Budget TV signal strength meter
 

On Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:30:04 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

You could always use the walkie talkie and wife method instead.

No. Firstly there's AGC. Secondly the data is hoplessly distorted.

Whilst your comments are undoubtedly true, I'm afraid you have rather
missed the point of my comment.

Budget TV signal strength meter
 

"David WE Roberts" wrote in message
...
Prompted by the thread about photos of roofs being used to advertise a
meter.....

Can anyone recommend a budget signal strength meter for aligning a TV
aerial?
I am slowly working my way towards replacing my current aerial and would
like to be able to align the new one whilst up a ladder without using the
walkie talkie and beautiful assistant method.

Budget is under £20.

I just used the free Google Earth method. Use it to draw line between your
aerial and the transmitter, then look for a nearby, visible landmark on the
line and point your aerial directly towards that. Worked well for me.

Z

Budget TV signal strength meter
 

"Zimmy" wrote in message
...

I just used the free Google Earth method. Use it to draw line between your
aerial and the transmitter, then look for a nearby, visible landmark on
the
line and point your aerial directly towards that. Worked well for me.

Better still, go to the Wolfbane website, enter your postcode and it will
give you the bearing for your local transmitter. Then go to Google Earth
and use the ruler option to draw a line with that bearing.

If you're installing a loft aerial, zoom in on the property and find the
bearing of one side, or the ridge-line of the roof. That will give you an
angle relative to the direction of the transmitter which you can use when
you're in the loft.

Budget TV signal strength meter
 

"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
David WE Roberts wrote:
Prompted by the thread about photos of roofs being used to advertise a
meter.....

Can anyone recommend a budget signal strength meter for aligning a TV
aerial?
I am slowly working my way towards replacing my current aerial and would
like to be able to align the new one whilst up a ladder without using the
walkie talkie and beautiful assistant method.

Budget is under £20.

At that price, slim chance I would have thought.

While on the easy installs you can just use the "suck it and see"
approach - fiddle with stuff until it works, for more difficult installs
you need more information than just a blanket signal strength. You need to
know relative levels between different channels, and you also need to know
what the signal quality is like.

Something like:

http://www.swires.com/pdf/Terry2DS.pdf

is about the minimum you can get away with.

Thanks.

Unfortunately for that price I could employ a professional with his/her own
meter to go up and align the aerial - oh, and buy the aerial as well.
I was hoping for something like the satellite finders under £20 which do a
pretty good job for a one-off install.

I am expecting to be able to point the aerial in roughly the correct
direction using a compass and checking all the other aerials (including my
current one).

I just wanted something simple to do the final wiggle whilst up the ladder
to fine tune the alignment.

Budget TV signal strength meter
 

"Paul Ratcliffe" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:41:32 -0000, David WE Roberts
wrote:

I am slowly working my way towards replacing my current aerial and would
like to be able to align the new one whilst up a ladder without using the
walkie talkie and beautiful assistant method.

You could always use the walkie talkie and wife method instead.

You have obviously not seen my wife.

She is the beautiful assistant :-)))))

Budget TV signal strength meter
 

"John Legon" wrote in message
...
At 10:31:04 Sun, 13 Dec 2009, -GB-Carpy wrote in
article :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philex-SLx-2...GXQUNQ/ref=pd_
cp_ce_1

Not sure what this thing will do if the signal is under 50dBuV but it's
certainly cheap & cheerful

I'm sure this is the same product as the Labgear DVB-T Signal Finder.
Bizarrely, I was sent two of these with my Philex *satellite* kit !
I tried one with my loft aerial, and didn't think it was much use in a
weak signal area. It will give a result where the signal is stronger.

The Philex satellite finder, on the other hand, I found very effective,
with an audio tone which rises and falls in pitch with a slight nudge on
the dish. If the DVB-T finder worked in the same way it would make all
the difference.

Thanks - one of the few useful responses.
I am in a weak signal area (for digital) but since the analogue muxes are
also at Sudbury I could probably align on the stronger analogue signals.
As posted elswhere, i know where the aerial should point - I am just looking
for more fine tuning than pointing it where most of the other aerials are
pointing.

The Woolfbane/Google Earth method suggested elsewhere is more useeful for
aligning a satellite because you can't really see where all the other dishes
are pointing.
In a street with several aerials on most houses the general direction is
pretty obvious.
The aim is just achieving the best signal possible whilst you are up the
ladder.

Budget TV signal strength meter
 

In article , David WE Roberts
wrote:



Unfortunately for that price I could employ a professional with his/her
own meter to go up and align the aerial - oh, and buy the aerial as
well. I was hoping for something like the satellite finders under £20
which do a pretty good job for a one-off install.

I am expecting to be able to point the aerial in roughly the correct
direction using a compass and checking all the other aerials (including
my current one).

I just wanted something simple to do the final wiggle whilst up the
ladder to fine tune the alignment.

I'm surprised that no-one else has mentioned this, but - particularly if
you are out of line of sight - there 's a lot more to aerial rigging than
"doing a final wiggle". You may need to reposition the aerial to get equal
results on all channels and for that you need a proper meter.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.11

Budget TV signal strength meter
 

"John Legon" wrote in message
o.uk...
"Zimmy" wrote in message
...

I just used the free Google Earth method. Use it to draw line between
your
aerial and the transmitter, then look for a nearby, visible landmark on
the
line and point your aerial directly towards that. Worked well for me.

Better still, go to the Wolfbane website, enter your postcode and it will
give you the bearing for your local transmitter. Then go to Google Earth
and use the ruler option to draw a line with that bearing.

Postcodes can cover a whole street though and might not be as accurate as
doing it from the photos of your site and the transmitter itself.

Z

Budget TV signal strength meter
 

"Mike Henry" wrote in message
...
Oh, I didn't realise they were that flexible yet. Can you please list
which Freeview boxes give signal readings in dBµV, rather than a
percentage figure of an unknown value? And which ones make it clear
whether the per is pre- or post-Viterbi, or offer a choice?

You're going to have to pay a lot for a meter that can do that in any
meaningful way.

--

Brian Gregory. (In the UK)

To email me remove the letter vee.

Budget TV signal strength meter
 

"-GB-Carpy" wrote in message
...

"David WE Roberts" wrote in message
...
Prompted by the thread about photos of roofs being used to advertise a
meter.....

Can anyone recommend a budget signal strength meter for aligning a TV
aerial?
I am slowly working my way towards replacing my current aerial and would
like to be able to align the new one whilst up a ladder without using the
walkie talkie and beautiful assistant method.

Budget is under £20.

TIA

Dave R

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philex-SLx-2...ref=pd_cp_ce_1

Not sure what this thing will do if the signal is under 50dBuV but it's
certainly cheap & cheerful

One LED for every 10dB??

That's not a signal strength meter -- it's a sick joke.

--

Brian Gregory. (In the UK)

To email me remove the letter vee.