Guest sputnik72 Posted June 17, 2010 Posted June 17, 2010 Hi , I am having some issues with an old external tv aerial and have decided to get a professional into install a new one and use his meter to point it in the correct direction , the brand he is going to install is a bytec or bitek (Im not sure of the spelling) and cant find it anywhere on the internet, he says it is better than the hills brand and cheaper, it is a vhf\uhf combination aerial, Cost will be $200 installed. Does anyone know this brand and any opnions are much appreciated. And does this price sound right? Thanks Nick.
mtv Posted June 17, 2010 Posted June 17, 2010 Hi ,I am having some issues with an old external tv aerial and have decided to get a professional into install a new one and use his meter to point it in the correct direction , the brand he is going to install is a bytec or bitek (Im not sure of the spelling) and cant find it anywhere on the internet, he says it is better than the hills brand and cheaper, it is a vhf\uhf combination aerial, Cost will be $200 installed. Does anyone know this brand and any opnions are much appreciated. And does this price sound right? Thanks Nick. Nick, Google came up with this: http://www.bitek.com.au/index.php?option=c...ce%26Itemid%3D2 The type of antenna must be chosen to provide reliable digital reception at your location (which you haven't mentioned). $200 including installation sounds cheap, but that all depends on what work is included... eg: site test, type of antenna, type of mount, type of cabling, difficulty of access to roof/wall cavities, etc etc. For digital, it's best to use only antennas designed for channels 6 & above. eg: not designed for bands 1 & 2.. ABC analogue Ch2 & FM. It's not just pointing the antenna in the right direction, but ensuring the mounting location of the mast will ensure capturing the best quality signals. Some installers just mount antennas on curved fascia mounts (hockey sticks) which are cheap, easy and quick to install... but don't necessarily provide the best-possible signals. Sure, if mounting on one works, that's fine, but some installers are lazy and keep costs down by using them, without performing a full site test to determine the best mounting location and type of mount. Just something to be aware of with cheap-priced installations. If your price of $200 includes a good quality antenna and is just a direct replacement, utilising an existing mast and cabling, then it's a fair price.
Guest sputnik72 Posted June 17, 2010 Posted June 17, 2010 Thanks for your quick reply MTV, The work that will be done is just replacing the existing aerial which is already on a pole, the location is Allambie Heights on sydney's northern beaches, and can either point towards North head at Manly or to Gore Hill at Artarmon, he will do a site test and work out which is better for reception.The aerial he suggested wont get Channel 2 analogue but will get all the other stations in analogue and in digital, all the cabling was done by a mate who is a sparky its quad core with f type connectors , i think the aerial guy will check the connectors on this too. Does anyone have an opinion on the Bitek range of aerials?
gadget1503559522 Posted June 17, 2010 Posted June 17, 2010 Thanks for your quick reply MTV,The work that will be done is just replacing the existing aerial which is already on a pole, the location is Allambie Heights on sydney's northern beaches, and can either point towards North head at Manly or to Gore Hill at Artarmon, he will do a site test and work out which is better for reception.The aerial he suggested wont get Channel 2 analogue but will get all the other stations in analogue and in digital, all the cabling was done by a mate who is a sparky its quad core with f type connectors , i think the aerial guy will check the connectors on this too. Does anyone have an opinion on the Bitek range of aerials? Bitek is the supplier, the antenna brand will be Digitek digitek.tv we use them in Canberra. I consider them to be a good reliable product. I can not comment on the exact model for your area, only on the quality and performance based on the ones we use here. Gadget
digitalhome Posted June 30, 2010 Posted June 30, 2010 I have replaced a few Digitek antennas.Plastics are not as good as the Hill Optimax range IMHO Funny you say that, when I was in Adelaide I replaced many Optimax antennas with the Digitek ones! ( ones that the elements had broken off that is). I think the Digitek antennas are quite good, but in the case of band 3,4 antennas I found the Hills Platinum range to have slightly better forward gain.
beeblebrox Posted July 1, 2010 Posted July 1, 2010 I used to use lots of Hills but the Digiteks are just as good as Hills for the premium (CD) range not the TA (stands for Tight A.se ) range that lots of cheapo installers will use. We've used many hundreds over the last few years without too many problems. And If the the right antenna is used and a digital meter is used for the site test you won't normally have any problems. Depending on your area will depend on antenna selection. In a Band3/4 environment in lots of cases a Fracarro or JTC Log Periodic is fantastic, but the Hills SMX 24B4+ or the Bitek ACD24 which is very very similar has a little bit better UHF gain if required. If it's UHF Bitek, JTC,Fracarro and Hills all make perfectly good antennas. I just find Hills charge a premium for their name on it, when others are just as good if not better. Again nothing beats a proper site test and correct antenna selection.. that's why I carry 6 different antennas normally for different situations and also use probably 5 different other ones when the situation requires it. $200 is on the cheap side so just ask the question on which antenna they're planning to use and what's included. Definitely get the connections made by the sparky checked... even those who have a crimping or compression tool are prone to poor terminations.
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