UHF freeview HD in washington valley, Nelson.

I have just put up a UHF aerial and faced it towards Mt Campbel, have tried pointing it toward Kaka hill but no dice. I seem to be getting intermittent signal, and initially could get good reception on 1 & 2 with bad 3,4, prime etc now i can't get 1 & 2 at all and the others are pretty minging.

Should I play around with my position/height some more?

Will a mast head amp help with my signal or a better aerial?

chur

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Permalink Reply by Biggles on January 5, 2014 at 21:53

I presume you are aware that Kaka is Horizontal polarisation and Mt Campbell is Vertical? If your aerial is mounted with wrong polarisation in a fringe reception area it can make the difference between reasonable signal and no signal.

http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/information/technical/digital-terrest...

Check which way your neighbours antennae are pointed and orientated.

Once you sort out direction and polarisation then move the antenna about to find the best spot and see if a masthead amp is required.

Permalink Reply by Biggles on January 5, 2014 at 22:37

Just had a look at the Freeview coverage map for Kaka and if you can't get a good picture in Washington Valley then you must be doing something wrong. Check all your connections. Even an indoor antenna would probably work there. You're only a couple of km from the transmitter.

http://www.freeviewnz.tv/coverage/coverage-maps.aspx

Permalink Reply by Brad Beddek on January 5, 2014 at 22:43

definitely no interior reception. maybe i've been getting Kaka's signal? i've tried pointing the antenna strait at Kaka but no dice. All new cable no plugs except into the telly.
so vertical alignment would mean I need my "foils?" set vertically?

Biggles said:

Just had a look at the Freeview coverage map for Kaka and if you can't get a good picture in Washington Valley then you must be doing something wrong. Check all your connections. Even an indoor antenna would probably work there. You're only a couple of km from the transmitter.

http://www.freeviewnz.tv/coverage/coverage-maps.aspx

Permalink Reply by Biggles on January 6, 2014 at 8:16

so vertical alignment would mean I need my "foils?" set vertically?

Correct.

Sounds like it miay be time to get in a Pro with the proper equipment to measure signal strengths to set up your antenna?

Permalink Reply by Biggles on January 6, 2014 at 10:03

Are you able to upload a picture of your antenna installation here?

Good installation datasheet here.

Attachments:

Installation Instructions for Setting up a UHF Aerial for Freeview HD reception.pdf, 293 KB

Permalink Reply by Brad Beddek on January 6, 2014 at 13:17

will do this arvo, chur for the feedback too.

Permalink Reply by Brad Beddek on January 6, 2014 at 13:21

AH HA! so I shall try the vertical alignment and point it towards Kaka Hill!

Permalink Reply by Biggles on January 6, 2014 at 16:54

Nope. Horizontal for Kaka, Vertical for Mt Campbell.

Permalink Reply by Brad Beddek on January 6, 2014 at 19:45

So here is my aerial, pointing w/n/w from my house on the corner of washington rd and mt vernon place. It's about 2m above my roofline.

Permalink Reply by Brad Beddek on January 6, 2014 at 21:51

Had a look at what channels i'm picking up and i'm getting 75% signal and 90% quality on channels number 42 and 70&70 ish on channel 40 so it's definitely Kaka hill i'm getting. Don't think I had retuned the TV properly when I was messing with the aerial.

Going to point the aerial about 85 degrees tomorrow and retune.

will update then. Thanks for the advice Biggles

Permalink Reply by Biggles on January 6, 2014 at 22:32

Will probably help if you remove the old VHF antenna too. You'd be surprised how much it can affect UHF reception just by being in the vicinity. Signal strength and quality would indicate you are in a bit of a dead spot. My son has similar readings at his location in a gully fairly well shielded from direct line of site to the transmitter and we had to move the antenna about a bit to find the best spot. We couldn't get a signal at all when mounted it a similar distance to yours from the VHF antenna. CH38,40,42 is definitely Kaka. Once you take away the old antenna try moving the new one up and down the pole to find best location. Both distance above the roof and slight changes in direction can affect strength and quality. Good luck.

Permalink Reply by nzdtv.com on January 6, 2014 at 22:37

Your aerial looks like a small wideband Hills UHF they are pretty useless. If you can see the Kaka Hill transmitter then something is very wrong if you havn't got all the Freqs at a good level. Having the aerial in the wrong polarity will be enough to upset things.

It would also be a good idea to also remove the old vhf at the top to stop it interacting even you have already cut the coax to it.