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Thread: Best Dgital TV Antenna & discone nearby

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    Default Best Dgital TV Antenna & discone nearby

    Im still rocking the original analog tv antenna with long elements that some are just dangling. DTV reception is okay until it get windy perhaps due to hanging elements I guess.

    Im about 12 km's from Mt Dandenong (Melbourne), perhaps I have direct line of sight or close enough with a roof or two in the way. Neighbors mostly have their antennas pointing to Mt Dandy.

    Thinking of getting a new Antenna since I also want to also mount my discone on top of the same pole for SDR radio scanning. I have a RSPDx.

    Whats the best TV antenna to get for Digital transmissions. Looking around me new house currently being built has 32 Element Log Periodic and other neigbors mostly have mixture of X-type Colinear (with 2 45 degree elements) and perhaps Yagi (with 2 45 degree elements)

    Is there any issues with mounting a new TV Antenna half way down the mast and whacking a discone Tram 1411 on top of same mast. (Rx only). Not sure if that would affect the ground plane for the discone. It just seems easiest to install option for cable routing into house.

    I could measure the gain with my RSPDx but only after purchasing a antenna. it probably doesn't matter so much what antenna I get I guess since I live nearby to the transmission towers as long as it covers the freq ranges.
    Last edited by darkage; 12-01-23 at 12:12 PM.



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    Antennas can't tell what type of signal they receive (analogue or digital) only the frequencies they are designed for.

    At 12km from Mt Dandenong, virtually any antenna will work, but make sure you get one designed only for the channels transmitted.

    Log periodics are fine, same with yagies.

    If you want to also receive the community TV station (C31) you will need either a log periodic, or a yagi that has both VHF (channels 6-12) and UHF elements (for channel32).

    You won't need a lot of yagi elements as the signal at 12km will be very strong.

    VHF/UHF Yagi example:


    VHF/UHF Log Periodic example:


    Log periodic antennas only use 3 elements for each frequency band.

    No problem mounting a discone for RX above the TV antenna. It will likely require 50ohm coax and the TV antenna 75 ohm coax.
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    Cheers I guess I'll go for one that can side down the pole half way. Any advantage of having 4G LTE filter inbuilt or not really ?

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    Quote Originally Posted by darkage View Post
    Any advantage of having 4G LTE filter inbuilt or not really ?
    In the majority of installs, I recommend them, but in your case, being so close to high-powered TV transmitters it would be unlikely that you'd experience 4G/LTE interference.

    It wouldn't hurt if you had the filtering though.
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    Quote Originally Posted by mtv View Post
    In the majority of installs, I recommend them, but in your case, being so close to high-powered TV transmitters it would be unlikely that you'd experience 4G/LTE interference.

    It wouldn't hurt if you had the filtering though.
    Cheers I'll treat the filtering as a added bonus.. my main concern is watchability when tv turn to pixels and stutters during very windy days.

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    I've boiled it down to MTV's exact 2 choices between Yagi & Log Periodic. They seem to be best value. I've learnt alot about TV antennas now. Most popular choice in my neighborhood are what look like Yagi's (might be a hybrid) (mostly what looks like more analog tuned ones given very long back elements) New estate has modern Yagi's. Only saw 4 houses with Log Periodics. Is it worth mounting TV antenna inside the Attic just thinking if that would help more for high wind loads. Not sure if a modern antenna would easily be affected by wind gusts. My current issue might be due to freely moving hanging broken elements swinging in the wind on my analog yagi. I've notice some neighbors have mounted their Yagi's on the far side of the roof in reference to transmission towers and are pointing through the roof for line of sight, I guess signal penetration through concrete tiles might not be an issue then.
    Last edited by darkage; 13-01-23 at 01:37 PM.

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    Placing antennas in ceilings puts them in close proximity to electrical cables, LED switchmode power supplies, etc.

    Apart from signal attenuation and multipath reflections = bit errors = pixelation, you are inviting interference.
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    Quote Originally Posted by mtv View Post
    Placing antennas in ceilings puts them in close proximity to electrical cables, LED switchmode power supplies, etc.

    Apart from signal attenuation and multipath reflections = bit errors = pixelation, you are inviting interference.
    Oh god, okay scrach that idea. Antenna's are cheap anyways.. to the roof it is. I'll test it out with the existing cable even though its been there for 35 years.

    I have a roll of RG6 Quad Shield which I could use for the TV Antenna if I have to replace.. For Discone for SDR would RG8x be the best choice for low loss ?

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    Quote Originally Posted by darkage View Post
    Oh god, okay scrach that idea. Antenna's are cheap anyways.. to the roof it is. I'll test it out with the existing cable even though its been there for 35 years.

    I have a roll of RG6 Quad Shield which I could use for the TV Antenna if I have to replace.. For Discone for SDR would RG8x be the best choice for low loss ?
    RG6 Quadshield is ideal for the TV antenna.

    For the SDR, RG58 would be fine for short runs... say 10 metres.

    Over that, RG213, or if you want lower loss again, LMR400.

    A lot will depend on how strong the received signals are you listen to.

    In most cases, RG58 will be quite sufficient.
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    Quote Originally Posted by mtv View Post
    RG6 Quadshield is ideal for the TV antenna.

    For the SDR, RG58 would be fine for short runs... say 10 metres.

    Over that, RG213, or if you want lower loss again, LMR400.

    A lot will depend on how strong the received signals are you listen to.

    In most cases, RG58 will be quite sufficient.
    Cheers MTV. I'll check pricing for 50ohm cable. I have about a 10 metre route to cover. I probably should also investigate other antenna options while Im at it for specific needs. Might as well get everyone cables and done at the same time.

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