Aerial and decoder advice request

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Rikkitic

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#80859 5-Apr-2011 11:21

I have been researching Freeview and have decided to give it a try. Now I'm trying to figure out what equipment I need. Don't know much about this subject so am floundering a bit and would welcome any advice.

I have decided I do want to try a UHF receiver for the high definition though we are in a marginal area. Transmitter is actually not too far away and there is line-of-sight to the hill behind our house but the house itself is in a dip with another hilltop in the way. Coverage maps say we might or might not get reception. I'm prepared to risk it and hope the signal bends enough or bounces to us but to improve our chances I think we do need a good high-gain aerial. Most of what I see on Trade Me is described as 'medium' (around 16db or less). Is this the best I can do or should I look for something else?

I would also appreciate any decoder tips. From the things I have been reading here, it sounds like I would actually be better off with a 'non-compliant' STB. Looking to the future, I would want something that would allow me maximum flexibility for later HD recording and archiving. Again, any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Spyware

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#455462 5-Apr-2011 11:47

UHF doesn't bounce or bend. Maybe you can state more exactly where you live and the distance from transmitter. By not far away do you mean 1 km or 10 km?

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illicit

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#455463 5-Apr-2011 11:51

Ring around the installers and get a quote for a signal test (approx $50-100 depending on travel required)

Once done they will tell you whether its worth going for HD or just using satellite.

Rikkitic

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#455817 6-Apr-2011 09:48

Spyware: Maybe you can state more exactly where you live and the distance from transmitter. By not far away do you mean 1 km or 10 km?

Actually it's around 20-30 km, direct line of site to the hilltop behind the house at an elevation of around 20 or 30 meters above the rooftop. The hilltop in the way blocks our view of the transmission mast but it can be made out with the naked eye from the hilltop. No problem receiving VHF or FM from our location, not sure about UHF. In other places I've lived we were able to receive UHF TV even without line of sight so I was hoping the signal might spread a little even at that frequency.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

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#455831 6-Apr-2011 10:24

So you can't see any analog UHF??

Rikkitic

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#455844 6-Apr-2011 11:24

Haven't been able to properly test that. Our old analogue TV used to work fine for TV1-3 until the aerial blew down but it was a VHF aerial only and we were never able to receive Prime on that. We have never previously tried to get UHF here so don't know for certain if we can. At present we are on Sky satellite. All I can say for sure is the difference in height between the roof of our house and line of sight to the transmitter isn't enormous (tens of meters at most) so if there is any signal spread over the peak of the blocking hilltop, we ought to be able to receive it. I'm trying to decide whether to gamble on a $70 hi-gain aerial to test it because it would cost a lot more than that to have a technician come out to our very rural location. I want to do it this way if possible because I would specifically like to be able to get the HD Freeview service without going through Sky.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Jaxson

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#455846 6-Apr-2011 11:27

Sounds like you may be in the situation of buying a masthead amp and a big as possible high gain aerial. As said above a site survey will confirm if it's possible, or you can spend the money on the gear to try yourself. There's not much more too it that I can see.

pogostickconz

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#456059 6-Apr-2011 18:51

in my experience uhf is very picky about conditions and when youre receiving a digital signal any failure will mean an unwatchable picture, not just a fuzzy one.

i have line of sight (15k away) but a big pine tree close by so have a very high gain uhf aerial and every now & then the signal will drop out such as when the dual tuners kick in (recording one channel & watching another)