I was thinking that if we do need a better aerial for receiving Freeview TV broadcasts, is there an ideal position where we can put it? I was thinking of putting it at the rear of the property like in the picture. Is this OK? It's a backup plan in case the local engineer wants an arm and a leg to fit a new aerial. It saves us climbing onto the roof which is a major risk if you're not used to it.
Where should a TV aerial be positioned
installationtv-antenna
Related Solutions
Yes, you should have a grounding block wired to a ground rod before the antenna wire enters your home. It won't necessarily prevent all damage from a direct lightning strike, but it will help.
NEC in the States (NFPA 70) says that if you don't ground the grounding box to the same ground rod that is connected to your breaker box, you need a #6 wire between the ground rods. Obviously, that doesn't apply in your locale, but it's still a good idea.
YMMV, but I get excellent digital TV reception from an antenna mounted in my attic. Removes all the worries about grounding, wind, etc.
Yes- it the number of rods sticking out of the main antenna. 16 on one side 16 on the other side.
These rods help remove ghosting, provide a clearer overall signal.
They all have their own purpose and lengths are very precise and specific. These should not be bent, extended, shortened or connected to anything else in any way will cause poor signal. Pigeons and birds do not affect reception as they do not cause direct induction of the circuit.. but a fat bird can bend the antenna and cause some issues.
Even though that is the concept it does not always refer to any exact number. Sometimes 3 spokes can be counted as 1 element because they act a single "element"
It will not have anything to do with number of channels- this depends on your region, the version of the set top box (old Freeviews cannot pick up many new channels) best use the FreeView HD ready boxes for best compatibility.
Hope that helps you out.
Best Answer
There are many factors that affect signal strength, some are in your control like antenna placement, but most are not (other buildings/structures, topography, location of broadcast, atmospheric conditions, etc.).
If you are trying to find the "best" placement then you need to do a site survey. The crude version of this is using a long temporary cable, moving the antenna around to different locations and viewing the signal strength from your receiver ("box") or TV. Professionals will use instruments like signal meters of varying sophistication.
One nice attribute of digital OTA is that being binary (ones and zeros), picture quality isn't affected - it either works or doesn't work (for the most part). If you placed the antenna at your desired location and could get say 75% signal on most channels, then you could very likely use that location even if there were better ones.