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Post by Ems&Beau on May 22, 2015 7:23:35 GMT
Can anyone recommend a digital TV aerial to use in my van (Iknow, I finally gave in a got a TV for the van!). I have now fitted a solar panel, stereo, speakers and a TV - I bought a cheap aerial with fairly good reviews but I can't pick up any channels! The TV I have is a AVTEX W152D, I don't have a digital aeriel on my house so I can't plug it in at home to test it, the TV was second hand but it works on everything else so I think its just the aerial thats the problem!
What works best?.....before I waste more money on a different aerial? If I can avoid it I'd rather not carry a large pole and huge aerial around that I have to put it up everytime I want to use the TV! I was hoping one of the small indoors ones would work! Maybe I was being too hopeful! lol
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Post by Firefox on May 22, 2015 8:57:49 GMT
I think you will probably need an external arial. Mine is just a rubber one which came with the maplins TV. The cable goes out through/under the rooflight and it has a magnetic base so by putting in tricky signal areas you can orientate it by sticking it on the side of the van. I don't have a TV licence so I hardly ever use it though.
You may be able to buy that aerial seperately at Maplins. It is just like a little rubber stick 200mm long.
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Post by Ems&Beau on May 22, 2015 13:04:39 GMT
I think you will probably need an external arial. Mine is just a rubber one which came with the maplins TV. The cable goes out through/under the rooflight and it has a magnetic base so by putting in tricky signal areas you can orientate it by sticking it on the side of the van. I don't have a TV licence so I hardly ever use it though. You may be able to buy that aerial seperately at Maplins. It is just like a little rubber stick 200mm long. I didn't think of maplins! They have a couple of options with good reviews. I saw the stick ones but was worried they wouldn't work, maybe I can try it with my tv to see if it will pick up any channels when I see you at a meet next?
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Post by Firefox on May 22, 2015 13:16:43 GMT
No probs. I am going to Rutland this weekend probably (didn't put my name down I'll just turn up) but I think you said you are going racing or something! Wvw has a similar rubber aerial from Maplins and she reckons it is quite good. Mine is similar to this one: www.maplin.co.uk/p/nikkai-dvb-t-mobile-tv-ariel-a30gyMind you it got 1 good review and 3 crap reviews!
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Post by francophile1947 on May 22, 2015 15:50:25 GMT
There is no such thing as a digital aerial, so you plug it in at home to test it I have one of those Maplins magnetic ones and hardly ever got a decent signal I finally settled for a household aerial and pole - I can even get a picture at Brandon
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Post by penny13 on May 23, 2015 18:12:56 GMT
I use a Avtec ariel hanging up in my van when I watch TV, the places it fails is when you need a satellite signal ...
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Post by Ems&Beau on May 25, 2015 17:06:35 GMT
There is no such thing as a digital aerial, so you plug it in at home to test it I have one of those Maplins magnetic ones and hardly ever got a decent signal I finally settled for a household aerial and pole - I can even get a picture at Brandon I don't have an aerial on my house otherwise I would have plugged it in! I'm in no rush, I've been away all weekend and I didn't even think about putting the TV on!
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2015 1:11:13 GMT
I have a mini tv from Maplins with the same black magnetic post type of aerial, I run the cable through the back door and I am pretty pleased with it. I am often surprised to be able to get a signal. It just sits up there and does it's thing, I don't bother trying to fiddle around moving it onto side etc - if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. . Admittedly it is sat on a full length and width metal roof rack....
Out of interest, I have tried an indoor amplified aerial inside the van and even in the rooflight I got zilch whereas the maplins one gets all the normal channels from outside.
Not sure if having a metal body vs a fibreglass body makes a diffence to tv signal - I guess it does as I get better FM radio reception on my little battery radio if near the open door, also mobile and mifi reception is better if wedged into roof light in low signal areas. So if your van is metal body then almost definitely you'll probably need external aerial. If fibreglass / plastic you might get away with an amplified indoor aerial - I used to use one of those in my caravan and it was reasonably ok - that was about 10 years ago so the indoor amplified ones are probably better these days.
Don't forget the geographical influence on signal though - up here in Cumbria you can get about 80 channels in the bigger towns, but at my house I need a boosted aerial just to get about 10 channels, due to the fells blocking the signal from the transmitter which is up near Carlisle with some big hills between it and most of the central lake district. So it may be terrain that is causing poor or no reception, not the aerial.
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Post by billieblue on May 29, 2015 11:31:48 GMT
I think this is a bit like the hair dryer in the van conundrum.....does anything really work unless it is an expensive solution?
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2015 14:49:17 GMT
I think this is a bit like the hair dryer in the van conundrum.....does anything really work unless it is an expensive solution? A 12v mini fan heater works a treat as a hairdryer, costs about a tenner. The big problem for me is washing hair - an overnight park up in remote area with stream nearby is needed, and unless brave enough for cold water, considerable time ( and gas unless able to fire up storm kettle) is needed to heat enough water. I do miss the complete lack of hair care of having hair braided. Getting very close to going for a number 1 all over.... As for TV, I like to watch news and weather every few days but its usually just for late night / early morning unwinding... I find I seem to go off to sleep easier with TV or radio on, luckily my tiny little Maplins TV has a sleep function so leisure battery doesn't drain completely overnight. Without solar panel, I would have to strictly ration TV to an hour or so max per day ( mine is only 10 w so pretty low powered). My TV is also MP3 & 4 player with digi radio so I do use it quite a lot not in TV mode. But I'm not dependent on it and would prefer to have an internet signal than TV signal if I had to choose. Ems, check out Maplins and then look on eBay for same but cheaper.
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Post by fulltimer on May 31, 2015 19:15:37 GMT
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