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NOTE : many of these reports are from the pre switchover low power digital + analogue era, but that doesn`t make them any less relevant as regards aerial performance. In fact aerial performance was actually assessed better when using analogue signals.
Yagi 18 Aerial reports
I`m very interested to hear how well our aerials work, particularly when compared to another antenna (e.g. your old one) and I feel this is also of interest to others, so here are reports [mainly from our customers] filed by model of aerial. If you`ve purchased an aerial from us and would like to add one please contact us.
P Varney Crystal Palace Transmitter
Many thanks for your excellent website and efficient delivery of my aerial.
On fitting
a set top box I found that the loft aerial was inadequate. I bought a "high gain
wide band" aerial locally with many elements which proved to be inadequate, even
for terrestrial !!! I discarded it and reverted to the old aerial.
I then read your
website data and decided first of all to replace the downlead and wall socket( made
out of fibre-
I bought your 18A Yagi and this completed the transformation
to successful reception. I am, for the record , 26 miles from Crystal Palace
with a fair line of sight. Your practical notes taught me a lot and I commend them
to anyone addressing a reception problem.
T Davis Rowridge Transmitter
Amazing .... thanks to all the fantastic advice on your website, I can now get Freeview
at home, with almost full strength on all MUXES ! In fact, I can even pick up CH5
on terrestrial TV which I could never do before. I am very impressed with the Yagi18A
grouped aerial, it works wonders compared with a wideband aerial from Argos ! Incidentally,
I am additionally picking up some channels from the Mendip transmitter -
RF really is an art, not a science......
Justin (ATV)
NOTE : many of these reports are from the pre switchover low power digital + analogue era, but that doesn`t make them any less relevant as regards aerial performance. In fact aerial performance was actually assessed better when using analogue signals.
D Hancock Black Hill Transmitter
Have just purchased one of your Yagi 18B aerials as our old one (a Yagi 12 ? ) ,
was 25 yrs old and bits falling off. Wanted reception of Black Hill whilst we are
down behind a very large rise in Lanark. Used your cable replacing ordinary brown
sheath.
Aerial mounted about 1.5 metres above the chimney.
Results approx 2db improvement
over digital channels 41 to 51 and nearer 15db at 55 (Mux5); nothing at Mux6, as
expected (pre DSO -
No actual field strength
figures available ( no meter ) but analogue signal fair and better than it ever was
with little noise and echoes.
I`m quite satisfied with the build quality , hope it
stands up to gas central heating and coal fire. Like your web site -
Yagi 18C/D aerial performance.
See "covering all eventualities"
NOTE : many of these reports are from the pre switchover low power digital + analogue era, but that doesn`t make them any less relevant as regards aerial performance. In fact aerial performance was actually assessed better when using analogue signals.
S Bancroft Crystal Palace Transmitter
Have just installed the new 18 element Yagi group A aerial purchased from you. Reception
is excellent but may not be just the aerial as I also ran new cable from the aerial
to my Sky box in the lounge and then back up into the loft to my distribution amplifier.
(Sky is piggy backed onto the signal via RF2 output to allow me to watch Sky on analogue
TVs elsewhere in the house.) My existing aerial was an 8 element Yagi but I was
suffering from picture drop out (what you call the 'digital cliff') depending on
weather conditions, although Mux 1 was always received -
M Chisholm Crystal Palace
I had a Philex 48 element wideband on Crystal Palace but the results weren`t too good,
so I swapped it for a Yagi18A and there was a big difference, the signal strength jumped from 38% up to 100%. Far better.
C Pope Rowridge Transmitter
Just thought you'd like a report on the aerial I brought from you just over a week ago. The aerial in question was a Yagi18A. I reported at the time that I lived in a weak signal area and to confound the issue I had a very large tree some hundred yards away blocking the signal path. The main problem I had was that I could not receive ITV channels and a few others besides in the summer when the leaves came on the trees. Analogue was very poor too. Fitting the Yagi in the same position as the old wideband aerial did increase the signal strength and certainly improved the analogue signal but still no ITV channels although I did get a couple of the other channels that were missing. Having moved the aerial pole etc. to a new position in my garden I am happy to report that I can now receive all the channels I once had. Analogue is almost as good as digital. Signal strength is off the clock. I certainly like the look and build quality of this aerial and would recommend it to anyone living in the Rowridge transmitter area if they are having problems as I did. One final note. It's been quite windy down here in the south the last few days and I do have to say that the Yagi creates less movement than my old aerial did on top of it's twenty foot pole. In all I give the Yagi 18A top marks in all categories.
J Duberry Rowridge Transmitter
Performance: very good. Signal strength has increased by 50% over old 'Contract' aerial although height has been increased by 3 feet.
Build: good. I was disappointed at first with the use of wing nuts but they are much more substantial than the usual ones. Thanks for the very quick delivery
C Conroy Crystal Palace Transmitter
I've just fitted the second aerial I've bought from you and am again very pleased
with the results. With Crystal Palace as our transmitter we have always had trouble
receiving anything. Previously I bought and fitted an XB16A from you, this to our
own property after unsuccessfully trying a succession of Maplin & other DIY store
wideband aerials. I've just fitted a Yagi18A from you to our elderly neighbours house
which is a touch higher than us and where cost was an issue for them (why they didn't
go for the XB16A). This was to replace a home-
* Purchase of a signal strength meter is unnecessary for most people (other then boaters or caravanners), particularly whilst the analogue channels are still being transmitted. I`d normally recommend tuning in your analogue channels then peaking up the alignment on the weakest of them. 95 times out of 100 that`s also peak reception on the digital as well.
J Wozniac Sutton Coldfield Transmitter
Thanks for a very prompt and efficient service recently. I bought a Yagi18B aerial and variable gain 4 way mast head amplifier together with a fixing kit recently. The aerial and parts were all of good quality and I found it easy to install. I would like to say how useful the information on the website was in helping me to choose the right equipment. I am tuned into Sutton Coldfield but the tall buildings and electronics of Birmingham City Centre are directly between us and the transmitter, so reception has been a bit difficult even though we are only 10 miles away. The new aerial produces a signal with 100% quality and 70% strength (with gain turned up) as measured on the Humax 9300T, much better than the old one [a 12 element Yagi type] which is actually in a better position. Anyway many thanks for your efforts on the website as it made the choice much easier.
Mr Meates Rowridge Transmitter
We live West of the I of Wight and originally had a short wideband type aerial and the signal was poor with analogue, though digital wasn`t too bad. Swapped it for a Yagi18A and both digital and analogue are now good.
C Smith Rowridge Transmitter
We`re not actually that far from Rowridge, but there`s a bank of trees in the way which affects the signal, particularly in the wet. We had a 10 element wideband aerial and it
wasn`t up to the job. Having swapped to a Yagi18A things are much better.
one thing we did notice was that the aerial actually works better, as it points through the trees, if it`s mounted three foot lower !
M George Emley Moor Transmitter
I live at the bottom of a valley so reception is not great. Before getting a digital TV I wanted to maximise my analogue picture quality which would normally do the same for the digital signal.
I was sold a Vision V10-
Swapping to the Yagi18B gave us the best picture we`ve ever had, I was very pleased, but that was only on 1 to 4 because Channel 5 was no better for some reason !
I don`t really understand that either, possibly co-
D Burton Rowridge Transmitter
I have just fitted your Yagi18A which replaced a smaller wideband aerial and a booster.
I now get a better signal, with no booster, showing 80% on the TV's built in signal
strength bar graph (previously about 75). Around here (PO7 area) there is a lot of
talk of "oh you need a digital aerial mate" which the info on your site confirmed
is a load of B****ks (don`t sit on the fence old son, tell us what you really think).
A decent band A for £25 is all you need. For info I also used your (good quality)
cable and didn't fit an intermediate wall plate (which I would have done before reading
your info). I also took cable through reflector and looped down to the pole (why
don`t the connector blocks face the other way ?! -
N Tucker Stockland Hill Transmitter
We recently installed a new IDTV which immediately
showed symptoms of poor reception with frequent picture jumps / pixellation and interruptions
to sound. The PVR we had been using with the old TV and the set top box in the kitchen
working off the same aerial were fine. After a bit of discussion on MB21's RX-
I knew that
it would be a good move dealing with ATV as anyone who lavishes so much time and
effort on a website so full of knowledge and experience and so useful to layman and
pro alike obviously cares about their customers, not a thing you can take for granted
these days. Many thanks Justin, I will definitely call again if and when I need more
aerial gear.
C Smith Crystal Palace Transmitter
Our bungalow is approx 80m above sea level and located about 18 miles to the east of Crystal Palace. The previous aerial (an XB10 wideband ?) was purchased about 15 years ago. The aerial is connected to a masthead amp in the loft with four outputs. The problem with the old aerial was pixellation with sound breakup, & on some occasions the total loss of reception of one of the muxs. Also, I have one of the M/H amps o/p's feeding a Labgear Quadplexer & this in turn feeds a triplexer output plate in the kitchen. The TV in the kitchen would report "NO SIGNAL" on Chan 5 & QVC, the only way that I could get those chans was to insert an amp between the triplexer plate & the TV, turning up the gain on the M/H amp in the loft didn`t help.
Now with the new Yagi 18A:-
1. Do not need the amp for the kitchen TV -
2. Signal strength is up by 1% to 2% but most importantly the signal quality is 100% on all chans. Previously some chans including QVC were showing an SQ varying between 38% & 63%
3. Analogue. It works but do not bother with it. Contrary to everything I have read, the digital picture is better especially when showing material shot in HD. Digital does have a better picture unless you have a perfect analogue signal (which I concede most people do not have) in which case analogue is better, though HD is indisputably the best picture of all.
4. I`m quite happy with the aerials build quality. I particularly like the H/D wingnut type bolts on the boom connector, saddle & mast clamp & also the tilt adjustment on the mast clamp. I am a lot happier now with the reduced weight and wind loading of the Yagi over the XB10.
All in all, one very happy customer
B Wholihan Crystal Palace Transmitter
I had originally been persuaded to buy a Labgear 18 element Log Periodic with a built in 4 way amplifier to feed my four TVs. Unfortunately the digital signal was poor on the ITV channels, it was better on the others but still imperfect.
After reading your site I thought I needed a Yagi18A and you confirmed this was the right choice when I phoned to check. You also suggested I try a passive 4 way splitter and only add an amplifier if needed. The aerial and splitter arrived the day after I ordered them and I fitted them the day after that. The result is a perfect digital picture on all channels even with the use of (just) the splitter, i.e. no amplifier. I`m not sure how accurate the readings on the Freeview box are but before I had 70% on most channels and 40% on the ITV ones
whereas I now have 100% signal quality on all channels. Very pleased.
P Hind Sutton Coldfield Transmitter
Although I can`t compare the aerial to another one because it`s a new installation I can report that its performance is perfect and the build quality of the aerial is better than any
B n`Q aerial I ever bought ! The only reason I took time out to send this email is because I was VERY impressed with your service and quality of your goods, a big thankyou.
T Foster Sutton Coldfield Transmitter
I just wanted to say how embarrassed I was, when I found your website, detailing why I shouldn’t have purchased and installed my old wideband TV aerial (an XB10 type). It was a poor quality
B&Q special. Not particularly cheap if I recall. It was very flimsy, and supplied with an indoor roof space mounting kit, AND I mounted to the fascia board outside (slapped wrists). It lasted about five years with barely acceptable performance, with VERY poor reception for the last year, prompting replacement.
I eventually purchased one of your Yagi18B aerials with your mounting kit last week, and fitted it today. The kit is great (everything you need) and the aerial was easy to assemble.
1. Fantastic delivery: Ordered Friday, delivered Monday – Thanks.
2. As you can see from my pics, I have mounted the new aerial much more professionally this time, thanks to your site. I don’t like heights, and so did not mount on the chimney, it is too high for me/my ladders.
3. The new Yagi18B out performs my old aerial at its best, and even brings in the MUX on (pre switchover) CH55 which is out of band. Reception is far less choppy and interrupted, even on
the weaker MUXes. BBC1 analogue which was very snowy on the old aerial, is now perfect,
along with the other analogue channels.
4. We use the Sutton Coldfield transmitter, which was on low power for most of last summer, due to the temporary antenna build. Power is now up again, except for two of the MUXes, although I can receive them all perfectly now.
5. I have an indoor aerial amplifier/distributor, which I may need to switch off after DSO, when the power shoots up, we’ll see.
N Roper Dover Transmitter
Justin, just a quick note of thanks for all your help and advice about my television aerial and of course to the lady I spoke to.
You supplied me with a Yagi 18 for use on the Dover Transmitter which is at 82 degrees, 17miles from where I live. The aerial works perfectly and to be quite honest it is the best picture I have ever had! The previous aerial was a 'Gold' 52 Element (X beam “high gain” wideband) type only 6 months old and to be quite honest was a waste of money. When it rained, the picture went from viewable to black and white, snow storm then blank only to return when it dried out. The Balun was replaced but still it did the same.
I had an aerial installer do a survey and he told me that he could fit another aerial but I would not be happy with it because of all the trees around me and tried to sell me a satellite system at £300+. However as other houses nearby had good pictures I was not convinced.
I found your web site while looking for transmitter information and thought it was excellent and very informative and I was right! The build quality of the aerial is superb compared to the previous Aluminium foil one that was supplied, and it did everything you said it would.
Thank you once again, an excellent service.
I Lackford Mendip Transmitter
Just a note to thank you for recently supplying me with a Yagi group c/d. I reside
in Dorset roughly 25 miles south of the Mendip transmitter. Please don't laugh too
loud at this story: Recently I insulated my loft with Thermawarp (placed on the inside
of the roof felt to prevent condensation issues) which I found then caused a sharp
drop in signal strength to
my loft installed contract aerial. Not a surprise in hindsight.
All the BBC channels
received OK but channel 4, channel 5 and the obscure ones on say More4 or Dave kept
breaking up. I naively then purchased a bacofoil SLX wideband aerial and, being very
impressed with all the elements, replaced the old contract -
I know your website doesn't really recommend the Yagi for
loft installations due to the length but I was planning on only going 'external'
as a last resort. Nevertheless, the new Yagi does not suffer any picture break-
So I now have a dryer loft and an excellent picture.
The charts showing the gain of
all the difference aerials was extremely useful in making me understand how inferior
wideband and contract aerials can be.
W Clark Dover Transmitter
We`re in a poor signal area near Ashford and we had an Antiference XG10WB (a model of XB10WB) aerial up on Dover but we suffered from unacceptable digital picture breakup.
The cable was satellite quality and the same downlead for used for both aerials.
Swapping to a Yagi18CD resulted in the elimination of virtually all the break up, what more can you say !
These three reports (above) are particularly interesting because gain wise a decent XB10WB wouldn`t be that far behind a decent Yagi18CD (i.e. the one we sell), yet there was a significant reduction in picture breakup when the Yagi18C/D was used ! These aren`t the only occasions when a Yagi18C/D has outperformed a "high gain" wideband even when (theoretically) it shouldn`t. Most surprising was when a colleague of mine sold an 18C/D to a customer who had a TriBoom in his loft (on Winter Hill), I thought he`d be back on to swap it [or buy a mast head amp] but actually it worked better ! ? ! Not sure why exactly, maybe the grouped aerial(s) have a tighter polar response diagram ? But whatever it is, just like with any aerial install, nothing`s guaranteed because RF is a Black Art....... Anyway, even if the 18C/D doesn`t end up working much better than your XB10WB it will have a lower wind loading and be much better made, that, we can guarantee !
Replaced a wideband "high gain (XB10 type) Bacofoil" with your Yagi 18CD feeding
a 24dB amp to an 8-
Originally analogue
& digital from Dover were poor. The local area (Margate) is served by a 20w repeater
for analogue.
Much improved reception with the 18CD, although analogue at first suffered
severe co-
Happy with the end result, although the XB16E
may have been a better choice.
Roll on DSO! Very helpful & amusing website & a good
sturdy product.
B Mann Tacolneston Transmitter
My grandsons and I, all complete amateurs, erected this aerial on their garden cabin. It is 15ft from the ground and connected straight into a 5 year old Sony integrated Freeview TV. We pointed the aerial, using a small compass, towards our transmitter near Norwich and realised it was in direct line with our church 600 yards away and one of the tallest churches in Norfolk. The cabin is situated close to a overhead power line, close to a post holding a very large power box and is 4' below sea level. Our village is in a low reception area so our hopes of getting a reasonable picture were a little optimistic but when the TV was switched on and a setup scan completed we found perfect pictures and sound on all but one Freeview channel and no ghosting.
My grandsons have learnt from this venture that it pays to buy good gear and take on board what the people who know their business tell you. Thank you for all your help and advice.
NOTE : many of these reports are from the pre switchover low power digital + analogue era, but that doesn`t make them any less relevant as regards aerial performance. In fact aerial performance was actually assessed better when using analogue signals.
R Bale Mendip Transmitter
What a great website -
C Duffy Whitehawk Hill Transmitter
We had a pretty decent system to start with as our original aerial was a Triax QR18WB (equivalent to a Yagi13WB) going through a mast head amp and satellite quality cable.
It worked pretty well but there was still annoying freezing and blocking on some channels.
I swapped to a Yagi18CD and whilst it isn`t perfect it is significantly better than it was.
J Hardy Winter Hill Transmitter
Where we`re situated (Chapel-
transmitter because Winter Hill was unobtainable for most people. With the increased
power from Winter Hill after the switchover we tried a Yagi 18CD on it and our reception is
excellent, despite Eccles Pike hill being between us and the transmitter. We were also
very impressed with the build quality of the aerial, in fact I`d never have thought there could be such a difference (in the strength of the elements) between different types of aerial.
We bought a Yagi 18CD off you because our neighbour had, but we`ve now also got one
for our son, because when we tried ours at his house it gave a good signal despite facing
straight through a quarry ( ! ) although I accept at least some of that is due to Winter Hill`s
power being increased so much.
R Booth Bilsdale Transmitter
Purchased a YAGI 18K to replace a 25 year old aerial (similar type but 10 element, probably an A group) located on a 10 foot pole on a chimney, on a neighbour's bungalow. Pointed at BILSDALE 118 degrees, used Wolfsbane to get this. The requirement was to improve digital performance only.
1) Retuned before installation (SONY Bravia) found 67 services, missing the MUX D
which was the aim of the exercise. Subsequent retunes would occasionally finding
93 services -
2) Installed the ATV Yagi18K, replaced the down lead, and the wall plate with a new
MK unit, and the fly lead, -
3) Retuned after new installation -
Build quality was fine no problems at all. Your additional instructions on the cable routing were useful, though I never intended to straighten the inclined dipole so those additional instructions weren`t quite so useful, but you must have all sorts as customers I suppose !
The web site is excellent, by far the best source of info on the web for this activity. In conjunction with the UK Free TV site. Loved the cowboy's pictures.
S Joyner Mendip Transmitter
Received the aerials on Friday, the day after placing the order online. Thanks for
the excellent service.
I spent sometime on the roof on Saturday trying the Yagi18C/D
and the Log40. Using the signal strength/quality screen on my Pioneer TV as a signal
meter, I compared the performance of the Yagi 18C/D and the Log40, and my old (came
with the house) Philex XB5. We live in a low lying area which has no line of sight
to the Mendip transmitter -
NOTE : many of these reports are from the pre switchover low power digital + analogue era, but that doesn`t make them any less relevant as regards aerial performance. In fact aerial performance was actually assessed better when using analogue signals.
M Smith Sutton Coldfield Transmitter
We are on the borderline of good Freeview reception from Sutton Coldfield and certain digital channels have presented a problem in the past. When our old Triax Unix 52 wideband aerial blew down in a storm I contacted ATV: Justin recommended the Yagi18. I decided to go for a group E and the high quality coaxial cable. Now that the 18E has been installed all MUX's are noticeably stronger than with the old wideband UNIX 52 aerial, though MUX6 is still lower than the others *. To be fair we also changed the cable at the same time but all channels now have perfect reception with no picture break up even on the weaker channels. The 18E aerial is also very well made and seems very strong, the elements are certainly much stronger than the UNIX. Highly recommended.
* Note that MUX6 (on CH55 pre switchover) was found to be a bit down on the other MUXES, even on an E group aerial [as opposed to a B group].
G Sharpe Hannington Transmitter
Bought the Yagi18E for use with Freeview (tuners
on a Topfield 5800 pvr). Was getting a slightly iffy digital signal with a roof aerial
pointing at Crystal Palace (had been fine on analogue) and as we have direct line
of sight to Hannington (from an elevated position in south Reading) I thought I would
try loft mounting a new aerial pointed at that.
Works a treat, even through the concrete
tiles, giving a good strong signal that doesn't drop out on bad days like the old
aerial did, though possibly from a wobbly mounting or the trees that were in the
way? Build quality is complete overkill for a loft mounting, but it certainly
felt
like I was fitting competent piece of kit.
So a good result from using your info and
kit -
E Corden Bilsdale Transmitter
Very good advice from a lady answering the phone and everything arrived when she said it would. The Yagi18K is pointing to Bilsdale seems fine on BT vision and our other TV's freeview box. Our picture is vastly improved and we now get all the channels we should.
The old aerial pointed to Emley Moor(?) and we didn't get any BBC channels on the BT vision box and suffered other interference on other channels too. So far so good, thank you.
D Horton Hannington Transmitter
I've just erected a Yagi18 E-
J Lee Winter Hill Transmitter
I just bought a Yagi 18C/D aerial from you, to replace a recently fitted new Tri-
"peep" above the houses opposite and get a
better view of Winter Hill transmitter.
The Yagi does seem to give a better signal
than the tri-
enclose a couple
of pictures for you and would be pleased if you could put them on your site to show
what happens when you fit an aerial that you do not recommend. One is taken from
ground level, the other through a window opening in my loft. I have been unable to
find the missing pieces.
.
Oh, and having just read your article on the lack of people complaining, may I just
add that it would be a definite improvement to your site if you had a "search" box,
like the majority of similar sites already have.
I finally got round to adding a Google Custom Search box to the site in March 2013, though unfortunately it doesn`t allow ‘highlight searched for terms’ or “Jump To Text”, it only shows the page(s) that the searched for terms are on, which isn`t so much use if it`s a long page ! If anyone knows how to add either of these please get in touch.
Now, partly due to the fact it was the summer (better weather and we weren`t as busy * ),
partly because it was only a mile down the road and partly because it was on a wall [i.e. easier access], I decided to use this as a research exercise. We went back at least four times, changing one thing at a time, all for free (other then the materials)........
First we tried it on other transmitters, i.e. Crosspool and Belmont.
No joy.
Next we tried increasing/reducing the amplification of the amp [always buy a variable gain amp....] to more, then less, than optimum, but hey, we were struggling !
Zero improvement.
Next we put the install on a 10ft pole, thus increasing the height over the roof by about three and a half feet. This improved things but a week or two later the customer was back on....
Next we swapped the Log40 for a Yagi18B.
This improved things the most.
We left site and waited with bated breath to see if the phone would ring.
No telephone call was forthcoming.
Eventually my sense of curiosity (and my impatience) got the better of me, so I phoned the customer.
They replied that whilst it wasn`t perfect it was much better and they could cope with it OK. I said we may be able to improve it further with an XB16B (but that`d cost an extra £30, no labour, that`s just for the aerial ! ) and to contact us if they needed it doing.
No call yet though !
Log Periodics should be used wherever possible, but they`re not universal !
If you need more gain make sure it`s significantly more than a Log would give you, so as
to make up for what you`re losing in swapping from a Log. In this case it was a B group transmitter so we didn`t prat about with a wideband Yagi, we went for a high gain B group.
And it worked !
* You`ll always get better service from an aerial installer if you have the job done in the summer (usually April to August/September) ! Not only will the better weather mean he`s likely to be in a better mood ( ! ) but he`s likely to have less work on as well. It`s the same for TV repairs etc, it`s always slacker in the summer. The theory is the better wether and longer nights mean people watch less TV, and so are less bothered about
a crap picture !
R Greatorex Riberac Transmitter (France -
Some feedback for you ref. my Yagi 18k. Thanks to your very informative website and much trawling of the net otherwise to ascertain transmitter frequencies, I was able to determine the appropriate aerial for my area in the Dordogne. It was reassuring that my findings matched the aerial previously fitted but which had suffered corrosion to the terminals and degradation of the plastic element connectors. It is apparent that the aerial is superior in respect to these points and in build quality generally.
Anyway,suffice to say that after positioning the new aerial in preparation for fine tuning, when I turned on the TV lo and behold a perfect picture even with HD.
S Williams Sandy transmitter
I recently bought a Yagi 18K from you. As requested, here are details of my usage and findings.
· Reason for Upgrade : Our 30 year-
· Performance : The Yagi 18K seems to perform well on digital. Not used on analogue, which is now switched off on our transmitter.
· Transmitter : We live near Newmarket and are using it on Sandy Heath, which Wolfbane reckons is 32 miles away on a bearing of 253.
· Comparison : I don’t have a professional signal strength meter. However the on-
· Build quality looks better than the old aerial. Assembly was easy.
R Walls Sudbury Transmitter
I was most impressed by the speed of delivery of my recent purchase of a Yagi18E
aerial. I placed the order on the 16th of November and received it on the 17th. Assembly
of the aerial was straightforward and by the evening I was getting results from Sudbury
digital 37 kilometres away with the aerial downstairs in the lounge. I chose the
Yagi18E because my previous aerial (mounted outside at some 28ft) was a B group which
did not provide adequate signals at the top of the band, channel 60/63 from Sudbury.
The Yagi18E, installed on the 18th, provides good signals over the whole of teh Sudbury
band. The Yagi18E is well designed and rugged -
I found your data on the various aerials most helpful in making my choice.
W Ridsdale Caradon Hill transmitter
We had a tri boom type aerial before but never had much joy with it, the signal quality on our TV only being about 5 out of 10. In fact as an experiment I compared it to an old 10 element wideband aerial, and even that worked a bit better than the tri boom*.
I looked on UK Free TV and they said Caradon was a K group (since corrected by them to an A group) so I bought a Yagi18K and wired it up into my signal strength meter. Rather disappointingly it only lit one LED ! However when I plugged it into the TV it worked fine, the picture is much more reliable now. I can`t really explain that because both the tri boom and the Yagi18K are mounted in the same place and use the same cable (cheap signal meters aren`t worth having ! ).
* That`s a bit strange actually. I`d expect a 10 element A group to work just as well (or even a bit better) than a wideband Tri Boom, but one of the latter should work at least as well or a bit better than a 10 element wideband, but then again, RF is a black art isn`t it !
P Renucci Caldbeck Transmitter
Well ! An aerial is just an aerial right? – a bit of metal with stick like bits strapped
on??
So why spend much time or for that matter money, right??
We just have to say –
a Big, Big, thank you to ATV for a rich, all inclusive web site on aerial technology!
– and for the excellent aerial you sent us.
And the detail is:
We live in a bungalow
in Carlisle, served by a big stick mounted in the ground at Caldbeck. The Caldbeck
transmitter is almost directly south from us, and we are in the far northern part
of Carlisle. We are surrounded by tall houses, and have a tree line some 150 metres
away, to the south with undulating terrain. We had great analogue reception, but
then came the digital rubbish, which forced us to change aerial. I had bought the
previous “Digital” aerials locally, the 1st fell apart in the wind, the second larger
aerial was equally useless and not getting a strong signal but was at least a little
stronger in construction terms. Finally, after another year or so, we had most digital
channels working to an acceptable quality of 70%, but the Film 4 channel and ITV
4 were difficult with picture freeze and sound break up constantly occurring on a
good day. More often they failed to materialise – just the usual message stating
“no signal / service available”. Several other stations were also prone to glitches
on sound and picture.
So . . . after buying a meter to test the signal strength, which
showed weak, we decided to do some more research before splashing out on yet another
aerial. On-
Have to admit
we hesitated at the ATV YAGI A18 because we were thinking it will just be the same
as the others in build quality. Thank heavens we changed our minds at this point.
Primarily because ATV clearly state which group each aerial belongs to, and secondly,
because the aerial tech is so well explained, in my minds eye at least, that it demonstrated
these guys/girls are passionate about what they do, but also know what they are doing!
So
. . . anyone thinking of buying this particular aerial? We can confirm and advise
you that this Yagi18A makes all other aerials look like cheap, tacky TOYS! The Build
Quality of ATV’s Yagi A18 is gob smackingly solid. The wing nuts! clamp! and other
components are SOLID Quality.
This aerial will never break up, bend or rust in our
sincere opinion.
Signal Quality / Strength : the Yagi A18 is pure muscle when it comes
to getting a signal. My meter is just a basic 5 led Signal meter that only showed
a single faint green led glow when I tried it on the old aerial in the front room.
Plugged into this new aerial and all leds came on so very strongly that we almost
felt like the meter was going to blow the leds out of their sockets!
What about Quality?
Can we get Film 4 and ITV 4 ? A resounding yes and what a difference to see a film
on these channels that no longer stutters and splutters. No ghosting or any other
apparitions have appeared on those two channels and as for the rest of the channels?
– all brilliant!
It may have cost slightly more for this aerial, but well worth the
extra pennies. Thank you again ATV, for such a brilliant Aerial which arrived within
48 hours of ordering, and thank you for such an excellent web site that is full of
confidence building information.
And yes – surprisingly, this aerial got us excited
and relieved :-
We are more than willing to give advice to those actually purchasing from us. Could those only seeking information please just find the answer somewhere on this site, or ring an aerial installer local to them, or call the reception advice phone numbers.
It was a job in an area which you`d never have thought was in a bad area.....
My installer had fitted a Log40 with a Mast Head amp (partly because he`d also been experimenting on Crosspool transmitter) and the signals seemed reasonable. Unfortunately the customer phoned up a few days later complaining of intermittent picture freezing and glitching........
If you`ve found this site informative and, hopefully, interesting as well,
please help us increase the number of people reading it.
G Moat-
I had an aerial in the loft but it didn't work too well so bought a Yagi18B and installed it outside on the chimney using one of your 6 foot cranked poles, an 8 inch mitre bracket and a lash kit, plus recabled in your good quality satellite cable. I also fitted a folded dipole FM aerial at the same time, I went for the this aerial rather than the half wave dipole because we live in a pretty exposed location. The Yagi 18B worked pretty well though some of the programmes do still intermittently break up. It is far better than the old aerial though obviously that was in the loft so at a bit of a disadvantage. I note your advice to try a mast head amp in an effort to further improve the signal but to be frank we don`t watch much TV so can cope with it how it is!
Unfortunately just the other week we had a 110 mph gale up here in Orkney which cracked the pole on the bend so it now needs replacing. Interestingly the pole had survived gusts of similar speed before but this gale did last about an hour! After all this extreme weather the only thing wrong with the aerial is one of the directors has developed a bit of a rattle but I'll tighten up the screw when I get round to it. I've decided to fit the aerial on the wall this time because the high winds have caused the corner pieces of the lashing kit to start to digging into the masonry on the corners of the stack, the actual chimney bracket was fine. I`m also going to use your 5 foot long inch and a half diameter pole satellite pole and not one but two 6 inch by 9 inch wall brackets, it shouldn't ever fail then!
As a bit of a footnote, when the installation got blow down the wind blew the aerials (by now hanging off by the cable) against the wall for a while and the dipole cover of the FM aerial was worn through. I feared that would mean a new aerial but fortunately I`d bought it from ATV and they sent me a spare one! So thanks for that, and also thanks for offering to supply the replacement mast free and for writing the only aerial website which actually made sense.
If any pole we sell fails in use (provided it`s used as we recommend) just send us a pic of the errant install and we`ll replace the pole free (though you will have to pay the carriage). Despite George`s experience I`d still recommend one of our 6ft x 1.25in cranks for a Yagi18, in fact, from memory, we`ve never had one fail on any install we`ve ever done. Actually that`s wrong, after high winds we once had a 6ft crank split open longitudinally on the bend, it was very odd, I`d never seen it before (or since). I just think in this case the prolonged extreme Orkney wind combined with the additional wind loading of the Folded Dipole (higher wind loading than a Half Wave don`t forget) was too much for the pole.
As of May 2013 we`ve extended the lifetime warranty to any bracket we sell. Again it has to be used as per our recommendations but if any bracket we sell fails send us a picture of the failed installation and we`ll replace the bracket free (excluding the carriage cost).
It`s good to hear just how robust the Yagi18s are, I`ve always thought they were well made but 110mph ! Incidentally, as George says, if the elements on a Yagi18 (or a DM Log come to that) do become loose [which I have to say is a rare event] you don`t have to scrap the aerial, just tighten up the screw. If the screw won`t tighten because the thread is stripped just put a slightly bigger gauge screw in, that usually sorts it !
We do try to supply spares for aerials purchased from us, which happily helped George here !
Dipole cover worn through.
M Ward Emley Moor Transmitter
Thanks for all your help with my new installation, it's working great, very pleased.
We live in a valley with no line of sight to Emley Moor which is some 20 miles away. Previously I had a Maxview XB5 type aerial from the local DIY store mounted on a 6ft pole with satellite grade alloy foil type cable (about 12m) in good condition. Running one set reception wasn't great and we had quite a lot of picture break up due to lots of trees in the way. We could only pick up the local relay transmitter at Todmorden which doesn't have all the channels on it. There was no signal from Emley Moor even after switchover.
I've now fitted a Yagi18B, a 10ft 2" mast, a single output masthead amp and a four way splitter. The Yagi18B blows the old aerial clean out of the water, signal strength is very good, we only needed the masthead amp because of the four points in the house.
R Green Hannington Transmitter
We have just finished a house refurb in Micheldever. The original 16-
Though only 9 miles from Hannington,
we are at the bottom of a hill with surrounding trees and have a bungalow so looking
at the great info in your site, a Yagi 18B seemed appropriate. I purchased from ATV
the Yagi, a 1/2 wave VHF dipole, some 18" T/K brackets, the 6-
The quality of the aerials are good, and the faceplates
are particularly good quality. Assembly and fitting was easy.
Freeview is working
excellently, but I have not tested analogue yet as we don't intend to use it. Thanks
for the great service and very good web site full of helpful tips. I enjoyed reading
the Cowboys Locker section ! Oh and thanks for the free box of black cable clips,
after I accidentally ordered brown ones !!
I Thomas Sandy Transmitter
Location: Small village near Cambridge. The Transmitter for much of Cambs and Beds
area is Sandy Heath, Bedfordshire. According to Atv-
The old Tv always suffered from random pixelation after Digital Switch Over,
but with the new larger screen Tv, the wife increasingly complained about the random
pixelation, so action had to be taken ("at last", she said !).
.
Original : >10 yr old unidentifiable 12-
.
New : Atv-
.
So the meter showed a relative +18 dBuV signal increase Old Aerial-
No
visible pixelation now seen. Wife happy. Job done.
Congratulations to Atv on a most
informative website.
Good comprehensive aerial kit supplied; all parts seemed to be
of good quality.
Obviously the most important observation by far in the above report is "wife happy".
We don`t usually recommend the purchase of signal meters, we don`t think they`re really required for aligning your aerial and so for most people they`re a bit of a waste of money. However in this particular case it does at least mean we`ve got an second set of readings over and above the TV`s !
A Yagi18K will outperform pretty much any wideband (and it`s better made then any of them.....) but an 18dB increase in signal is huge and cannot really be explained by just the aerial. The wall plate wasn`t isolated so is unlikely to be the problem, so that just leaves the cable, or aerial positioning.
Interesting......
Moved into a new house, TV point didn’t work. Turned out the initial cause was lack of a power supply for the amplifier on the aerial. TV man came out (at hideous expense, considering), replaced it, then went away with the pictures on many channels marginal. Being a bit of a dabbler, and the roofer having left a roof ladder handy, I investigated further. Found the aerial amplifier wasn’t sealed and was very rusty inside, replaced it. Routed the aerial cable to where we actually wanted it (cutting out around 5m of cable and 10m of extension as a result). Still not a great picture on some channels, in particular MUXES 55 and 57, found this site. Realised the fitted one was cheap tiny rubbish (X5WB?), and looking at the frequency response of a Yagi 18C/D it looked like it was best where the signal was weakest.
So, ordered one and fitted it. Sadly and oddly found that whilst most of the bad channels were now good, the good channels were now bad, and in the case of MUX 3 on CH60 (HD channels) non existent! Got in touch, and found that I’d misread part of the instructions, resulting in my fitting the aerial cradle in line with the elements, rather than at 90 degrees to them. Once it was put at 90 degrees to them, all the channels came back in good quality. The ‘incorrectly fitted cradle tests’ on this site don’t go above CH52, but show the largest drop in signal at this, from my experience I suspect that the drop in signal increases further at higher channels. Still, their conclusion (fit it at 90 degrees to the elements) stands firm !
The one thing I do regret doing is not checking out the local area first, however. Looking around other local houses I now see that they point to one of three transmitters. Crunching the numbers on various websites I’d have probably done better getting a Yagi 18K and pointing it in the opposite direction at Bromsgrove. I suspect installers just try one direction rather than seeing which is best for an individual house. I also see lots of houses with multiple aerials and satellite dishes, probably people who replaced the system rather than improving the aerial !
We`re grateful to Chris for supplying this aerial report which not only backs up my tests but will hopefully act as a warning to others !