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Budget TV signal strength meter
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 |
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. TIA Dave R http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=1&criteria=usb&ModuleNo=227864&C =SO&U=Strat15 http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=221768&C=SO&U=strat15 |
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. How does free strike you? Use the signal strength meter in your digi box setup menu. Regards David |
Budget TV signal strength meter
David wrote:
How does free strike you? Use the signal strength meter in your digi box setup menu. An easy roof setup there, hope it's not raining :-) http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/a...er/roofsig.jpg -- Adrian C |
Budget TV signal strength meter
In message , Adrian C
wrote An easy roof setup there, hope it's not raining :-) I hope you had permission to use that Promax photograph. -- Alan news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk |
Budget TV signal strength meter
"Adrian C" wrote in message ... David wrote: How does free strike you? Use the signal strength meter in your digi box setup menu. An easy roof setup there, hope it's not raining :-) http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/a...er/roofsig.jpg Sorry forgot he did say he was Johnie no mates. No one to shout from the ground looking at TV screen through the window. Regards David |
Budget TV signal strength meter
"Mike Henry" wrote in message ... In , "David" wrote: "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. How does free strike you? Use the signal strength meter in your digi box setup menu. 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? I selected the lowest indicated channel and aligned the aerial using that to give highest indication on that one. Seems ok for me. Regards David |
Budget TV signal strength meter
One assumes you are not line of sight and have a pair of binoculars then..
grin. Brian -- Brian Gaff - Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff' in the display name may be lost. Blind user, so no pictures please! "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 |
Budget TV signal strength meter
I was just thinking about this. My screenreader makes rising tones as a
progress bar moves to the right, so if you could get a usb freeview device and get the signal strenth to resemble a progres bar, then plug in wireless headphones, then go on roof with suitable spanner and headphones...... Brian -- Brian Gaff - Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff' in the display name may be lost. Blind user, so no pictures please! "David" wrote in message ... "Adrian C" wrote in message ... David wrote: How does free strike you? Use the signal strength meter in your digi box setup menu. An easy roof setup there, hope it's not raining :-) http://i912.photobucket.com/albums/a...er/roofsig.jpg Sorry forgot he did say he was Johnie no mates. No one to shout from the ground looking at TV screen through the window. Regards David |
Budget TV signal strength meter
Would not the best bet be to see what the gain figures for the aerial are
according to the channels used and maximist the one likely to be weakest, and apparently we all know which that will be in Winter Hill whatever the aerial, so hope he is not there. Nobody seems to have answered the question yet, probably one of the reasons is that its the signal quality that wins against level in any case. Thus, you make the beautiful assistant climb on the roof and do a thourough check of all muxes while she tweaks your nuts.. on the aerial that is. Brian -- Brian Gaff - Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff' in the display name may be lost. Blind user, so no pictures please! "David" wrote in message ... "Mike Henry" wrote in message ... In , "David" wrote: "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. How does free strike you? Use the signal strength meter in your digi box setup menu. 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? I selected the lowest indicated channel and aligned the aerial using that to give highest indication on that one. Seems ok for me. Regards David |
Budget TV signal strength meter
Alan wrote:
In message , Adrian C wrote An easy roof setup there, hope it's not raining :-) I hope you had permission to use that Promax photograph. Errr... In my defense m'lud, my computer's video card is powered by a million Hamlet trained monkeys splattering random red, green and blue spots at a digital framebuffer built of faulty memory. It just came out that way, completely coincidental, like. -- Adrian C |
Budget TV signal strength meter
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. |
Budget TV signal strength meter
"Brian Gaff" wrote in message m... So he has to carry a portable tv and digibox onto the roof with him then? Adrian C posted a version of the image further Photo-Shopped with a portable TV, DTT box and long extension power cable. -- Graham. %Profound_observation% |
Budget TV signal strength meter
You could always use the walkie talkie and wife method instead.
No. Firstly there's AGC. Secondly the data is hoplessly distorted. Bill |
Budget TV signal strength meter
" wrote in message
... You could always use the walkie talkie and wife method instead. No. Firstly there's AGC. Secondly the data is hoplessly distorted. Bill Depends how loud you shout at the data processor Steve Terry -- Get a free Three 3pay Sim with £2 bonus after £10 top up http://freeagent.three.co.uk/stand/view/id/5276 |
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. 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 |
Budget TV signal strength meter
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. -- John Legon |
Budget TV signal strength meter
In article , -GB-Carpy
writes http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philex-SLx-2...B001GXQUNQ/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 guessing this is being marketed under the Digital Misuse brand (TM). A cheap signal strength indicator marketed as "Ideal for Freeview DVB-T" despite indicating signal strength from any stray signal source in the band "Frequency Range: 40-862MHz", irrespective of whether it has any digital content at all. Perfect for confusing the user where strong analogue strays are swamping low level digital content reception. -- fred BBC3, ITV2/3/4, channels going to the DOGs |
Budget TV signal strength meter
At 18:10:42 Sun, 13 Dec 2009, Mike Henry
k wrote in article : In , fred wrote: In article , -GB-Carpy writes http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philex-SLx-2...B001GXQUNQ/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 guessing this is being marketed under the Digital Misuse brand (TM). A cheap signal strength indicator marketed as "Ideal for Freeview DVB-T" despite indicating signal strength from any stray signal source in the band "Frequency Range: 40-862MHz", irrespective of whether it has any digital content at all. Perfect for confusing the user where strong analogue strays are swamping low level digital content reception. Surely "Frequency Range: 40-862MHz" means that is the range from within you can set it to look at a particular frequency? Nope, there is no means of adjustment. All I can say for certain is that two LEDs light up when the input is connected to the UHF output of a VCR modulator. Channel 31, I suppose. One LED lights up when the thing is connected to the bottom end of my aerial downlead. The aerial is group C/D, somewhere around channel 60. And yes, the "instructions" do give a frequency range from 40 - 862 MHz |
Budget TV signal strength meter
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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. |
Budget TV signal strength meter
In message , "Brian Gregory
[UK]" writes "-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...h/dp/B001GXQUN Q/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. Well, it *could* accurate to +/-5dB (which is probably not much worse than some 'professional' equipment). Or is it +10/-0dB? Even if it is, just subtract 5dB. Being realistic, presumably it's just a wideband UHF amplifier driving a detector, so it measures everything as one signal (including the analogues). This customer review probably says it all: "A very useful product to have to hand. It helped identify some poor connections and diagnose other issues. It's not really necessary to have anything more complex unless you're a professional aerial fitter." -- ian |
Budget TV signal strength meter
"Mike Henry" wrote in message
... In , "Brian Gregory [UK]" wrote: "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. Yes I know. Hence my astonishment when "David" asserted that you easily could use your STB's signal meter for these purposes. I noted at the time (this is a dead thread from early December) that he didn't reply. One of our STBs (a cheap one from ASDA if I remember correctly) has a clear indication of what it calls signal quality and signal strength (two figures, each 0 to 100 in steps of 1) which I would have thought would be quite good for aligning an aerial. Of course it can't show you all 6 multiplex's at once. And in good signal areas where the normal figures are near 100 you might need to use an attenuator. -- Brian Gregory. (In the UK) To email me remove the letter vee. |
Budget TV signal strength meter
"Ian Jackson" wrote in message
... In message , "Brian Gregory [UK]" writes "-GB-Carpy" wrote in message ... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philex-SLx-2...h/dp/B001GXQUN Q/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 right... That's not a signal strength meter -- it's a sick joke. Well, it *could* accurate to +/-5dB (which is probably not much worse than some 'professional' equipment). Or is it +10/-0dB? Even if it is, just subtract 5dB. In practice, an increase in signal of 10 dB, say from 55 dB to 65 dB, may not make any change to the reading. OK, the error may not be more than 5 dB, but it's not very helpful when aligning an aerial. Being realistic, presumably it's just a wideband UHF amplifier driving a detector, so it measures everything as one signal (including the analogues). It's not just wideband UHF - the quoted frequency range goes down to 40 MHz. I thought that just had to be a mistake, until I found that the meter picks up a signal from the local oscillator of a VHF radio... |
Budget TV signal strength meter
Mike Henry wrote:
In , "Brian Gregory [UK]" wrote: "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. Yes I know. Hence my astonishment when "David" asserted that you easily could use your STB's signal meter for these purposes. I noted at the time (this is a dead thread from early December) that he didn't reply. If you Google David's posts you'll see he shown a great deal of ignorance over the years. -- Adrian |
Budget TV signal strength meter
In message , John
Legon writes "Ian Jackson" wrote in message ... In message , "Brian Gregory [UK]" writes "-GB-Carpy" wrote in message ... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philex-SLx-2...h/dp/B001GXQUN Q/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 right... That's not a signal strength meter -- it's a sick joke. Well, it *could* accurate to +/-5dB (which is probably not much worse than some 'professional' equipment). Or is it +10/-0dB? Even if it is, just subtract 5dB. In practice, an increase in signal of 10 dB, say from 55 dB to 65 dB, may not make any change to the reading. OK, the error may not be more than 5 dB, but it's not very helpful when aligning an aerial. With an in-line variable attenuator* you could back off the signal level until the strongest LED went out, re-peak the aerial, back off again, etc ad nauseam, until the signal was maximised. However, it certainly won't tell you if one (or more) of the channels/muxes is 'in a hole'. *Like the one here, 2/3 of the way down the list of "Attenuators". http://www.beststuff.co.uk/coaxial_accessories.htm Being realistic, presumably it's just a wideband UHF amplifier driving a detector, so it measures everything as one signal (including the analogues). It's not just wideband UHF - the quoted frequency range goes down to 40 MHz. I thought that just had to be a mistake, until I found that the meter picks up a signal from the local oscillator of a VHF radio... In some (relatively rare) circumstances, this obviously could cause unnecessary confusion. However, in the right hands - and under the right conditions - this might be quite a useful tool. -- Ian |
Budget TV signal strength meter
"Ian Jackson" wrote in message
... In message , John Legon writes It's not just wideband UHF - the quoted frequency range goes down to 40 MHz. I thought that just had to be a mistake, until I found that the meter picks up a signal from the local oscillator of a VHF radio... In some (relatively rare) circumstances, this obviously could cause unnecessary confusion. However, in the right hands - and under the right conditions - this might be quite a useful tool. I would assume that the aerial dipole itself would help to tune out unwanted frequencies. Also on the plus side, these meters are quite well made, and they are cheap. Not that I paid for mine - they were sent to me with a satellite kit - I don't know why!! |
Budget TV signal strength meter
Ian Jackson wrote:
In message , John Legon writes "Ian Jackson" wrote in message ... In message , "Brian Gregory [UK]" writes "-GB-Carpy" wrote in message ... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philex-SLx-2...h/dp/B001GXQUN Q/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 right... That's not a signal strength meter -- it's a sick joke. Well, it *could* accurate to +/-5dB (which is probably not much worse than some 'professional' equipment). Or is it +10/-0dB? Even if it is, just subtract 5dB. In practice, an increase in signal of 10 dB, say from 55 dB to 65 dB, may not make any change to the reading. OK, the error may not be more than 5 dB, but it's not very helpful when aligning an aerial. With an in-line variable attenuator* you could back off the signal level until the strongest LED went out, re-peak the aerial, back off again, etc ad nauseam, until the signal was maximised. However, it certainly won't tell you if one (or more) of the channels/muxes is 'in a hole'. *Like the one here, 2/3 of the way down the list of "Attenuators". http://www.beststuff.co.uk/coaxial_accessories.htm What a wonderful website! I do like their ... .... crimp type F plugs ... (seem to 'magically' fit all cable sizes - except RG11) ... crimp onto cable, best used with crimping tools ... .... screw on Coaxial Plug with Brass Cable Grip ... must come as a surprise to the average punter who's never fitted a 'Belling' plug before ... .... and the ... .... F socket/coaxial socket gender changer ... (they obviously know some very strange females! In fairness to Ian, the variable attenuator could be useful in the context of this thread (but I'd never have got that far down the page, myself!) Being realistic, presumably it's just a wideband UHF amplifier driving a detector, so it measures everything as one signal (including the analogues). It's not just wideband UHF - the quoted frequency range goes down to 40 MHz. I thought that just had to be a mistake, until I found that the meter picks up a signal from the local oscillator of a VHF radio... In some (relatively rare) circumstances, this obviously could cause unnecessary confusion. However, in the right hands - and under the right conditions - this might be quite a useful tool. It must be nice to live somewhere out in the sticks - nowhere near a high-power BII transmitter and not a pirate in sight! In this neck of the woods, you'd need a pretty impressive high pass filter ...! Terry |
Budget TV signal strength meter
Would not something like this be more accurate if an analogue meter or
earpiece with rising tone for strength was fitted? If its real broad band I guess it might be rather useful for just finding the strongest, but if its too wide band it might aim your aerial to the local minicab office instead.# Brian -- Brian Gaff - Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff' in the display name may be lost. Blind user, so no pictures please! "Ian Jackson" wrote in message ... In message , "Brian Gregory [UK]" writes "-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...h/dp/B001GXQUN Q/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. Well, it *could* accurate to +/-5dB (which is probably not much worse than some 'professional' equipment). Or is it +10/-0dB? Even if it is, just subtract 5dB. Being realistic, presumably it's just a wideband UHF amplifier driving a detector, so it measures everything as one signal (including the analogues). This customer review probably says it all: "A very useful product to have to hand. It helped identify some poor connections and diagnose other issues. It's not really necessary to have anything more complex unless you're a professional aerial fitter." -- ian |
Budget TV signal strength meter
In message , Terry Casey
writes Ian Jackson wrote: In message , John Legon writes "Ian Jackson" wrote in message ... In message , "Brian Gregory [UK]" writes "-GB-Carpy" wrote in message ... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philex-SLx-2...h/dp/B001GXQUN Q/ref=pd_cp_ce_1 Not sure what this thing will do if the signal is under 50dBuV it's certainly cheap & cheerful One LED for every 10dB?? That's right... That's not a signal strength meter -- it's a sick joke. Well, it *could* accurate to +/-5dB (which is probably not much worse than some 'professional' equipment). Or is it +10/-0dB? Even if it is, just subtract 5dB. In practice, an increase in signal of 10 dB, say from 55 dB to 65 dB, may not make any change to the reading. OK, the error may not be more than 5 dB, but it's not very helpful when aligning an aerial. With an in-line variable attenuator* you could back off the signal level until the strongest LED went out, re-peak the aerial, back off again, etc ad nauseam, until the signal was maximised. However, it certainly won't tell you if one (or more) of the channels/muxes is 'in a hole'. *Like the one here, 2/3 of the way down the list of "Attenuators". http://www.beststuff.co.uk/coaxial_accessories.htm What a wonderful website! I do like their ... ... crimp type F plugs ... (seem to 'magically' fit all cable sizes - except RG11) A' real' engineer can make any connector fit any cable (can't he?). ... crimp onto cable, best used with crimping tools ... I've seen one engineer's toolbox which contained only a hammer and pair of large pliers. It worked for him... ... screw on Coaxial Plug with Brass Cable Grip ... must come as a surprise to the average punter who's never fitted a 'Belling' plug before ... ... and the ... ... F socket/coaxial socket gender changer ... (they obviously know some very strange females! They look to me like 'species changer, same gender'. In fairness to Ian, the variable attenuator could be useful in the context of this thread (but I'd never have got that far down the page, myself!) Hey, there's lots of good stuff there! Being realistic, presumably it's just a wideband UHF amplifier driving a detector, so it measures everything as one signal (including the analogues). It's not just wideband UHF - the quoted frequency range goes down to 40 MHz. I thought that just had to be a mistake, until I found that the meter picks up a signal from the local oscillator of a VHF radio... In some (relatively rare) circumstances, this obviously could cause unnecessary confusion. However, in the right hands - and under the right conditions - this might be quite a useful tool. It must be nice to live somewhere out in the sticks - nowhere near a high-power BII transmitter and not a pirate in sight! In this neck of the woods, you'd need a pretty impressive high pass filter ...! One of their Tetra filters might help. http://www.beststuff.co.uk/tetra_filter_units.htm However, £10 for the meter, £4 for the attenuator and £10 for a filter - it's all adding up. -- Ian |
Budget TV signal strength meter
"Brian Gaff" wrote in message
om... Would not something like this be more accurate if an analogue meter or earpiece with rising tone for strength was fitted? Yes, a tone with frequency increasing as strength increases would be cheap and highly efffective. If its real broad band I guess it might be rather useful for just finding the strongest, but if its too wide band it might aim your aerial to the local minicab office instead. We get strong signals from Crystal Palace (which isn't our region) on the back of the aerial (which has to point to Hannington if we want our local programmes). I'm sure that would make it useless for us. -- Brian Gregory. (In the UK) To email me remove the letter vee. |
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