Aerial advice please

[Nuvistor]

Yes, worth trying and easy to do.

[Linnovice]

Ok Paul, I'll do just that. One question though. When completed what should be the orientation? On the video the guy has his 'Roach Pole' in the vertical plain. My current array has the elements in the horizontal.

[Nuvistor]

Try it both ways, see which is best.

[Biggles]

Try both ways. If the wires are in a vertical sense, the aerial will receive from all directions. If you put the wires horizontally, the aerial will receive mostly from in front or directly behind you, if the wires are stretched out like arms held out to your side, if you know what I mean!
Alan.

[paulsherwin]

If your priority is R3, optimise the positioning for that. You may find that a slant gives the best signal.

[JohnBG8JMB]

A horizontal dipole is what you need, overall length 5ft; note that they are directional with a minimum signal in line with the dipole end; max when the dipole is broadside to the transmitter. So turn it round for max signal [ie least noise]. The higher the better, try a 4m length of roofing batten for a cheap fix, but higher is better.. If it's still poor then perhaps a 3 element yagi is needed..http://www.aerialsandtv.com/onlineae...l#FM_3_Element

I would have thought that 100ft of decent coax and a splitter would cost more than the 3 el yagi

Also, if you use a splitter at the 5 el aerial, you will lose signal to the original receiver as well as the shed...

JohnB

[stevehertz]

Originally Posted by Scimitar

I would probably use an Allrounder on a decent mast at the shed, unless the cable run is straightforward in which case that would also give you UHF. Use decent cable though, WF100 would be my choice, RG59 is not a good choice for VHF/UHF.

Maybe gilding the lily, but WF125 would be even better - if needed.

[Nuvistor]

A 120 foot length WF125 at 100MHz would be 0.2 dB better, it's probably more difficult to handle so I would say not.

With a test aerial on the shed may as well use what's already available even if it's standard TV coax, buy the better coax when the results are known.

Frank

[Skywave]

Good advice from Paul in post #20: in essence, try the simple things first. If results are unsatisfactory, next step is probably a distribution amp.

Al.

[Linnovice]

Well, how simple is this? I've taken a length of standard tv coax. Removed 2'6" of the outer casing and pulled the centre conductor, complete with plastic case, out of the shield so I now have one length 2'6" of the shield and one length 2'6" of the core. I've stretched them out into a straight line approx 5' in length and roughly fixed them in the same plain as the dipoles on my main fixed array to the roof of my workshop with insulation tape. Low and behold I now have a signal indicated at 3/4 scale on the strength and dead centre on the tuning meter. Result! R3 sounds very good, good enough for my needs in the workshop anyway. It will need to be a tidied up a bit to satisfy my tendency towards slight OCD (and stop it falling down as the iTape loses its stick) but basically I'm really pleased.

Thank you all for your suggestions and imparted knowledge, I've learnt a lot and appreciate it and, if you've more ideas on how to improve and tidy up I will be equally grateful.

[paulsherwin]

That's certainly one way to do it. You may want to experiment with different locations and alignments.

[Nuvistor]

Good result, always worth trying the easy things first.

Frank