Upgrading to a Digital Antenna

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Television-viewing has come leaps and bounds in the last ten years, and this is mainly because of the rise of digital television, taking over our analogue airwaves. There are more than 30 channels now available on freeview in Perth alone, but many more set to be launched in the future. All you need to view these freeview channels is a digital receiver and the correct aerial, or antenna. Upgrading to a digital antenna is fairly simple, and below are some guidelines.

Location

The type of antenna you’ll need varies with where your home is. An easy way to guess is by taking a look at all the other outside antennas from the houses down your street or around your suburb. If they all look similar, chances are you’ll need the same kind of configuration. However, if your house is more isolated in varied terrain, such as hills or mountain, a valley, or forested, you’ll need to consider more thoroughly in order to get your antenna to work. There are specialist operators all over WA who can help you to install a TV antenna in Mandurah, Perth, or although coastal and inland places around the state.

The Correct Type and Location of TV Aerial Mount

If you live in an area with good digital TV reception, it won’t really matter much where you put the antenna. However, in most areas you will get a much better reception by carefully choosing the correct location and type of mount for your antenna. A professional installer will be able to help you with all your needs, but here are some things to look out for:

  • Choose a place that is on the same side of your house as where the signal is being transmitted from.
  • Higher up is always better.
  • Mount options include using a fascia mount fixed into a wooden fascia board, or a tripod for either metal or tile roofs. If you need additional height, then you may need to affix your aerial to a metal pole or a telomast.
  • Before you completely fix your antenna use a signal strength meter to find the best digital TV reception, and then choose the optimum place to put the mount.

Connect the Coaxial Cable

Once you have affixed your mount and antenna, you’ll need to run a cable indoors. This should be a G6 Quad Shield Coax cable that goes to either a TV socket or to a central splitter location. It’s usually best to install the splitter as close to the aerial as possible, before then running separate cables into required rooms. There are two ways you can connect your TV Antenna to a coax: saddle and clamp or F type connectors. The first kind are less common than they used to be, and are not recommended for Digital TV, so try and use an F type connector. Don’t forget to weather-protect your connector.

Most of us now want to upgrade to a digital TV connection, if we haven’t done so already. Fortunately, this is a fairly simple process. Things to bear in mind is the location of your upgraded antenna, and it should point towards the broadcasting towers, where the signal is coming from. Once you know where to place your antenna, make sure it is fixed in the correct way. Then, you’ll need to connect a coaxial cable to the TVs around your house. Try to use the newer F type connectors, which are designed for digital TV.

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