Although not an absolute must but useful when the weathers bad or the kids are bored. We want to get a good reception on our TV and the status ariel that came on the caravan is rubbish. We have looked at the ariels and poles in our local dealers and including the brackets and booster it is going to cost around £70. We feel thats a bit steep. We are unable to use the jockey wheell type as ours is the covered sort. We bought the sattelite dish and box from Lidl but could not get a picture from that. Any ideas on where we can get an ariel from that might be cheaper?? Or how we can get a good picture? Thanks in advance!!
If your Status aerial and your satellite dish are both not working I am baffled!
I use a Status with my home booster, as well as the fitted unit, and in the worst case the picture is reasonable. Most of the time the reception is good.
In my last 'van I scrounged an alloy pole, bought a cheap aerial and with a booster it was fine.
It was stood at the side of the 'van. I made two small flaps that ran in the awning channels, one top one bottom, each with a hole so the pole slotted in. Hope that is reasonably clear?
Hi, Probably the most cost effective ariel is a simple directional type available from almost anywhere for less than a tenner. Aluminium pole in a couple of sections to make transporting easy. As long as is well clear of roof of van.will work well in most areas. Shouldn't need a 'booster' (pre amplifier) as if you're in an area of poor signal strength there's not a lot you can do. To fix the pole, if you can't attach to the jockey wheel, drive in an awning peg close to a corner of the van, stand the tubular pole over the end protruding from the ground, attach pole to grab handle with bungee. Can then turn pole to find optimum signal, (look at others on site for guide). One thing that some people may forget is our tv signal is relayed all over the country by a system of local 'repeater' stations which operate on a number of different frequencies, so once the tv is set up it must be re-tuned to the local channel. Hope this is of some help. Please don't spend loadsa cash, you really don't need to. In fact, I make my own ariels for pennies....Mick
I am not sure what you mean by a covered jockey wheel. Do you mean the A-frame is covered? You can get short poles that fix onto the side of the van using double sided tape and as stated above a cheap ariel.
Have your standard status aerial changed for a newer style directional status - had one on my last 3 'vans - work well everywhere. Glad to see more and more makers are fitting them for standard in 07.
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We inherited an "Image" directional aerial with the caravan and it works reasonably well (only tested in weak signal areas so far). It incorporates telescopic VHF radio elements and can be orientated vertically or horizontally. The mast is in three sections, sticks in the ground and clamps to the awning rail. I saw one on sale the other day in Jacksons of Arley for about £23,and I think that included the mast.
It's the same one referred to by Klystron in this thread
You don't require another aerial....that is what the dish is!
You require a ground stand for it. Basically a flat square plate with 4 holes to peg it down and a vertical tube to attach the dish to. I see lots of users buying these expensive tripods nowadays! No need for such expence.
The Lidl dish is bigger than required for most purposes and much smaller "Sky" dishes are readily available on Ebay or dealers. The smaller the dish the less wind resistance and slightly easier focussing for someone unfamiliar with finding a satellite in the sky. If buying a smaller Sky dish, get the LNB that goes with it in case the Lidl LNB doesn't mount the same on the aiming arm.
Setting up the dish for reception is the most challenging to someone unfamiliar with focussing an aerial of such accuracy as a dish but will be a piece of cake with experience. There are loads of resources on the internet explaining what to do so I wont give a long winded explanation here. However, the most important aspect for caravanning is that you chose a pitch that is not obscured by local trees in a south-easterly direction as these will attenuate the signal, especially if wet. In brief, the Sky sattelite is 28 degrees east of south. 180 minus 28 = 152 degrees. Find that point with a compass, point the dish there, use the signal level (look up menu) indicator on the receiver, elevate the dish until the indicator bars peak, sit back and enjoy your freeview channels. Magnetic and True North differ depending where on the earth you are so the same can be said for South so a wiggle either side of 152 degrees bearing will produce the desired result. Sattelite Finders can be useful but do attenuate the signal. And will not be used again once you're experienced.
If all else fails, look around a site for someone with a dish set up and ask them for help. Folk will be only to happy to see another convert.
Hi we use one that we bought from argos it has a bracket that fits onto the a frame it does not matter if the frame is covered mine is and the bracket fits ok and we get a very good picture on the tv this is the same aerial as mine hope this helps peter
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Freedombird, you definitely need a directional arial. The Status round type is a compromise to receive from any direction. Remember the round wire "crown" on older vans? The round Status is a kind of ponced-up version.
Apart from direction, there is the question, "horizontal or vertical?" Signals transmitted from main stations are horizontally polarised (arial in flat position), and from relay stations they are vertically polarised (arial in upright position).
My present van has the Status directional unit, so I am OK, but my previous van had the round type and,as you say, rubbish. On that van I fitted a weatherproof arial socket close to the status booster, to which it was connected. I then fitted a directional arial to a telescopic aluminium mast. I drove a peg in the ground, fitted bottom of mast over it, and supported it with a bracket located in the offside awning rail. I think the whole job cost around £45
Mind what you spend though. When the analogue transmissions close down, it will be all change again for digital.
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Topic: Which ariel?
