Right, lets get the emotion out of this thread and just talk objective detail.
I suspect there is confusion between the Status 530 and the 315. The latter is the 'flying saucer' and, agreed, is pretty useless unless the Tx is line of sight. They both work with digital and analogue however. The 530 is a yagi aerial (as used on most domestic installations) inside a plastic case. It needs to be pointed the right way and (most importantly) with the right polarity - horizontal or upright. The aerial will not work wihout the box as the amp is in the box, not in the aerial.
Note that it looks as though caravan manufacturers use chippies or storemen to wire them up. I would recommend to anyone that they take all (non-moulded) TV plugs off and remove the outlet socket and check for correct assembly and to make sure there are no hairs of the braid shorting out the connection. I would also recommend anyone with the means to replace any traditional cable used with something like PF100 which has a foil in the braid. Freeview is very sensitive to interference and will pixelate with the slightest click inside the 'van so the best screening is worth the effort.
Freeview is only transmitted from main station transmitters and some major relays prior to DSO, so unless one of these sites or a post DSO site is being used Freeview will not be available. Most main stations use channels for Freeview that are in the same channel group as the analogue channels but there are exceptions. Chesterfield for instance is group A (chans 21-34) for analogue but group B (37-53) for Freeview. It will however revert to group A channels for Freeview at DSO2 next August. Freeview requires only 10% of the signal that analogue needs, and (like satellite) it is the signal quality that matters, not the strength. A box will usually work with 20% signal and 90% quality but will not work with 90% signal and 20% quality. A signal that would show as having a ghost - probably a ghost so fine that it is barely if at all noticable on analogue - will destroy digital.
Agreed most but by no means all transmitters will have increased power post DSO. Some will not have the power increase until after the adjacent area has been switched.
I would recommend anyone to use a Freeview box rather than a USB stick. Some of the more expensive sticks are actually quite good, but (surprisingly) the PC will not be able to display the picture quality that a TV can.
It depends on your viewing habits, but if you do watch TV regularly when on hols a satellite solution is often much the better option. Provided you have a clear view of the sky roughly SSE you will get a picture pretty well anywhere. I would not use a 'Sky' dish as they are designed to 'only just' work. Get a 60cm conventional dish with some sort of tripod - I use one designed for work lights, or take an alloy tube about 4ft and put it in the jockey mount (or fit a second mount.) The dish does NOT need to be up in the air - it will work quite happily at ground level albeit you will loose signal if someone walks less than about 2m in front of it. Also by all means use a 'Sky' box but not a Sky+ or HD+ as they contain hard disc drives which are not designed to be bounced all over the country. If you are going to France, satellite kit over there is significantly cheaper than over here. There is no point in getting HD as you won't see the benefits with a screen less than about 32". (Oh, your caravan is
that big is it?) A Freesat box (less than £40 in Argos) gives the benefit that you can make it show the local programmes in the area of the UK where you are if you wish; a Sky box will only get your home area (with a card) or BBC London without. [There is something slightly arcane about sitting in the 'van somewhere is darkest France watching PaulTheWeatherman on Look North from Leeds!]
Forget the emotion, look at
www.satcure.co.uk or talk to someone who knows what they are doing, then get a satellite system (and not one of those out of a plastic case from Aldi/Lidl/Maplin.)
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