TV Aerial advice Forums

barryd

Hi

Our new (well to us) Kontiki has a roof mounted status aerial which so far has proved to be pretty useless. I wouldnt mind getting a freeview box and pretty soon we are going to be forced too in many areas anyway. I notice on some of the dicussions some members have gone for a suction mounted aerial stuck on the side of the van. I presume thought that you then need to run the cable through an open window?

I found this one on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/QUICK-FIT-CARAVAN-TV-AERIAL-KIT-ANALOG UE-DIGITAL_W0QQitemZ110260965647QQihZ001QQcategoryZ76066QQssPageNameZW DVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Will this work better than the Status aerial or am I just replacing one piece of rubbish equipment for another?

Any advice as to what to buy for both analogue or freeview greatly appreciated

hilldweller

rowley

I have not had a problem with my Status 530 directional aerial. I think that the 12v freeview box helps. It gives a better picture than my more expensive Fortec Star receiver which I use in the house.

safariboy

TV in a motorhome can have a number of difficulties. You cannot get the aerial very high, and signal strength in campsites can be quite low. (This is why the CC often provide a feed.)
You need a directional aerial to start off with and I have had quite good results with a status 530.
An amplifier is a help. I have used a status one that works well and a much lower cost one from Woolworths (I think) which was fine on analogue but not on digital.
At the moment the power on the digital transmitters is quite low. When analogue is closed the transmitter power should go up and all should be better.
You might do a little better with a more conventional type aerial on a pole but will probably need a good quality amplifier.
Other hints: Make sure that you have the correct polarization.
If I was starting from scratch I suspect that I would go down the Freesat route.

Rapide561

Hi

I could never get a signal with a Status aeriel!

Russell

Rusky

Hi we have bought an 'image' tv aerial kit about £50, we use this with a freeview box and it works really well, they seem a popular choice on campsites.

Russ

dsmith123

To be honest, it's pretty risky buying anything like that form eBay. You's probably be better off buying from a specialist. It might be a bit pricier but at least you won't end up with some junk you just have to send back straight away. I've never really trusted the suction-mounted aerials in high winds, but I brought

Wizzo

There's a very good article on aerials for trucks and caravans here:

sallytrafic · Southern Rally Co-ordinator

I doubt that you can orientate that aerial enough (it looks like its on a square shaft) so it would just point away from any surface that it was stuck on rather than at the transmitter.

Its not that high a 'gain' aerial which has a plus point in that its not too directional so not pointing it exactly at the transmitter may not be the issue that it would be with say a 20 element array.

There are plenty of places a non-directional (or more properly an omni-directional) aerial will work fine (I have just returned from one) but as camp sites are often away from towns I agree that it can be difficult. BTW for all its futuristic shape dsmith123's aerial is also omnidirectional.

spykal · Moderator

Hi

If you are considering using a mounted aerial as opposed to a fitted one there is some good info in this old thread **