Hi, can anyone tell me if the standard caravan aerial fitted on most roofs will receive the new digital TV channels ? We are currently looking for our first van and are going either for new or something up to 4 years old. We have a small digital TV for it already but will we need anything else in the van to pick up the channels?
Any aerial should work, if the signal is strong enough - there's no difference between digital and analogue aerials, no matter what it says in the adverts.
Our first caravan was a 2003 model and didnt pick a thing up on the aerial, so we bought an external one which was fantastic. We also moved it to our new van and it works a treat on that.
The round Status 330 omnidirectional aerials are nothing special, but the directional type you can position from within the van (such as the Status 530/40) are pretty good and I've only found the occassional instance where these haven't worked.
As a failsafe, I have a telescopic mast and external highergain aerial that I can rig up, but depending what you have on the van I'd give it a go first.
I use a 4 section pole (Status I think) with an aerial I bought at Aldi for about £14. The fourth pole is needed to allow the aerial to clear the van roof. I put it so that it just clears the roof because if the ariel is put at the top of the 4th pole, it is a bit top heavy. It looks a bit big but it stood up well to gale force winds in Wales earlier this year. When packing, it can go back into the flat box it came in.
Depending on the direction the aerial is pointing, I sometimes need to raise it a bit higher so that the front roof light clears it when open.
I have the standard 'flying saucer' on the roof with a booster inside and a cheap tv with freeview. Never had such a good picture in years of caravanning.
We have never bothered with as it is always a hassle trying to find out where the transmitter is located. We got a second hand Sky digibox off Freecycle, bought a sat dish and pole, a compass and cabling.
You always know in which direction to point the dish. For more info have a read at http://www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk/
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Topic: Picking up Digital TV ?
