Argos are selling Philex Aerials (14 element,up to 10db gain) for £14,
and (32 element, up to 12dB gain) for £24.

I live 22km from the Crystal Palace transmitter and i'm told from the
Freeview Page i need a *AH* type aerial for this transmitter.

Are these aerials the AH type?

Is there likely much *real* difference between the effectiveness of
these two aerials, or is the difference just marketing?

john west wrote:

Argos are selling Philex Aerials (14 element,up to 10db gain) for £14,
and (32 element, up to 12dB gain) for £24.

I live 22km from the Crystal Palace transmitter and i'm told from the
Freeview Page i need a *AH* type aerial for this transmitter.

So a group A (which is correct for Crystal Palace) which is mounted
horizontally.

Are these aerials the AH type?

No, anything sold nationally by like likes of B&Q, Argos etc is likely
to be group "W" wideband, so it will work (but not optimally) everywhere
rather than being transmitter specific.

presumably the ones on offer are these?

http://philex.com/catalogue/product/?id=664&cat=1025
http://philex.com/catalogue/product/?id=17&cat=1025

The thing is with all the retunes, TV has lost, and will continue to
lose, the higher frequencies for mobile phones to use, to start with
group A is the lowest group of frequencie anyway, so a band W is not
ideal for you, you won't use any of the higher frequencies it receives,
which include 4G phone signals that could interfere with the TV signals.

Is there likely much *real* difference between the effectiveness of
these two aerials, or is the difference just marketing?

Every 3dB increase amounts to double the signal power received, so in
this case about 60% increase.

You could look for "proper" group A manufactured by e.g. Blake, but Bill
will be a long shortly to tell you you the world has fallen out of his
bottom since everything can be received on a bent coat-hanger these days ...

In article ,
Andy Burns wrote:
john west wrote:

Argos are selling Philex Aerials (14 element,up to 10db gain) for £14,
and (32 element, up to 12dB gain) for £24.

I live 22km from the Crystal Palace transmitter and i'm told from the
Freeview Page i need a *AH* type aerial for this transmitter.

So a group A (which is correct for Crystal Palace) which is mounted
horizontally.

Are these aerials the AH type?

No, anything sold nationally by like likes of B&Q, Argos etc is likely
to be group "W" wideband, so it will work (but not optimally) everywhere
rather than being transmitter specific.

presumably the ones on offer are these?

http://philex.com/catalogue/product/?id=664&cat=1025
http://philex.com/catalogue/product/?id=17&cat=1025

The thing is with all the retunes, TV has lost, and will continue to
lose, the higher frequencies for mobile phones to use, to start with
group A is the lowest group of frequencie anyway, so a band W is not
ideal for you, you won't use any of the higher frequencies it receives,
which include 4G phone signals that could interfere with the TV signals.

Is there likely much *real* difference between the effectiveness of
these two aerials, or is the difference just marketing?

Every 3dB increase amounts to double the signal power received, so in
this case about 60% increase.

You could look for "proper" group A manufactured by e.g. Blake, but Bill
will be a long shortly to tell you you the world has fallen out of his
bottom since everything can be received on a bent coat-hanger these days ...

In the late 1980s I sawa pile of "cleaners coat hangers" in the window of
the Oxfam shop in Warwick. They were labelled "car radio aerials" and
priced at 10p.

On 22/08/2015 09:13, Andy Burns wrote:

[...] since everything can be received on a bent coat-hanger these days
...


Hehe, as long as it's outside I can indeed receive the majority of the
available Freeview channels on a bent coat-hanger
At least on the dongle plugged into the laptop...

Now, if I could say the same for the local DAB stations...

Back on topic, ish, I noticed after the stormy weather a little while
ago that my TV aerial is now upside down*. It's still pointing the same
way and it works just as well so I've left it alone

*oldish 18 element Antiference, it's swung round on the "u-arm" and the
cable entry and elements are now on the bottom rather than the top.

On 22/08/15 08:20, john west wrote:
Argos are selling Philex Aerials (14 element,up to 10db gain) for £14,
and (32 element, up to 12dB gain) for £24.

I live 22km from the Crystal Palace transmitter and i'm told from the
Freeview Page i need a *AH* type aerial for this transmitter.

Are these aerials the AH type?

Is there likely much *real* difference between the effectiveness of
these two aerials, or is the difference just marketing?

Yes, and no. If you are in a marginal reception area, or suffer from
specific interference from another transmitter, then a better aerial may
solve most of your problems.

I ran for the first few years of digital with a loft mounted yagi tuned
to entirely the wrong band for digital!

It worked pretty well, but the log periodic I stuck in on the correct
band post analogue switch-off was a lot better on one multiplex - the
one furthest from the old analogue band.

At 22km assuming no hills between, almost any yagi or log periodic
should work.


--
New Socialism consists essentially in being seen to have your heart in
the right place whilst your head is in the clouds and your hand is in
someone else's pocket.

john west wrote:
Argos are selling Philex Aerials (14 element,up to 10db gain) for £14,
and (32 element, up to 12dB gain) for £24.

I live 22km from the Crystal Palace transmitter and i'm told from the
Freeview Page i need a *AH* type aerial for this transmitter.

Are these aerials the AH type?

Is there likely much *real* difference between the effectiveness of
these two aerials, or is the difference just marketing?

To cut to the chase, I suggest you avoid buying such horrible ****e. Get
on the CPC website or ATV Aerials Sheffield and buy a log-periodic. It's
that simple.

Bill

On 22/08/15 15:42, Bill Wright wrote:
john west wrote:
Argos are selling Philex Aerials (14 element,up to 10db gain) for £14,
and (32 element, up to 12dB gain) for £24.

I live 22km from the Crystal Palace transmitter and i'm told from the
Freeview Page i need a *AH* type aerial for this transmitter.

Are these aerials the AH type?

Is there likely much *real* difference between the effectiveness of
these two aerials, or is the difference just marketing?

To cut to the chase, I suggest you avoid buying such horrible ****e. Get
on the CPC website or ATV Aerials Sheffield and buy a log-periodic. It's
that simple.

Bill
And cheaper.



--
New Socialism consists essentially in being seen to have your heart in
the right place whilst your head is in the clouds and your hand is in
someone else's pocket.

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 22/08/15 15:42, Bill Wright wrote:
john west wrote:
Argos are selling Philex Aerials (14 element,up to 10db gain) for £14,
and (32 element, up to 12dB gain) for £24.

I live 22km from the Crystal Palace transmitter and i'm told from the
Freeview Page i need a *AH* type aerial for this transmitter.

Are these aerials the AH type?

Is there likely much *real* difference between the effectiveness of
these two aerials, or is the difference just marketing?

To cut to the chase, I suggest you avoid buying such horrible ****e. Get
on the CPC website or ATV Aerials Sheffield and buy a log-periodic. It's
that simple.

Bill
And cheaper.



Have you noticed how a lot of these DIY aerial fall apart quite quickly?
It's remarkable really.

Bill

Bill Wright wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 22/08/15 15:42, Bill Wright wrote:
john west wrote:
Argos are selling Philex Aerials (14 element,up to 10db gain) for £14,
and (32 element, up to 12dB gain) for £24.

I live 22km from the Crystal Palace transmitter and i'm told from the
Freeview Page i need a *AH* type aerial for this transmitter.

Are these aerials the AH type?

Is there likely much *real* difference between the effectiveness of
these two aerials, or is the difference just marketing?

To cut to the chase, I suggest you avoid buying such horrible ****e. Get
on the CPC website or ATV Aerials Sheffield and buy a log-periodic. It's
that simple.

Bill
And cheaper.



Have you noticed how a lot of these DIY aerial fall apart quite quickly?
It's remarkable really.

Bill

Our pigeons can destroy any aerial. The CPC log periodic lasted 4 months.

Capitol wrote in
o.uk:

Bill Wright wrote:
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 22/08/15 15:42, Bill Wright wrote:
john west wrote:
Argos are selling Philex Aerials (14 element,up to 10db gain) for
£14, and (32 element, up to 12dB gain) for £24.

I live 22km from the Crystal Palace transmitter and i'm told from
the Freeview Page i need a *AH* type aerial for this transmitter.

Are these aerials the AH type?

Is there likely much *real* difference between the effectiveness
of these two aerials, or is the difference just marketing?

To cut to the chase, I suggest you avoid buying such horrible
****e. Get on the CPC website or ATV Aerials Sheffield and buy a
log-periodic. It's that simple.

Bill
And cheaper.



Have you noticed how a lot of these DIY aerial fall apart quite
quickly? It's remarkable really.

Bill

Our pigeons can destroy any aerial. The CPC log periodic lasted 4
months.


Cable ties - with pointed ends facing up keeps them away. I presume they
have no effect on the signal.

On 22/08/2015 08:20, john west wrote:

Argos are selling Philex Aerials (14 element,up to 10db gain) for £14,
and (32 element, up to 12dB gain) for £24.

I live 22km from the Crystal Palace transmitter and i'm told from the
Freeview Page i need a *AH* type aerial for this transmitter.

Are these aerials the AH type?

Very unlikely - most stuff sold in general shops will be wideband (aka
group W). Alas the performance of a group W aerial is poorest in group A.

Is there likely much *real* difference between the effectiveness of
these two aerials, or is the difference just marketing?

Have a look at:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...ng_a_TV_aerial

and

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...ng_a_TV_aerial





--
Cheers,

John.

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