connector.

The aerial looks undamaged and might just need repointing. This should at least make the job cheaper.

don't mess with me.... i'm the hd insider....