Attic TV aerial/antenna

E

extopia

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Thinking of installing one of these in my rural hideaway. We get half decent reception from the rabbit ears but I want to get everything looking good well in time for the world cup!

I asked about these in the local electrical shop and all they would do was give me the card of the local "TV aerial man."

Seeing as how I built most of the place myself I reckon installing a loft aerial is well within my powers.

Any tips or recommendations on what I need? The house is already wired for TV points, all of which terminate in the attic. I don't live there full time so a Sky subscription is out of the question. I'd consider freeview satellite in the future but to be honest I don't want the kids watching MTV all day so terrestrial channels are fine for now.
 
Any aerial will always work better outside than inside the attic. [broken link removed] sell a range of TV aerials that might be worth checking out. If you were able to say where you are located you might get more detailed technical advice about what's possible.
 
The place is in southwest Donegal, on an elevated site with good site lines to the surrounding mountains, where the RTE antennas are located.

With a cheap rabbit ears, we get excellent RTE reception. TV3 pretty good in summer. BBC good. ITV weaker. TG4 crap.

All the signals are are noticably weaker in winter, but that's normal I think.

I would tend to agree intuitively with you about the outside/inside issue, but would prefer an invisible antenna for aesthetic (and wind/maintenance) reasons. A neighbour swears by his loft aerial but he's probably not as fussy as I am (and yes, he got if from the "TV aerial man.")

Thanks, I'll check out Maplin, and see if I can talk to some people there.
 
The ideal situation would be to be able to buy the gear and then experiment with it and return it (undamaged obviously) if it doesn't work out. I'm just not sure of details such as whether or not you need different or combination aerials for VHF (used any more?) and UHF (different bands?) and/or different polarisation of signals etc. Are there deflector services in the area? Of course if this is not your idea of fun (believe it or not, it would be mine! :eek:) and/or it's not feasible then it might be simpler to engage a local contractor to sort it out. There's a bloke in Maplin, Jervis Street who is very helpful - he has a beard and glasses and a nice manner and is probably in his late 30s/early 40s in case that helps! :)
 
Actually, it IS my idea of fun! I'll search out that guy in Maplins.

Not sure if there are still deflector services in the area, but I'll ask the people in the Regions>Northwest forum on boards.ie
 
We have our TV aerial in the attic and it's ok for RTE 1 and 2, but TG4 is rubbish. The guy who sold us the aerial said it should work nearly as well as one located externally, as long as we could get a clear line on the transmitter (Mt. Leinster), which we can as the house is elevated and there are no high obstacles in the immediate vicinity. Incidentally it is not recommended to attach aerials, satellite dishes or the like to chimney stacks unless they are designed to take the loads imposed by heavy winds etc.
 
You need a different ariel for TV3 and TG4, we installed both in our attic. As we also live on a fairly exposed hill and after a second outdoor ariel came down and removed half our slates on the way we installed the RTE one 16 years ago and the other whenever TV3/TG4 started. Great reception on all 4 channels except that Aertel on RTE1 breaks up. We also pick up C4 and BBC2 from some pirate crowd on these ariels.
 
earwig30 said:
You need a different ariel for TV3 and TG4, we installed both in our attic. As we also live on a fairly exposed hill and after a second outdoor ariel came down and removed half our slates on the way we installed the RTE one 16 years ago and the other whenever TV3/TG4 started. Great reception on all 4 channels except that Aertel on RTE1 breaks up. We also pick up C4 and BBC2 from some pirate crowd on these ariels.
Click to expand...

I also want to install an ariel(s) in my attic as curently I have just stripped down the cables and hung them from one of the rafters and the reception is awful.

I called in to Maplin and they said I will need 2 ariels - 1 for UHF(tv3 & tg4) and 1 for VFH(rte1 & rte2). Can anyone tell me if it possible to get a single ariel to pick up both UHF and VHF? (I would be hoping this is cheaper that buying 2 ariels)

Also can anyone tell me whats involved in hooking up 2 ariels? Do I need some way of spliting the cable?

Finally I have about 3 cables coming out of the wall behind my telly, one of which I have connected to the tv, How can I tell which is the corresponding cable in the attic (there are 3 there also)?

thanks,
Warren
 
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