Tv reception

sledge

Banned
Feb 21, 2013
77
14
8
Sunbury
Reality check on snowflake!We are at beechworth lake sambal.The owners provide a lead that connects to a 5 metre mast and an amplified yagi style antenna.
I tried the snowflake and got all channel 7 ,eg 6,61 etc very clear but nothing else(pointed opposite to the owners one),the owners aerial gave many more channels although sometimes drops out.(I got nothing pointed the same direction as his)
So my top aerial is vertical signals and my bottom one horizontal ,I rotated the top to horizontal and got all the channels(pointed in the same direction as his) but lots of dropouts.
Keep in mind a few places have both horizontal and vertical polarization on the same tower.
To me this means the lower aerial may be too low, the aerial does work and the owner said most people parked where I am get little or no signal.
It seems to me the wanderer DT* may have an advantage as it uses just one connection where the snowflake use a splitter the only disadvantage is having to develop a way of fitting it to a winegard winder.

Ok if you go to the acma digital tv site and download the KMZ file (assuming you have google earth)then click on the file it should load google which will now show deatails including polarization of the aerials .Most of the east coast and Victoria are horizontal but most snowflakes have this on the bottom so I for one am reversing this putting the hrizontal on top.easy to do with a screwdriver.

just wondering malibu if you changed the horizontal to the top and if there was any improvement?
 

malibu

Banned
Apr 5, 2013
34
5
8
central coast nsw
G'day,

Not a big improvement but funny enough at lake sambal it did work improving the signal a bit .Having said that last visit I used the extension lead which was much better.

Their aerial has a powered amp splitter and mounted high but from what I have experienced if your aerial can't see the transmitter in the wonderful digital age you aren't likely to get signal unless your lucky with reflection off something.
in the end Higher is usually better. I tried an old low gain aerial in an extension stick (ex garden lopper) and in some cases being higher was much better eg laurietan . One day I might design a wind up extension for the wineguard.Still use it as its so convenient and works well most places.

High gain log periodic style aerials seem fairly common and work well on one polarity though only one place I saw one work better than the winegard ,Tewantin and it was at least 3 metres above the van.

Omnidirectional aerials are a simple wire loop usually incorporating an amp in the head so don't care about direction so need good signal.

Tend to agree satellite is good in clear weather and away from trees and a good book is a lot cheaper.

Have fun and a Great Christmas.

 

sledge

Banned
Feb 21, 2013
77
14
8
Sunbury
G'day,

Not a big improvement but funny enough at lake sambal it did work improving the signal a bit .Having said that last visit I used the extension lead which was much better.

Their aerial has a powered amp splitter and mounted high but from what I have experienced if your aerial can't see the transmitter in the wonderful digital age you aren't likely to get signal unless your lucky with reflection off something.
in the end Higher is usually better. I tried an old low gain aerial in an extension stick (ex garden lopper) and in some cases being higher was much better eg laurietan . One day I might design a wind up extension for the wineguard.Still use it as its so convenient and works well most places.

High gain log periodic style aerials seem fairly common and work well on one polarity though only one place I saw one work better than the winegard ,Tewantin and it was at least 3 metres above the van.

Omnidirectional aerials are a simple wire loop usually incorporating an amp in the head so don't care about direction so need good signal.

Tend to agree satellite is good in clear weather and away from trees and a good book is a lot cheaper.

Have fun and a Great Christmas.

Thanks for that malibu ...... very informative. What do you mean by extension lead?
I did have a look at the snowflake arrays and wasnt sure if you completely swapped over the 2 units or merely repositioned each one to the alternate postions?
Have a good xmas yourself too!
 

Bushman

Forum Moderator
Staff member
Nov 9, 2010
3,060
2,345
113
Wollondilly Shire NSW
Currently at free camp near Braidwood on the Shoalhaven River about 10 km from town thought I'd give the tv a go could only get SBS and one other channel, and even then it breaking up from time to time, normally don't have to much trouble, just depends on location

Moving onto Batemans Bay today, always good reception where we stay there, they also have site connection

Ok nearly 12 mths since posting this, so quoting my own reply, Recently stayed at the same free camp near Braidwood, this time we had the new "Snow Flake" aerial and it worked a treat compared to the older aerial last time, recieved all channels from Canberra, occasionally fuzzed out with the wind on some channels, but otherwise all good
 

malibu

Banned
Apr 5, 2013
34
5
8
central coast nsw
Thanks for that malibu ...... very informative. What do you mean by extension lead?
I did have a look at the snowflake arrays and wasnt sure if you completely swapped over the 2 units or merely repositioned each one to the alternate postions?
Have a good xmas yourself too!
Sorry I did not explain properly.I meant the aerial lead the park lends you to connect to their aerial to the van. The top snowflake was rotated to match the transmitter I was pointed at.
I still think the lower snowflake may be too close to the roof and see no reason not to add an extra few cm to the mast and raise the whole thing especially when you consider the od wineguard sat on top of the mast.

PS moved into a nice over 55's place which means next year no worries about leaving the house!
 

Homebrewpig

Member
Feb 27, 2013
62
24
8
Wingard snowflakes aren't worth two knobs of sheep don't be rude! Sick of tired of just trying to tune in to one thing ( footy), and no reception, but if you like SBS that's another story
 

Bushman

Forum Moderator
Staff member
Nov 9, 2010
3,060
2,345
113
Wollondilly Shire NSW
Wingard snowflakes aren't worth two knobs of sheep don't be rude! Sick of tired of just trying to tune in to one thing ( footy), and no reception, but if you like SBS that's another story

Don't have a problem with ours, other than I bent it a few months ago and have to replace the shaft which you can't buy as a spare part, still works fine.

Have you check ALL the connections? turned the booster power on?
 

gwadir

Well-Known Member
Feb 2, 2013
626
353
63
61
Albion Park, NSW
Wingard snowflakes aren't worth two knobs of sheep don't be rude! Sick of tired of just trying to tune in to one thing ( footy), and no reception, but if you like SBS that's another story

You've got to be doing something wrong, ours has worked a treat right through Central OZ , FNQ and here at home in the Illawarra and down the South Coast.
 
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Homebrewpig

Member
Feb 27, 2013
62
24
8
I've checked that booster and connections today and all is fine, strangely enough it's working a treat now in lakes entrance whilst a storm is going thru :-/
 

macca

(aka maccayak)
Mar 20, 2012
1,660
832
113
Victoria
My reception was bad as well. It looked like Gold Coast Suns and GWS won on the TV I was watching. That cant be right.
 
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Moto Mech

Well-Known Member
Jul 18, 2012
582
1,106
93
Mole Creek, Tasmania
This is what we use down here in Tassie and so far 100% srike rate. Not cheap but easy as. Its omni directional so no pointing at towers, just plug it in and go.
And there made in Australia too.
image.jpg
 

thomo67

Member
Oct 30, 2012
63
4
8
well i can tell you i had the same problem bad reception with the snowflake it took me ages to work it out from new it was my cabling in the caravan from the booster all is much better now