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swerv

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#86795 13-Jul-2011 21:44
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Hi All, hope you can help.  I am getting very poor Freeview HD reception here in Raumati South.  Have bought a new brand new 'One For All' brand UHF ariel -Model no SV9355 which cost $200. It has a 28db triple boom and wideband.  The guys at Harvey Norman said it would do the trick. It is mounted about 2M above the roof pointed in the direction of Ngarara.  Obviously I cant pinpoint the specific direction but have pointed it in the same direction as the neighbours ariel and moved it around and get a very 'snowy' picture.   At best I get 6 TV channels and no radio channels.  I have an LG full HD TV, model no 42LD560.  Is it the ariel direction, height, or am I in a little pocket of Raumati South that has poor reception.  I'm in Glen Rd if that's any help, Any ideas please? cheers

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nickb800
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  #493125 13-Jul-2011 23:01
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Whats the state of the cabling between the antenna and the TV?

I dont know what the pro's would install these days but in Raumati Beach we have a bigger antenna than that with a masthead amplifier, and even that doesnt yield perfect reception, although than antenna would be ~20 years old.

Have a look around the neighbourhood and see what size antennas your neighbours have.

Tbh I wouldnt trust the guys at harvey norman for techincal advice.



Klipspringer
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  #493185 14-Jul-2011 07:47
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swerv: Hi All, hope you can help.  I am getting very poor Freeview HD reception here in Raumati South.  Have bought a new brand new 'One For All' brand UHF ariel -Model no SV9355 which cost $200. It has a 28db triple boom and wideband.  The guys at Harvey Norman said it would do the trick. It is mounted about 2M above the roof pointed in the direction of Ngarara.  Obviously I cant pinpoint the specific direction but have pointed it in the same direction as the neighbours ariel and moved it around and get a very 'snowy' picture.   At best I get 6 TV channels and no radio channels.  I have an LG full HD TV, model no 42LD560.  Is it the ariel direction, height, or am I in a little pocket of Raumati South that has poor reception.  I'm in Glen Rd if that's any help, Any ideas please? cheers


I have recently setup a freeview aerial at my place in waikanae, we about 5km from the transmitter.

I have a Medium gain 32 element UHF antenna, bought for $45 off trademe. Its not mounted right on top of my house but rather further down the facia board.

I too was not getting perfect reception.

What I did find though is that if it was pointing slightly off I would not get all the channels when doing an auto scan. Picture quality was good, but then when I moved it slightly I got some of the other channels, but again not all. I found Maori TV, Prime etc were not always available. TVNZ seemed to always work no matter where i pointed the areal.

I ended up going onto google maps and looking at the exact location of the transmitter from my house and then I estimated a direction. I then used a compass and pointed my areal accurately as possible. This worked, and I now receive all channels. I am interested to hear if there is any tool that can be used for this, maybe an app? As I have a compass on my android phone.

As you are further from Ngarara I would imagine that your setup would have to be even more accurate and powerful than mine.

I did a search on your address on the freeviewnz.tv site, it says likely with high areal. My address is shown as very likely.

I would suggest you get it pinpointed to the exact position. Neighbours probably not using Freeview HD? Also you mention a “snowy picture”? This is weird, are you sure you using freeview HD? It sounds to me like you using an analogue TV, or have it set to analogue? Make sure you TV can pick up freeview and has a freeview receiver. If you having bad freeview reception, it either works or does not. Sometimes the picture can break up, but its never “snowy

nickb800
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  #493234 14-Jul-2011 10:24
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BraaiGuy:

I ended up going onto google maps and looking at the exact location of the transmitter from my house and then I estimated a direction. I then used a compass and pointed my areal accurately as possible. This worked, and I now receive all channels. I am interested to hear if there is any tool that can be used for this, maybe an app? As I have a compass on my android phone.



I do something similar to this, I use google earth and the ruler tool to draw a line between the antenna on my house and the transmitter. I then find a close landmark that the line runs through, such as the peak of a neighbours roof, and aim the antenna for that. Not hugely accurate but great if you dont have LOS with the transmitter



Klipspringer
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  #493237 14-Jul-2011 10:28
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nickb800:
BraaiGuy:

I ended up going onto google maps and looking at the exact location of the transmitter from my house and then I estimated a direction. I then used a compass and pointed my areal accurately as possible. This worked, and I now receive all channels. I am interested to hear if there is any tool that can be used for this, maybe an app? As I have a compass on my android phone.



I do something similar to this, I use google earth and the ruler tool to draw a line between the antenna on my house and the transmitter. I then find a close landmark that the line runs through, such as the peak of a neighbours roof, and aim the antenna for that. Not hugely accurate but great if you dont have LOS with the transmitter


Thats a good idea..

Are you sure you have your TV set in digital mode? Ie, not scanning analogue channels? My TV has two tuners, one for freeview and one for analogue.

cyril7
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  #493238 14-Jul-2011 10:36
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Hi, I used to do installs in Kapiti (lived in Waikanae till a year ago) where you are around Glen Rd can be problematic, if there is a low hill directly in front of you then you may find reception near impossible. You have to remember that exisitng TV3/Prime analog come from Forest Heights that is well elevated compared to Ngarara, so existing neighbours antennas may be fine for those services but stuffed for seeing Ngarara.

Also from your location Forrest Heights will be slightly east (by a few degrees) than Ngarara.

Cyril

Klipspringer
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  #493427 14-Jul-2011 16:36
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Does anybody have the GPS co-ordinates for the exact ngarara transmitter location?

All I can find is a pdf on the freeview site, does not giver the coordinates. Would like to get my antenna aligned as accurately as possible.

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  #493434 14-Jul-2011 17:03
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Try best I could get out of google maps
lat=-40.857886 lon=175.049350

Cyril

 
 
 

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swerv

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  #493444 14-Jul-2011 17:47
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Thanks very much for your advice, that has been a great help. I have RG-6 cable which is in ggod nick. I will investigate/experiment things further, cheers

swerv

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  #493452 14-Jul-2011 18:02
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Thanks very much to all you guys for your advice, It has been a FANTASTIC wealth of information. I have RG-6 cable which is in good nick. My tv definetly has built in freeview.  I will investigate/experiment things further. Just found out my neighbour who has a smaller arial than mine gets a great picture.  Turn's out he has a masthead amplifier to boost his signal!    I'm in that position now where I'm saying to myself 'do I spend another $70 on a masthead amplifier and hope that it works or do I get a tv guy out'. I don't want to 'cave in' to the latter idea! cheers

Klipspringer
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  #493593 15-Jul-2011 08:21
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swerv: Thanks very much to all you guys for your advice, It has been a FANTASTIC wealth of information. I have RG-6 cable which is in good nick. My tv definetly has built in freeview.  I will investigate/experiment things further. Just found out my neighbour who has a smaller arial than mine gets a great picture.  Turn's out he has a masthead amplifier to boost his signal!    I'm in that position now where I'm saying to myself 'do I spend another $70 on a masthead amplifier and hope that it works or do I get a tv guy out'. I don't want to 'cave in' to the latter idea! cheers


First make sure you using the correct tuner in your TV, snowy picture = non HD tuner!

Klipspringer
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  #493605 15-Jul-2011 08:57
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cyril7: Try best I could get out of google maps
lat=-40.857886 lon=175.049350

Cyril


Thanks for that, found the exact location on google maps.

Klipspringer
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  #494837 18-Jul-2011 16:02
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nickb800:
I do something similar to this, I use google earth and the ruler tool to draw a line between the antenna on my house and the transmitter. I then find a close landmark that the line runs through, such as the peak of a neighbours roof, and aim the antenna for that. Not hugely accurate but great if you dont have LOS with the transmitter


cyril7: Try best I could get out of google maps
lat=-40.857886 lon=175.049350

Cyril


Thanks for this advice, and now with the exact GPS co-ordinates of the transmitter I found my aerial was about 5degrees out. Not much, but enough to now give me 100% signal strength!!!! Just shows that a few degrees can make quiet a substantial difference!






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