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Yagi 18 Aerial reports
P Varney Crystal Palace Transmitter
Many thanks for your excellent website and efficient delivery of my aerial.
On fitting
a set top box I found that the loft aerial was inadequate. I bought a "high gain
wide band" aerial locally with many elements which proved to be inadequate, even
for terrestrial !!! I discarded it and reverted to the old aerial.
I then read your
website data and decided first of all to replace the downlead and wall socket( made
out of fibre-
I bought your 18A Yagi and this completed the transformation
to successful reception. I am, for the record , 26 miles from Crystal Palace
with a fair line of sight. Your practical notes taught me a lot and I commend them
to anyone addressing a reception problem.
T Davis Rowridge Transmitter
Amazing .... thanks to all the fantastic advice on your website, I can now get Freeview
at home, with almost full strength on all MUXES ! In fact, I can even pick up CH5
on terrestrial TV which I could never do before. I am very impressed with the Yagi18A
grouped aerial, it works wonders compared with a wideband aerial from Argos ! Incidentally,
I am additionally picking up some channels from the Mendip transmitter -
RF really is an art, not a science...... Justin (ATV)
D Hancock Black Hill Transmitter
Have just purchased one of your Yagi 18B aerials as our old one (a Yagi 12 ? ) ,
was 25 yrs old and bits falling off. Wanted reception of Black Hill whilst we are
down behind a very large rise in Lanark. Used your cable replacing ordinary brown
sheath.
Aerial mounted about 1.5 metres above the chimney.
Results approx 2db improvement
over digital channels 41 to 51 and nearer 15db at 55 (Mux5); nothing at Mux6, as
expected. (See Black Hill B group Graph)
No actual field strength figures available
( no meter ) but analogue signal fair and better than it ever was with little noise
and echoes.
I`m quite satisfied with the build quality , hope it stands up to gas
central heating and coal fire. Like your web site -
B Mann Tacolneston Transmitter
My grandsons and I, all complete amateurs, erected this aerial on their garden cabin. It is 15ft from the ground and connected straight into a 5 year old Sony integrated Freeview TV. We pointed the aerial, using a small compass, towards our transmitter near Norwich and realised it was in direct line with our church 600 yards away and one of the tallest churches in Norfolk. The cabin is situated close to a overhead power line, close to a post holding a very large power box and is 4' below sea level. Our village is in a low reception area so our hopes of getting a reasonable picture were a little optimistic but when the TV was switched on and a setup scan completed we found perfect pictures and sound on all but one Freeview channel and no ghosting.
My grandsons have learnt from this venture that it pays to buy good gear and take on board what the people who know their business tell you. Thank you for all your help and advice.
M Smith Sutton Coldfield Transmitter
We are on the borderline of good Freeview reception from Sutton Coldfield and certain digital channels have presented a problem in the past. When our old Triax Unix 52 wideband aerial blew down in a storm I contacted ATV: Justin recommended the Yagi18. I decided to go for a group E and the high quality coaxial cable. Now that the 18E has been installed all MUX's are noticeably stronger than with the old wideband UNIX 52 aerial, though MUX6 is still lower than the others *. To be fair we also changed the cable at the same time but all channels now have perfect reception with no picture break up even on the weaker channels. The 18E aerial is also very well made and seems very strong, the elements are certainly much stronger than the UNIX. Highly recommended.
* Note that MUX6 (on CH55) was found to be a bit down on the other MUXES, even on an E group aerial [as opposed to a B group], see MUX 6 off Sutton Coldfield.
R Bale Mendip Transmitter
What a great website -
S Bancroft Crystal Palace Transmitter
Have just installed the new 18 element Yagi group A aerial purchased from you. Reception
is excellent but may not be just the aerial as I also ran new cable from the aerial
to my Sky box in the lounge and then back up into the loft to my distribution amplifier.
(Sky is piggy backed onto the signal via RF2 output to allow me to watch Sky on analogue
TVs elsewhere in the house.) My existing aerial was an 8 element Yagi but I was
suffering from picture drop out (what you call the 'digital cliff') depending on
weather conditions, although Mux 1 was always received -
M Chisholm Crystal Palace
I had a Philex 48 element wideband on Crystal Palace but the results weren`t too good,
so I swapped it for a Yagi18A and there was a big difference, the signal strength jumped from 38% up to 100%. Far better.
C Pope Rowridge Transmitter
Just thought you'd like a report on the aerial I brought from you just over a week ago. The aerial in question was a Yagi18A. I reported at the time that I lived in a weak signal area and to confound the issue I had a very large tree some hundred yards away blocking the signal path. The main problem I had was that I could not receive ITV channels and a few others besides in the summer when the leaves came on the trees. Analogue was very poor too. Fitting the Yagi in the same position as the old wideband aerial did increase the signal strength and certainly improved the analogue signal but still no ITV channels although I did get a couple of the other channels that were missing. Having moved the aerial pole etc. to a new position in my garden I am happy to report that I can now receive all the channels I once had. Analogue is almost as good as digital. Signal strength is off the clock. I certainly like the look and build quality of this aerial and would recommend it to anyone living in the Rowridge transmitter area if they are having problems as I did. One final note. It's been quite windy down here in the south the last few days and I do have to say that the Yagi creates less movement than my old aerial did on top of it's twenty foot pole. In all I give the Yagi 18A top marks in all categories.
J Duberry Rowridge Transmitter
Performance: very good. Signal strength has increased by 50% over old 'Contract' aerial although height has been increased by 3 feet.
Build: good. I was disappointed at first with the use of wing nuts but they are much more substantial than the usual ones. Thanks for the very quick delivery
It was a job in an area which you`d never have thought was in a bad area.....
My installer had fitted a Log40 with a Mast Head amp (partly because he`d also been
experimenting on Crosspool transmitter) and the signals seemed reasonable.
Unfortunately the customer phoned up a few days later complaining of intermittent picture
freezing and glitching.
Now, partly due to the fact it was the summer (better weather and we weren`t as busy * ),
partly because it was only a mile down the road and partly because it was on a wall [i.e. easier access], I decided to use this as a research exercise. We went back at least four times, changing one thing at a time, all for free (other then the materials)........
First we tried it on other transmitters, i.e. Crosspool and Belmont.
No joy.
Next we tried increasing/reducing the amplification of the amp [always buy a variable gain amp....] to more/less than optimum, but hey, we were struggling !
Next we put the install on a 10ft pole, thus increasing the height over the roof by about three
and a half feet. This improved things but a week or two later the customer was back on....
Next we swapped the Log40 for a Yagi18B. This improved things the most. We left site and waited with bated breath to see if the phone would ring.
No telephone call was forthcoming.
Eventually my sense of curiosity (and my impatience) got the better of me, so I phoned the
customer. They replied that whilst it wasn`t perfect it was much better and they could cope
with it OK. I said we may be able to improve it further with an XB16B (but that`d cost an
extra £30, no labour, that`s just for the aerial ! ) and to contact us if they needed it doing.
No call yet though !
Log Periodics should be used wherever possible, but they`re not universal !
If you need more gain make sure it`s significantly more than a Log would give you, so as
to make up for what you`re losing in swapping from a Log. In this case it was a B group
transmitter so we didn`t prat about with a wideband Yagi, we went for a high gain B group.
And it worked !
* You`ll always get better service from an aerial installer if you have the job done in the
summer (usually April to August/September) ! Not only will the better weather mean he`s likely to be in a better mood ( ! ) but he`s likely to have less work on as well. It`s the same for TV repairs etc, it`s always slacker in the summer. The theory is the better wether and longer nights mean people watch less TV, and so are less bothered about a crap picture !
C Duffy Whitehawk Hill Transmitter
We had a pretty decent system to start with as our original aerial was a Triax QR18WB (equivalent to a Yagi13WB) going through a mast head amp and satellite quality cable.
It worked pretty well but there was still annoying freezing and blocking on some channels.
I swapped to a Yagi18CD and whilst it isn`t perfect it is significantly better than it was.
C Conroy Crystal Palace Transmitter
I've just fitted the second aerial I've bought from you and am again very pleased
with the results. With Crystal Palace as our transmitter we have always had trouble
receiving anything. Previously I bought and fitted an XB16A from you, this to our
own property after unsuccessfully trying a succession of Maplin & other DIY store
wideband aerials. I've just fitted a Yagi18A from you to our elderly neighbours house
which is a touch higher than us and where cost was an issue for them (why they didn't
go for the XB16A). This was to replace a home-
* Purchase of a signal strength meter is unnecessary for most people (other then boaters or caravanners), particularly whilst the analogue channels are still being transmitted. I`d normally recommend tuning in your analogue channels then peaking up the alignment on the weakest of them. 95 times out of 100 that`s also peak reception on the digital as well.
G Sharpe Hannington Transmitter
Bought the Yagi18E for use with Freeview (tuners
on a Topfield 5800 pvr). Was getting a slightly iffy digital signal with a roof aerial
pointing at Crystal Palace (had been fine on analogue) and as we have direct line
of sight to Hannington (from an elevated position in south Reading) I thought I would
try loft mounting a new aerial pointed at that.
Works a treat, even through the concrete
tiles, giving a good strong signal that doesn't drop out on bad days like the old
aerial did, though possibly from a wobbly mounting or the trees that were in the
way? Build quality is complete overkill for a loft mounting, but it certainly
felt
like I was fitting competent piece of kit.
So a good result from using your info and
kit -
J Wozniac Sutton Coldfield Transmitter
Thanks for a very prompt and efficient service recently. I bought a Yagi18B aerial and variable gain 4 way mast head amplifier together with a fixing kit recently. The aerial and parts were all of good quality and I found it easy to install. I would like to say how useful the information on the website was in helping me to choose the right equipment. I am tuned into Sutton Coldfield but the tall buildings and electronics of Birmingham City Centre are directly between us and the transmitter, so reception has been a bit difficult even though we are only 10 miles away. The new aerial produces a signal with 100% quality and 70% strength (with gain turned up) as measured on the Humax 9300T, much better than the old one [a 12 element Yagi type] which is actually in a better position. Anyway many thanks for your efforts on the website as it made the choice much easier.
Mr Meates Rowridge Transmitter
We live West of the I of Wight and originally had a short wideband type aerial and the signal was poor with analogue, though digital wasn`t too bad. Swapped it for a Yagi18A and both digital and analogue are now good.
C Smith Rowridge Transmitter
We`re not actually that far from Rowridge, but there`s a bank of trees in the way which affects the signal, particularly in the wet. We had a 10 element wideband aerial and it
wasn`t up to the job. Having swapped to a Yagi18A things are much better.
one thing we did notice was that the aerial actually works better, as it points through the trees, if it`s mounted three foot lower !
If you`ve found this site informative and, hopefully, interesting as well,
please help us increase the number of people reading it.
aerialsandtv.com
M George Emley Moor Transmitter
I live at the bottom of a valley so reception is not great. Before getting a digital TV I wanted to maximise my analogue picture quality which would normally do the same for the digital signal.
I was sold a Vision V10-
Swapping to the Yagi18B gave us the best picture we`ve ever had, I was very pleased,
but that was only on 1 to 4 because Channel 5 was no better for some reason ! I don`t
really understand that either, possibly co-
D Burton Rowridge Transmitter
I have just fitted your Yagi18A which replaced a smaller wideband aerial and a booster.
I now get a better signal, with no booster, showing 80% on the TV's built
in signal strength bar graph (previously about 75). Around here (PO7 area) there
is a lot of talk of "oh you need a digital aerial mate" which the info on your site
confirmed is a load of B****ks (don`t sit on the fence old son, tell us what you
really think ! ). A decent band A for £25 is all you need. For info I also used your
(good quality) cable and didn't fit an intermediate wall plate (which I would have
done before reading your info). I also took cable through reflector and looped down
to the pole (why don`t the connector blocks face the other way ?! -
N Tucker Stockland Hill Transmitter
We recently installed a new IDTV which immediately
showed symptoms of poor reception with frequent picture jumps / pixellation and interruptions
to sound. The PVR we had been using with the old TV and the set top box in the kitchen
working off the same aerial were fine. After a bit of discussion on MB21's RX-
I knew that
it would be a good move dealing with ATV as anyone who lavishes so much time and
effort on a website so full of knowledge and experience and so useful to layman and
pro alike obviously cares about their customers, not a thing you can take for granted
these days. Many thanks Justin, I will definitely call again if and when I need more
aerial gear.
C Smith Crystal Palace Transmitter
Our bungalow is approx 80m above sea level and located about 18 miles to the east of Crystal Palace. The previous aerial (an XB10 wideband ?) was purchased about 15 years ago. The aerial is connected to a masthead amp in the loft with four outputs. The problem with the old aerial was pixellation with sound breakup, & on some occasions the total loss of reception of one of the muxs. Also, I have one of the M/H amps o/p's feeding a Labgear Quadplexer & this in turn feeds a triplexer output plate in the kitchen. The TV in the kitchen would report "NO SIGNAL" on Chan 5 & QVC, the only way that I could get those chans was to insert an amp between the triplexer plate & the TV, turning up the gain on the M/H amp in the loft didn`t help.
Now with the new Yagi 18A:-
1. Do not need the amp for the kitchen TV -
2. Signal strength is up by 1% to 2% but most importantly the signal quality is 100% on all chans. Previously some chans including QVC were showing an SQ varying between 38% & 63%
3. Analogue. It works but do not bother with it. Contrary to everything I have read, the digital picture is better especially when showing material shot in HD. Digital does have a better picture unless you have a perfect analogue signal (which I concede most people do not have) in which case analogue is better, though HD is indisputably the best picture of all.
4. I`m quite happy with the aerials build quality. I particularly like the H/D wingnut type bolts on the boom connector, saddle & mast clamp & also the tilt adjustment on the mast clamp. I am a lot happier now with the reduced weight and wind loading of the Yagi over the XB10.
All in all, one very happy customer
J Hardy Winter Hill Transmitter
Where we`re situated (Chapel-
transmitter because Winter Hill was unobtainable for most people. With the increased
power from Winter Hill after the switchover we tried a Yagi 18CD on it and our reception is
excellent, despite Eccles Pike hill being between us and the transmitter. We were also
very impressed with the build quality of the aerial, in fact I`d never have thought there could be such a difference (in the strength of the elements) between different types of aerial.
We bought a Yagi 18CD off you because our neighbour had, but we`ve now also got one
for our son, because when we tried ours at his house it gave a good signal despite facing
straight through a quarry ( ! ) although I accept at least some of that is due to Winter Hill`s
power being increased so much.
E Corden Bilsdale Transmitter
Very good advice from a lady answering the phone and everything arrived when she said it would. The Yagi18K is pointing to Bilsdale seems fine on BT vision and our other TV's freeview box. Our picture is vastly improved and we now get all the channels we should.
The old aerial pointed to Emley moor(?) and we didn't get any BBC channels on the BT vision box and suffered other interference on other channels too. So far so good, thank you.
R Booth Bilsdale Transmitter
Purchased a YAGI 18K to replace a 25 year old aerial (similar type but 10 element, probably an A group) located on a 10 foot pole on a chimney, on a neighbour's bungalow. Pointed at BILSDALE 118 degrees, used Wolfsbane to get this. The requirement was to improve digital performance only.
1) Retuned before installation (SONY Bravia) found 67 services, missing the MUX D
which was the aim of the exercise. Subsequent retunes would occasionally finding
93 services -
2) Installed the ATV Yagi18K, replaced the down lead, and the wall plate with a new
MK unit, and the fly lead, -
3) Retuned after new installation -
Build quality was fine no problems at all. Your additional instructions on the cable routing were useful, though I never intended to straighten the inclined dipole so those additional instructions weren`t quite so useful, but you must have all sorts as customers I suppose !
The web site is excellent, by far the best source of info on the web for this activity. In conjunction with the UK Free TV site. Loved the cowboy's pictures.
S Joyner Mendip Transmitter
Received the aerials on Friday, the day after placing the order online. Thanks for
the excellent service.
I spent sometime on the roof on Saturday trying the Yagi18C/D
and the Log40. Using the signal strength/quality screen on my Pioneer TV as a signal
meter, I compared the performance of the Yagi 18C/D and the Log40, and my old (came
with the house) Philex XB5. We live in a low lying area which has no line of sight
to the Mendip transmitter -
B Wholihan Crystal Palace Transmitter
I had originally been persuaded to buy a Labgear 18 element Log Periodic with a built in 4 way amplifier to feed my four TVs. Unfortunately the digital signal was poor on the ITV channels, it was better on the others but still imperfect.
After reading your site I thought I needed a Yagi18A and you confirmed this was the right choice when I phoned to check. You also suggested I try a passive 4 way splitter and only add an amplifier if needed. The aerial and splitter arrived the day after I ordered them and I fitted them the day after that. The result is a perfect digital picture on all channels even with the use of (just) the splitter, i.e. no amplifier. I`m not sure how accurate the readings on the Freeview box are but before I had 70% on most channels and 40% on the ITV ones
whereas I now have 100% signal quality on all channels. Very pleased.
P Hind Sutton Coldfield Transmitter
Although I can`t compare the aerial to another one because it`s a new installation I can report that its performance is perfect and the build quality of the aerial is better than any
B n`Q aerial I ever bought ! The only reason I took time out to send this email is because I was VERY impressed with your service and quality of your goods, a big thankyou.
T Foster Sutton Coldfield Transmitter
I just wanted to say how embarrassed I was, when I found your website, detailing why I shouldn’t have purchased and installed my old wideband TV aerial (an XB10 type). It was a poor quality
B&Q special. Not particularly cheap if I recall. It was very flimsy, and supplied with an indoor roof space mounting kit, AND I mounted to the fascia board outside (slapped wrists). It lasted about five years with barely acceptable performance, with VERY poor reception for the last year, prompting replacement.
I eventually purchased one of your Yagi18B aerials with your mounting kit last week, and fitted it today. The kit is great (everything you need) and the aerial was easy to assemble.
1. Fantastic delivery: Ordered Friday, delivered Monday – Thanks.
2. As you can see from my pics, I have mounted the new aerial much more professionally this time, thanks to your site. I don’t like heights, and so did not mount on the chimney, it is too high for me/my ladders.
3. The new Yagi18B out performs my old aerial at its best, and even brings in the MUX on CH55 (Film4 etc) which is out of band. Reception is far less choppy and interrupted, even on
the weaker MUXes. BBC1 analogue which was very snowy on the old aerial, is now perfect,
along with the other analogue channels.
4. We use the Sutton Coldfield transmitter, which was on low power for most of last summer, due to the temporary antenna build. Power is now up again, except for two of the MUXes, although I can receive them all perfectly now.
5. I have an indoor aerial amplifier/distributor, which I may need to switch off after DSO, when the power shoots up, we’ll see.
W Clark Dover Transmitter
We`re in a poor signal area near Ashford and we had an Antiference XG10WB (a model of XB10WB) aerial up on Dover but we suffered from unacceptable digital picture breakup.
The cable was satellite quality and the same downlead for used for both aerials.
Swapping to a Yagi18CD resulted in the elimination of virtually all the break up, what more can you say !
These two reports (above) are particularly interesting because gain wise a decent XB10WB wouldn`t be that far behind a decent Yagi18CD (i.e. the one we sell).
But there was a significant reduction in picture breakup when the Yagi18CD was used !
Not sure why exactly, maybe the grouped aerial(s) have a tighter polar response diagram ?
RF is a Black Art indeed.......
Replaced a wideband "high gain (XB10 type) Bacofoil" with your Yagi 18CD feeding
a 24dB amp to an 8-
Originally analogue
& digital from Dover were poor. The local area (Margate) is served by a 20w repeater
for analogue.
Much improved reception with the 18CD, although analogue at first suffered
severe co-
Happy with the end result, although the XB16E
may have been a better choice.
Roll on DSO! Very helpful & amusing website & a good
sturdy product.
R Green Hannington Transmitter
We have just finished a house refurb in Micheldever. The original 16-
Though only 9 miles from Hannington,
we are at the bottom of a hill with surrounding trees and have a bungalow so looking
at the great info in your site, a Yagi 18B seemed appropriate. I purchased from ATV
the Yagi, a 1/2 wave VHF dipole, some 18" T/K brackets, the 6-
The quality of the aerials are good, and the faceplates
are particularly good quality. Assembly and fitting was easy.
Freeview is working
excellently, but I have not tested analogue yet as we don't intend to use it. Thanks
for the great service and very good web site full of helpful tips. I enjoyed reading
the Cowboys Locker section ! Oh and thanks for the free box of black cable clips,
after I accidentally ordered brown ones !!