Omni directional antenna

[Sam]

Hi all,

More advise needed!

My MH came with an omni directional antenna. The signal is very poor both for digital and analogue TV, despite a booster.

I checked all the connectors and made sure all the contact points are good, but it made no difference. The cable length from the antenna to the TV is very short, so cannot see this as a problem either.

Does anyone have any experience with these antennas? Any ideas for a fix?

if they are poor by design and it is best to replace it, was is the best type (but also good VFM)?

Currently in Berwick upon Tweed, rainy day and would have really loved a decent signal

 

[pappajohn]

Hi all,

More advise needed!

My MH came with an omni directional antenna. The signal is very poor both for digital and analogue TV, despite a booster.

I checked all the connectors and made sure all the contact points are good, but it made no difference. The cable length from the antenna to the TV is very short, so cannot see this as a problem either.

Does anyone have any experience with these antennas? Any ideas for a fix?

if they are poor by design and it is best to replace it, was is the best type (but also good VFM)?

Currently in Berwick upon Tweed, rainy day and would have really loved a decent signal

yep!!!

many have experience of them and the best fix is BIN IT!!!!

they have to be the worst designed aerial ever.

easy to remove and the 'bung' is easy to buy and fit.

replace it with a STATUS 530 or similar

 

[billkce]

Pappajohn is absolutely right. The omni depends ENTIRELY on your location. Luck really. Get a Status 530.

 

[pappajohn]

there was a very recent post on here regarding reception but i cant find it now. oh:.

the poster said if they sat in a certain seat the reception was ok but move to another seat and it went.

 

[Frankia]

For the £90 plus that those omnis cost you would be better off with a bent wire coat hanger. I agree bin it.

get a good wideband directional antenna for both digi and analogue. Better still would be a sat dish and either a freesat box or Sky depending on if you want to pay for the privilege.

With sat you are more likely to get a picture than with a terrestrial set up. Most camp sites are a bit out of the way and are not often well served with local transmitters. and whereas you could usually get a poor picture from analogue in a weak signal area digi just goes off if the signal is not good enough.

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[thestoneroller]

hi sam
I have just replaced my directional with a status 530, exellent picture even on the drive, can't wait to test out in wales next weekend and see what freeview we can pick up, as people say it depends on how much you like your tele. they are also easy to fit.
regards from a tv addict,
the stoneroller

 

[Bulletguy]

For the £90 plus that those omnis cost you would be better off with a bent wire coat hanger. I agree bin it.

get a good wideband directional antenna for both digi and analogue.

Almost right but a bit ott!

Yes Status are highly over rated, over priced and the omni-directional is by far the worst type.

The cheapest solution which is guaranteed to work, and work well, is to buy a standard 8 or 11 element television aerial (same as you will have on your house). These can be bought for as little as £10 and you then need to bracket it to a ally pole and find a suitable spot on your motorhome to fasten it to. But most important of all, this type of aerial is directional......and thats what you need.

Alternatively of course is to go for satellite, but whatever you do don't get suckered into being told you need a "special" aerial for digital. You don't. Any honest aerial installer will tell you that.

 

[pappajohn]

For the £90 plus that those omnis cost you would be better off with a bent wire coat hanger. I agree bin it.

get a good wideband directional antenna for both digi and analogue. .

Almost right but a bit ott!.

am i missing something in your post bulletguy ?

frankia is condemning the omni and recommending a directional.

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

I have a Status on the boat, works better than the house aerial! but it does depend on location.

10 element standard aerial is the cheapest solution but where do you put it and you have to take it down when you move

Peter

 

[tony morris]

HI yes the best bet is to bin it I have found in the past when we could not get a good picture we would always carry the magic circle aerial about £12 from caravan shop as a built in booster we found it worked every time for us

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[Bulletguy]

am i missing something in your post bulletguy ?

Yes you are.

My ott reference to was to this;

......you would be better off with a bent wire coat hanger.

frankia is condemning the omni and recommending a directional.

I know!!!
oh:

PS.....Just a query John but i'm curious as to why you highlight plus italic every single sentence seperately? Ever thought of just higlighting the entire lot in one go?

 

[Bulletguy]

10 element standard aerial is the cheapest solution but where do you put it and you have to take it down when you move

Anyone with basic DIY skills should easily cope with that Peter. Think about it. Even a small camper/mh is a good 4-5metres in length and you don't need an aerial mast anywhere close to that length.

 

[Frankia]

As far as being OTT is concerned - I don't think so. I have actually had a better picture with a wire coat hanger than with an omni.

As the name suggests it receives signals from all round it - when you are parked with other large vehicles or buildings around it receives the original signal and can also receive many other bounced signals too. Put a coat hanger in the socket or on the end of a bit of coax and orientate it correctly and there's a good chance of a decent pic.

I would agree with the other post above - as a temporary measure the magic circle can get a decent pic in many places.

 

[Bulletguy]

As far as being OTT is concerned - I don't think so. I have actually had a better picture with a wire coat hanger than with an omni.

Long as you sit next to a transmitter any piece of wire will do the job.

I'm not disagreeing about omni vs directional......two entirely different aerials which I thought my post was pretty clear about.

 

[hilldweller]

More advise needed!
My MH came with an omni directional antenna. The signal is very poor both for digital and analogue TV, despite a booster.

Is it *always* bad - that is the question. We have one and some places it is excellent some places useless.

So if you have *never* had a good signal it just may not be the Status ( for once ).

What I found was that some prat had not wired the co-ax plug properly and this gave an intermittent signal, I unscrewed both plugs and made sure the joints were good.

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[nicklb]

I think I have this type at looks like a small ufo on the roof, mine works probably 50% of the time, I must admit I was thinking of getting a pole for the rear and a directional ariel for next year, I am not bothered about tv when abroad as we will be going in summer and hopefully??? bbqing till late so it would only be for this country and would go in the roof box

 

[Bulletguy]

Is it *always* bad - that is the question. We have one and some places it is excellent some places useless.

So if you have *never* had a good signal it just may not be the Status ( for once ).

What I found was that some prat had not wired the co-ax plug properly and this gave an intermittent signal, I unscrewed both plugs and made sure the joints were good.

A worthwhile fiddle around for Sam as thats always a possibility. Easy enough to do and needs little more than a knife or wire stripper.

I have Status directional on my van which works fine (one of the few things the previous owner actually got right!). The omni-directionals are ok but they are not built to pull in signals from further afield. Thats their weak point.

 

[pappajohn]

Yes you are.

My ott reference to was to this;

I know!!!
oh:

PS.....Just a query John but i'm curious as to why you highlight plus italic every single sentence seperately? Ever thought of just higlighting the entire lot in one go?

cos the bits that ARENT highlighted are immaterial to what im trying to say.

For the £90 plus that those omnis cost you would be better off with a bent wire coat hanger. I agree bin it.


the cost and whether the poster agrees or not doesnt really matter.


get a good wideband directional antenna for both digi and analogue.

what other type of terestrial tv reception is there apart from digi and anologue.

just wasted words.:thumb:

 

[Sam]

A worthwhile fiddle around for Sam as thats always a possibility. Easy enough to do and needs little more than a knife or wire stripper.

I have Status directional on my van which works fine (one of the few things the previous owner actually got right!). The omni-directionals are ok but they are not built to pull in signals from further afield. Thats their weak point.

Thanks, I have checked the connections and they are good. Also, as I have had good signal in Cornwall (but nowhere else) I assume it is the antenna.

Thanks for all the advise :thumb: - I will get a directional aerial and hope for the best!

Sam

 

[Scout]

I seem to recall cornwall had the digi signel bosted this year and the analog turned off.

As this progress's around the uk signels shoud hopefully get better

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