pneu Posted October 16, 2004 Posted October 16, 2004 Just thought I'd share this with people who are having reception/interference problems with their indoor antennas - try the Digitor amplified antenna (Tandy and Dick Smith sell for $49.95, a ripoff I know, but at least you can refund within 14 days) because it has vastly improved my reception and tolerance of impulse noise. I am now getting a consistent 100% signal strength & quality for all channels, 24 hours a day, plus it seems to be a bit more immune to impulse noise. Light switches and other appliances dont seem to affect the signal as badly. I live in a particularly bad area for impulse noise and this antenna is the only thing that has made DTV acceptable viewing on my Teac DV-B420. The antenna works best with gain set to about 50%. Also I noticed its coaxial cable is quad shield RG6, which may be what's helping with the interference, but since the antenna itself will pick up any noise it probably isnt a factor.
alanh Posted October 16, 2004 Posted October 16, 2004 Ikari What antenna are you comparing this performance to? AlanH
pneu Posted October 16, 2004 Author Posted October 16, 2004 I'm comparing it to an old roof antenna (probably not set up for digital, but receives a decent analogue signal), 2 different types of rabbit ears (non powered), and another powered antenna that looks identical to the Digitor amplified antenna, minus the Digitor logo printed on it (I think it is was what Dick Smith used to sell before they improved the design and decided to put a Digitor badge on it and sell it for a higher price (used to be $39)).
wixy1503559655 Posted October 17, 2004 Posted October 17, 2004 kmart have the same antenna badged under the antsig brang for around $30.
pneu Posted October 17, 2004 Author Posted October 17, 2004 Yeah but I wouldn't trust it to work as well as the Digitor one though cause I've compared a Digitor to a non-badged Digitor clone and it worked absolutely $hithouse (ch7 kept dropping at around primetime and 4am-ish, plus it was really sensitive to impulse noise).
morta11 Posted October 30, 2004 Posted October 30, 2004 so is this digitor you are talking about an indoor antenna?
pneu Posted November 1, 2004 Author Posted November 1, 2004 Yeah, model L4016. Dick Smith just dropped the price by $10 Pick one up if you're having recpetion problems and return within 14 days if it's no good.
alanh Posted November 4, 2004 Posted November 4, 2004 For best reception make the rods a total of 745 mm (channels 6-12) (270 mm for channels 28-35) long and horizontal. Rotate it in the horizontal direction to be at right angles between your antenna and the transmitter. This is for major metro capitals excluding repeaters. AlanH
pneu Posted November 5, 2004 Author Posted November 5, 2004 I'm sure you're right, but the Digitor antenna doesn't require any adjustment! I can point the thing in a range of about 270° with the dipoles facing anywhere and it always stays at 100%, it's bloody brilliant.
geoffcb1503559619 Posted November 5, 2004 Posted November 5, 2004 I'm sure you're right, but the Digitor antenna doesn't require any adjustment! I can point the thing in a range of about 270° with the dipoles facing anywhere and it always stays at 100%, it's bloody brilliant. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> OK, Thanks. I'll check it out. I need an antenna for a SD STB.
alanh Posted November 6, 2004 Posted November 6, 2004 All, If internal antennas were so fantastic, why do people pay a lot more for outdoor antennas? Internal antennas only work well in prime (strong) signal areas. Metal roofs usually shield the antenna inside from the signals. DTV is better than analog when using internal antennas because the ghosting is removed unless it is so bad it causes pixellation and sound popping. The Australian Broadcasting Authority assumes the coverage area of a transmitter is using an external antenna which is either 10 or 5 m above the ground. AlanH
pneu Posted November 6, 2004 Author Posted November 6, 2004 All,If internal antennas were so fantastic, why do people pay a lot more for outdoor antennas? Internal antennas only work well in prime (strong) signal areas. Metal roofs usually shield the antenna inside from the signals. DTV is better than analog when using internal antennas because the ghosting is removed unless it is so bad it causes pixellation and sound popping. The Australian Broadcasting Authority assumes the coverage area of a transmitter is using an external antenna which is either 10 or 5 m above the ground. AlanH <{POST_SNAPBACK}> and my antenna is on the floor! You've gotta be right about it working only in strong signal areas, but the difference between using rabbit ears and this amplified antenna is huge. Most rabbit ears can pick up a strong enough signal in a good suburban area but they dont seem to be capable of maintaining it 24hrs a day, I always found a time of day when the signal would drop, with amplification it stays strong (for me at least).
BlueDusk Posted November 7, 2004 Posted November 7, 2004 Mmm, I envy the reception @ my school, on the top floor of the English block simply plugging in a paperclip the TV auto-programmed 20 channels, it gives near perfect Artarmon Reception, pretty good Kings Cross + North Head as well as watchable Wollongong on analogue. But with the paper clip at my place fuzzyness galore on Artarmon channels.
Turkey Tom Posted November 12, 2004 Posted November 12, 2004 Hmmm...I seem to be plauged by impulse noise problems on my old Thomson at various times, so I might give this a go. Thanks.
datvman Posted November 12, 2004 Posted November 12, 2004 i have this on my DTV tuner card, its PERRRRRFECT, 100% on all channels including the troubled SBS
Keen Posted November 13, 2004 Posted November 13, 2004 I live in North Adelaide and I still can't get more than 98% and 88% quality. Well now it's about 1-2% less since I snapped one of the ears due to some late night drunkeness - woops. Keen
Guest feeras Posted November 20, 2004 Posted November 20, 2004 Hi all, Quick question. I bought one of these L4016 antenna after reading this thread. Now, I am completely happy with the output from this antenna. However, there is something that bothers me. This may sound really silly, but are these amplified antenna safe? Are there any dangers to our health using these antennas or any type of digital reception? The reason I ask is because I have this picture in my head that what we are using is basically a digital mobile phone - and there are unconfirm links between this and you know what. Is it the same concept here or am I being a paranoid loon ? Thanks in advance! feeras
BlueDusk Posted November 20, 2004 Posted November 20, 2004 Lol, mobile phone aerials transmit and that's why some people claim they're 'dangerous'. TV aerials only receives the signals passing through them so there isn't any elevated threat. Even without the aerial all those thousands of different signals are travelling through your body right now, so you can't escape it. Mmm.... electromagnetic energy....
Guest feeras Posted November 21, 2004 Posted November 21, 2004 hehe.. I guess I was a paranoid loon. Thanks Winston... Cheers, feeras
Harry1503559513 Posted December 2, 2004 Posted December 2, 2004 I have one of these Dick Smith internal Aerial/AMP L4016 and it works great on with analogue signals with TV in my sons bedroom but if I connect to set top box then I get nothing except bad or missing signal and the odd very pixellated picture With a plain unamplified rabbit ears antenna I get all digital channels (well into green) except for Channel 10 ....very pixellated or no signal (I am in Perth...northern suburbs). Don't understand why I can't get any digitals on an amplified antenna but I can on an unamplified one (except 10 which is very poor) as it comes from the same transmitter ( I think). I can get 10 via external antenna ...all signals well into the green ...no probs at all. If I can get indoor aerials working well with digital then I will scrap my extrenal aerial. I am getting fed up with keep putting cabling into different location to suit the whims of my missus and kids.
ijd Posted December 2, 2004 Posted December 2, 2004 I have one of these Dick Smith internal Aerial/AMP L4016 and it works great on with analogue signals with TV in my sons bedroom but if I connect to set top box then I get nothing except bad or missing signal and the odd very pixellated pictureWith a plain unamplified rabbit ears antenna I get all digital channels (well into green) except for Channel 10 ....very pixellated or no signal (I am in Perth...northern suburbs). Don't understand why I can't get any digitals on an amplified antenna but I can on an unamplified one (except 10 which is very poor) as it comes from the same transmitter ( I think). I can get 10 via external antenna ...all signals well into the green ...no probs at all. If I can get indoor aerials working well with digital then I will scrap my extrenal aerial. I am getting fed up with keep putting cabling into different location to suit the whims of my missus and kids. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If you are getting great analogue (ie. ghost-free and clear) then you probably have TOO MUCH signal for some digital STBs. Try turning down the gain on the antenna (if you can) and/or add an attenuator (I think they are just $10 at Ideal Electrical, etc). If you are in a capital city, an indoor antenna should be fine for general reception - but they are more susceptible to interference from electrical appliances around the house, so you may have annoying glitches at inopportune moments in a movie or recording, as someone opens the fridge or starts the washer or turns on the blender or pulls into the driveway.
pneu Posted December 2, 2004 Author Posted December 2, 2004 Yeah I get it from bloody car doors, when people pull up into the car park just metres from my unit, when they slam the door shut I think its the cabin light thats doing it. Also some cars must have really bad spark plugs cos as they drive past it lets off interference. Overall the interference problem is just as bad on analogue as it is on digital. For some reason I notice it more on analouge (it seems more frequent on analogue).
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