For those who use terrestrial TV when on-site and have trouble finding the nearest/best TV transmitter there is an excellent website to assist you, " www.wolfbane.com/articles/tvr.htm". If you enter your ordnance survey position or postcode it will tell you the nearest transmitter (s), the bearing from your position, vertical or horizontal polarisation and a lot of other information. It should give you a head start on tuning in. Personally I prefer satellite (trees allowing) as the satellite is always in the same place ! (Hope this is in the right section)
TV transmitters when on site
- Thread starter airsiggy
- Start date
A good bit of info, thanks. Ok if you have access to a computer.
I take a bearing off local houses and note whether they are V or H and jot the info down in the sites book or diary.
Maybe we should start a campaign for CC an C&C sites to publish this info in their information leaflets.
I take a bearing off local houses and note whether they are V or H and jot the info down in the sites book or diary.
Maybe we should start a campaign for CC an C&C sites to publish this info in their information leaflets.
I use http://www.freeview.co.uk/availability/
Put in post code of where you are/going to be. and look at the coverage maps.
You can zoom on on the map(s) to see the best signal in your particular field.
(we end up in fields in the middle of nowhere and usually between transmitters)
I admit, we cheat as we only use the omnidirectional antenna supplied with the caravan mounted on the roof and it's not often we can't receive something. fall back to DVD's of the programs we didn't have time to watch at home before we went away.
Put in post code of where you are/going to be. and look at the coverage maps.
You can zoom on on the map(s) to see the best signal in your particular field.
(we end up in fields in the middle of nowhere and usually between transmitters)
I admit, we cheat as we only use the omnidirectional antenna supplied with the caravan mounted on the roof and it's not often we can't receive something. fall back to DVD's of the programs we didn't have time to watch at home before we went away.
Now I am very new to TV in the caravan but as we are talking about tuning in for a signal, can I ask how I do this.
First I had better say my aerial is the white domed round one with a spike on top and my TV gets free-view.
Can I turn the dome aerial to get a better signal or are we talking about a add on one?
Reg and Pat
First I had better say my aerial is the white domed round one with a spike on top and my TV gets free-view.
Can I turn the dome aerial to get a better signal or are we talking about a add on one?
Reg and Pat
That's the one I've got. It's omnidirectional and you should have an amplifier in a cupboard just below it.
One cable comes from the antenna, one goes to TV and there is a spare. You can have low or high amplification. Little slider switches turn on and off and another for high or low. It has a 12v supply also plugged in and a red light to show it's on.
We find autotuning on high sensitivity the TV for freeview gives best and I usually do analogue on low first as that way you will tune the strongest signal. Then change to high to watch analogue.
Not perfect, doesn't always work everywhere. We did try a separate 'caravan aerial' on a pole, but the messing about just wasn't worth it.
Once 2012 occurs, if we still find problems, I expect we will change from the 'cheap 'n' cheerful' one to the better rotating version.
One cable comes from the antenna, one goes to TV and there is a spare. You can have low or high amplification. Little slider switches turn on and off and another for high or low. It has a 12v supply also plugged in and a red light to show it's on.
We find autotuning on high sensitivity the TV for freeview gives best and I usually do analogue on low first as that way you will tune the strongest signal. Then change to high to watch analogue.
Not perfect, doesn't always work everywhere. We did try a separate 'caravan aerial' on a pole, but the messing about just wasn't worth it.
Once 2012 occurs, if we still find problems, I expect we will change from the 'cheap 'n' cheerful' one to the better rotating version.
In one sense you are lucky in that your aerial is "omnidirectional" so picks up a signal from any direction; it cant and does not need to be "pointed" at a transmitter. It comes with several drawbacks but as I said it removes the need to point it at the transmitter.Reg and Pat said:
For digital reception the TV itself needs to be "tuned" to receive signals from a particular transmitter; this needs to be done before attempting to view.
Some sets [probably more those marketed for camping] have a single push button on the handset to initiate this tuning. Other sets [probably more those marketed for use at home, ie not in different locations] will have a tuning facility accessible via the "menu".
In both cases tuning will take from a minute to several depending on the TV; during this period it will systematically scan for all available viable signals and lock onto them. Most sets will logically sort out the channel number designation so for example "3" will be accredited to the local ITV.
Those with directional aerials need first to point the aerial at the transmitter assigned for the campsite location and determine if the aerial array is set in the normal horizontal or less frequently used vertical alignment. As has been said this can be done in several ways, looking at other aerials, doing a web search or using a signal strength meter being some methods used.
Unfortunately the aerial needs to be pointed more accurately for digital than it does for analogue transmissions, so a bit of “research” effort is worthwhile. I cheat by having the transmitters logged in a handheld walking GPS so once I know from my logbook which serves the area I can quickly determine its bearing.
Some comments about the string above.
Firstly the Status 315 (the flying frying pan with a spike) is notionally omnidirectional but, like any aerial, it will have nulls in that all-round capability. It does not follow that if a signal is available you will be able to get it, and they cannot be rotated. The 315 is really only effective where the transmitter is line of sight, and is much less effective with vertically polarised signals than with horizontal.
Secondly a directional aerial does not need to be pointed more accurately for digital than it does for analogue - indeed accurate alignment can sometimes be a nuisance. With analogue TV slight misalignment might cause ghosting on the picture, ghosting that can even be too small to see on a caravan-sized TV. However that ghosting can screw up digital completely, and even having the aerial dead on beam can thus cause problems from reflected signals. The easiest (but not always the best) way to align the aerial is to get the cleanest signal on Ch5 if it is available, then tune the digital.
Finally, if homework has been done at home and the channels (that is radio frequency signals as distinct from TV programmes) for the wanted location are known, if the TV has manual tuning capability on digital it is usually quicker and more effective to use that route. If the set is in an overlap area and a weaker signal is in the lower channels then it may cause problems because of the (stupid) design that always makes the TV search tune from the bottom end of the TV band.
Per the comment about 2012, note that almost a half of the UK has now gone totally digital - that is the whole of the west side of England, all of Wales, and the borders and most of northern Scotland. The last couple of stations go in the next month or so, then there is a break until nearly Easter (bad weather season) whence it starts up again.
For me, satellite is much the better option although you then have to keep away from the trees!
Firstly the Status 315 (the flying frying pan with a spike) is notionally omnidirectional but, like any aerial, it will have nulls in that all-round capability. It does not follow that if a signal is available you will be able to get it, and they cannot be rotated. The 315 is really only effective where the transmitter is line of sight, and is much less effective with vertically polarised signals than with horizontal.
Secondly a directional aerial does not need to be pointed more accurately for digital than it does for analogue - indeed accurate alignment can sometimes be a nuisance. With analogue TV slight misalignment might cause ghosting on the picture, ghosting that can even be too small to see on a caravan-sized TV. However that ghosting can screw up digital completely, and even having the aerial dead on beam can thus cause problems from reflected signals. The easiest (but not always the best) way to align the aerial is to get the cleanest signal on Ch5 if it is available, then tune the digital.
Finally, if homework has been done at home and the channels (that is radio frequency signals as distinct from TV programmes) for the wanted location are known, if the TV has manual tuning capability on digital it is usually quicker and more effective to use that route. If the set is in an overlap area and a weaker signal is in the lower channels then it may cause problems because of the (stupid) design that always makes the TV search tune from the bottom end of the TV band.
Per the comment about 2012, note that almost a half of the UK has now gone totally digital - that is the whole of the west side of England, all of Wales, and the borders and most of northern Scotland. The last couple of stations go in the next month or so, then there is a break until nearly Easter (bad weather season) whence it starts up again.
For me, satellite is much the better option although you then have to keep away from the trees!
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