digital tv

Brian the old TV antenna will continue to perform ok as long as it and the cabling is in good condition. It was a scam telling everyone they needed to get a new antenna. Your TV will need to be changed or fit a set top box if it isn't digital though.

It depends what the reception is like when you use your old antenna mine was good before everything changed then after the change I lost several channels and had others constantly breaking up I tried adjusting the antenna fitting new joiners on the end of the cable without success. I decided to get an antenna installer to check it he checked the antenna with some kind of meter box then he plugged a new antenna into the box it had a better reading nearly twice a much as the old one he installed the new one and it's been great still with the old cable which he told me usually dosn't need replacing he was honest and didn't try to rip me off by saying I needed a new cable as well . My neighbour hasn't had any trouble with his at all didn't have to change a thing maybe his antenna was a better quality one than my old one.

Hi Brian,
The Winegard aerial works perfectly with digital TV.... unfortunately they still wont work in fringe areas.... one great thing about the Winegard aerial & a digital signal is you have to do is wind the aerial up & if there is a signal, your in business..... you don't have to tune/rotate the aerial like you had to do for the analogue signal :-)

Just like when we converted from black and white to colour.

If the antenna design was appropriate and a good design for analogue TV it will be fine for digital.

If it was crappy and inadequate, it will become more obvious with digital.

Digital will produce great images as long as you are within the reception window.....but as soon as you fall below the signal level and quality required the picture will stutter, speckle and blue screen.

With the old analogue system...if the antenna was poor the picture would be terrible...but it would still be a picture..more or less.

I watch TV thru an antenna that was designed in the days of black & white.....it was a good design for B & W, it was a screamer for colour and its great for digital.

Same with amplifiers and cables.

Ribbon cable more or less went out with colour...but it was never a good system......we spec trishield or quad shield cable for digital.....twin shiled is adequate and common for analogue......the old brown copper screen airspace cable was only ever cheap.

Ya get where I am going.

cheers

wingman link

I put on a wingman addon and have no problem getting reception of digital channels.

Alan

My 7 year old Coromal is fitted with the normal Wyngard wind up boosted antenna made in the days of analogue TV.
It worked just as well when we moved to digital (I did change the TV over to a digital HD unit of course).

When Wyngard offered the "Wingman" extension I added one of them, really simple to fit.

The aerial still works fine, the only place I have not been able to get coverage during this current lap has been Roebuck Plains Roadhouse (within normal coverage areas of course.)

I have spoke to owners of newer vans with the new Wyngard aerial - the double flower-shaped one and many have said they don't work as well as the original Wyngard.

Keep safe out there
Regards
TJ

Can't comment on the antenna Brian, but a fellow traveller cleared up a mystery on the changes made in WA with regard to the new digital tuning programme.

He experience a loss of some of the 'newer' channels e.g. 72 with the footy programme being the main one I recall on a TV we used at home and in a previous van until June after which we upgraded the van with new tv.

This chap explained how travelling down the west coast this past month he experienced a lack of signals on some channels, and each enquiry at various tv equipment suppliers were met with offers of various equipment to boost or improve his signal, without any signicant result. He was lucky enough to drop in on a tv tech at Northam just before I met him and the tech suggested the problem may have been that his digital tv may not have been high definition (HD). Bingo - problem solved, this proved to be the case & when he passed that on to me, I realised that was my problem as well with the tv I had previously travelled with and also used at home from time to time.

Without the HD, it seems some channels are lacking a signal & I was thinking it was just a lousy reception after sticking a new patio in the way of the transmitters & my set which we purchased in 2008. Seems this unit needs to be upgraded to HD if those stations are needed.

Perhaps other fellow travellers are pondering the same issue?

Cheers - Phil