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(The Log36 is an updated Log40)
NOTE : many of these reports are from the pre switchover low power digital + analogue era, but that doesn`t make them any less relevant as regards aerial performance.
In fact aerial performance was actually assessed better when using analogue signals.
NOTE : many of these reports are from the pre switchover low power digital + analogue era, but that doesn`t make them any less relevant as regards aerial performance.
In fact aerial performance was actually assessed better when using analogue signals.
Log Periodic Aerial Reports
I`m very interested to hear how well our aerials work, particularly when compared to another antenna (e.g. your old one) and I feel this is also of interest to others, so here are reports [mainly from our customers] filed by model of aerial. If you`ve purchased an aerial from us and would like to add one please contact us.
I Harris Bilsdale Transmitter
Your reply was waiting for me when I got home from work on the evening of Monday 5th. I placed the order online the same evening. Aerial was dispatched on the 6th. Aerial arrived at home on the 7th. I arrived home from work at 6pm, had tea and fitted aerial in loft as planned. I used a good old fashioned compass to get the alignment right, wired it up and turned the TV on. Instantly had a great picture, but things improved further when I managed to tune the TV Freeview into digital ! Even better as we only get a weak digital signal at present (Not due to 'go digital' until 2012). Sat down with well earned glass of wine and watched Lara Croft on BBC3. Thanks for you help. Your website is extremely informative and your advice spot on. I have no hesitation in recommending your service to anyone and everyone.
K Crawford Bilsdale Transmitter
Whilst looking for information regarding aerial installers in my area I stumbled across your website. I found it to be one of the most informative sites I have ever visited. The website persuaded me that I could actually do the installation myself. The quality of all of the products I ordered was exceptional and very good value also. I have now installed the Log 40 aerial with the 4 way masthead amplifier and the picture on all 4 TVs is as good as I have ever seen. The speed of delivery was great also, despite the Easter holidays. Thanks for an excellent service, I can't recommend you highly enough.
Mr Richardson Bilsdale Transmitter
I replaced a small B&Q wideband aerial with the Log40. My old aerial gave unacceptable digital break up but the new one works much better and the signal is fine now
Been telling you porkies, my other aerial is actually a Televes V not a Televes DAT. Here’s the info anyway, so here goes. V aerial is fed into 2 TVs via a 2 way Masthead, the Log 40 into 4 TV’s via a 4 way Masthead. Bit Error details come from a Sony Bravia LCD TV on each aerial respectively, averaged across the range of Freeview channels, but all are very similar anyway. Signal level on both is high 10/10, solid green. Visually, with digital there appears to be no difference when things are good, the difference seems to be Sunday evenings around 8PM the V aerial will cause the TV to glitch occasionally or if weather conditions deteriorate where the Log 40 is OK. Analogue on the Bravia TV’s isn’t great so it hard to be really critical. Watching the kids CRT tellies though reveals no ghosting on analogue via the Log 40 aerial there is a slight trace of it on the V aerial.
In a nutshell the log 40 on my installation seems more tolerant of reduced signal or worsening weather conditions.
C Noble FM Half Wave Dipole
I had an FM omni before but its performance wasn`t as good as I wanted. I swapped it for a half wave dipole and it definitely works better. It has got rid of most of the FM “hiss” which the old aerial suffered from.
I Dawson Durris Transmitter
Thank you for the Log 40 aerial. I am receiving from
the Durris transmitter (grp K at the moment but will revert to grp A in Sept 2010).
It`s only about 20 miles away but through loads of trees. The original aerial was
an Italian FR 8 element aerial (470-
P Hoare FM Half Wave Dipole and DAB Dipole
The site is a fairly poor reception area for both FM and DAB. We originally had one of those round FM Omni aerials which we fed into our amplifier then split back into TV and FM/DAB with a diplexer. This set up gave mediocre reception on FM but when we tried a DAB tuner we didn’t get anything at all. It subsequently transpired that the diplexer would not pass the DAB frequencies and changing it for a DAB compatible type resulted in a signal, but the quality left much to be desired. We then swapped the Omni aerial for a vertically polarised FM half wave dipole and the signal quality on both FM and DAB was significantly better. Unfortunately the DAB still gave problems at certain times of the day so about a year later we added a DAB dipole diplexed with the FM dipole. Finally we got decent FM and DAB!
D Smedley Bilsdale Transmitter
We moved to this house in 1981 and brought our
(almost new) aerial with us but it was too large to fit in the loft (development
site regs, all indoors), but as it was of the two-
G White Durris Transmitter
I just fitted a Log 40 you supplied. Build quality seems good. Picture quality on analogue and digital good. Now pick up more digital channels with a clearer picture and get C5 on analogue which I didn't before. Old aerial was a contract cheapy although the analogue channels were fine. Thanks for advise and the informative website
Analogue C5 off Durris was on CH67, which indicates that the previous aerial was an A group because it didn`t pick it up. It also explains why the original aerial failed to receive all the digital MUXES, see Digital Nationwide : Durris. This report backs up our tests that a Log40 works about as well as a decent Contract 10A, or better than a poor Contract 10A !
J Nadin Belmont Transmitter
Our transmitter is Belmont, 26 miles as crow fly's, dead inline with Humberside Airport ?
The aerial was a Log 40, recommended by yourselves on the phone, was a 100% success,
eleven years of four and half channels ! ! Log 40 was the right one, great reception
and less wind problems as we are prone to high winds. Comparison with old aerial
? No comparison. Aerial quality, I would say it is nigh on bomb proof. I would like
to congratulate you on your customer relations and lightening delivery service, (ordered
12-
S Hart Crystal Palace Transmitter
The aerial is pointed at Crystal Palace. Performance is fine. The signal strength
is around 65% and 70%. My previous aerial was in the loft and connected to a high
gain mast head amp. The new aerial means that I have had to drop the amp down to
mid-
Your web site is a BIG help and I feel that
it really helped me to get the job done right. The only extra information that would
have been useful on the web site is a few tips on getting the job done safely. I
considered doing the job from a ladder (my chimney stack is on the end of the roof)
but bottled out once I'd got up there ! I used a tower in the end but I still had
to do a bit of pondering to sort out how best to keep the steel brackets in place
while I positioned the lashing wire. Got it all sorted in the end but a few tricks
of the trade would have probably helped. All in all though very good product and
very helpful web site. All the best. Cheers.
New article (10 Aug 10) : How to install a chimney lash kit., plus (5 Dec 11) Basic ladder safety.
The old aerial installed on the chimney of our house when we moved here 20 years
ago worked perfectly with the Humax set top box we bought when Freeview first started
transmitting, even though it was badly bent and had one of the directors missing.
However, towards the end of last year the picture began to degrade to the extent
that all channels were virtually unwatchable. Time to check the aerial. How it managed
to work OK for so long was a mystery. The plastic cover over the cable connections
was virtually non-
It is hard to believe that lowering the aerial by 30 cm and moving it 60 cm further south can make such an astounding difference.
Aerial positioning, it really can make a big difference.
A Jackson Sandy Transmitter
We had a Contract aerial in the loft and we`ve also got trees in the way. We suffered from annoying picture breakup which my kids gave me grief about when it affected CBeebies. So I got a local installer to come round and he quoted me a large amount to fit a Tri Boom type aerial mounted on a 12ft pole on the chimney "to clear the trees". The thing is even with a 12ft pole it still wouldn`t have cleared the trees !
After reading your website I decided to have a go myself and ended up fitting a Log40 on a 9ft cranked pole on the side of the house. In this position it just managed to avoid having to face through the trees. I also added a masthead amp. Due to time shortage I initially just fitted the aerial without the MH amp and it worked pretty well, much better than the Contract aerial in the loft, but it still suffered intermittent blocking, particularly on BBC1. Once I`d fitted the masthead amp it was fine though. Analogue is good but not perfect. All in all very satisfied, particularly at sorting it out without handing over large amounts of cash to an aerial installer, and having a 12ft pole on my chimney !
Incidentally my Freeview box has its own volume control and I found the sound quality was better if I turned it up on the set top box and down on the actual TV ! ? !
A Turner FM Half Wave Dipole v FM Omni
I had an FM Omni on the same pole as the TV aerial mounted on the chimney but I was keen to see if I could improve the signal to my Denon 1800 DAB/FM tuner and Fatboy valve amplifier. All cabling is satellite quality, and the site is SW Nottingham. I installed the Half Wave dipole on the side of the house and then compared the signal to the Omni, which was higher up on the roof and also had an all round view. On FM I chose six channels and gave them marks out of ten, 0 for nothing to 10 for perfect. The Omni averaged 5.6 out of 10 and the FM Half wave 7.7, which is a significant improvement.
On DAB I compared the Bit Error Rates given on the tuner. Of the six channels I tested the Omni gave no signal on two of the programmes and BER between 250 and 4000 on the others. The Half Wave gave perfect BER readings (i.e 00000) on four out of the six. On the two that the Omni failed to receive any signal from at all the Half Wave failed to receive one and picked up the other but with a BER of 7200.
My conclusions are that as ATV say, a Half Wave beats an Omni any day, and if the Half Wave was fitted to the main mast I think the performance difference would have been even greater.
H Dell FM Half Wave Dipole
I had an old 3 element FM aerial in the loft, which I have to admit was a bit rusty from when it`d been outside, but the signal wasn`t that good with large amounts of background hiss. I also found that if I took the aerial off the end of the cable I still got a signal of sorts but still with loads of hiss. I installed an FM Half Wave dipole and the signal improved with significantly less hiss. I also thought it was well made and easy to install.
K Stagg Mendip and Wenvoe + KIlvey Hill Transmitters (using a CH36 diplexer)
As an analogue legacy all the visible roof top aerials in my neighbourhood (West Swansea) are pointed at Wenvoe which is 53 km east – southeast. This normally requires a medium to high gain aerial to receive good analogue reception. By adding a masthead amplifier one can also receive, most of the time, reasonably good analogue reception from the Mendip transmitter, 105 km away, whose bearing is only about 10 degrees different from Wenvoe. This is a great advantage to a Yorkshire exile as one can then receive the English BBC transmissions and C4 rather than the sometimes different Welsh alternatives. I almost have line of site to both these transmitters except for two or three roofs about 100 metres away from me.
The Kilvey Hill transmitter, 7km east-
A Hood FM Half Wave Dipole
I originally had an FM Omni aerial mounted on the roof along with my TV aerial, but I wanted them in the loft, so purchased an FM Half Wave Dipole (and an XB10B TV aerial) to fit indoors. The half wave dipole inside the loft works better than the FM Omni outside ! Interestingly I can remember that when I installing the Omni a few years ago it seemed a bit directional and actually needed aligning to get the best signal off Llangollen FM transmitter, therefore it could be that some of the other signals weren`t being received optimally. The half wave (vertically mounted) seems to be truly omnidirectional. The FM half wave`s DAB performance is not needed here because the setback aerial supplied with the radio gives 100% reception here ! May I thank you again for all the advice on your website which enabled me to get a good result. Incidentally, my experiences confirm that RF reception is indeed a dark art !
S Howell FM 3 Element & 3 element DAB
As requested, some feedback. I fitted the 3 element fm and dab aerials I ordered
from you in our loft and using the supplied triplexer cabled them to our new hifi
unit (a high-
Thanks for the kit. It all works fine, bodger that I am (we`re sure you`re not ! ). If we had a telly we'd order an aerial from you for it too.
J Taylor FM Half Wave Dipole
Found your site very informative.
Chose half wave dipole for optimum FM/DAB reception, works a treat.
Brevity is indeed a skill, and has a beauty all of its own.......
R Hamilton Touring Caravan
In Feb 2009 I purchased a TV at the caravan show at the NEC. Took all the advice from all the experts and got aerials and sat dishes and everything else that the advised. Eighteen months later my TV still would not get a picture........ Internet searching I found a cheeky guy up in Sheffield who gave me meat and potatoes advice, I bought an aerial. It arrived 15 minutes ago and I now have 94 freeview channels all bright and clear. Super cool expert service. Thanks.
I like this aerial report, “cheeky guy in Sheffield who gave me meat and potatoes advice”, love it. I can`t promise the aerial will work as well everywhere, but hopefully in most places !
P Trenchard FM Half Wave Dipole
The new FM aerial had to be outdoors and also omni directional (hence the Dipole) because BBC FM radio may be available from the local transmitter, but one of our favourites is Classic FM which only comes from Divis, which is in opposite direction.
The dipole is mounted vertically, all of it above roof level. Compared with my old aerial (a multi element Circular 5) there is a significant improvement in signal strength and especially quality. Background hiss is totally eliminated. To be fair the new dipole is outside whereas the Circular 5 is in the loft, but, surprisingly, the half wave outperformed the Circular 5 even when it was in the loft. It might have been a different story had both aerials been mounted outside but this was not an option due to the need for an omni directional antenna.
The HiFi tuner has a continuous signal strength readout and this shows for the local
transmitter an improvement of 10dbf from 75dbf to 85dbf, and for Divis BBC and Classic
FM an improvement of 25dbf from 30dbf to 55dbf. The tuner needs at least 35dbf to
get a decent stereo signal. Due to the distance to Divis, about 50 miles over the
sea, the FM signal strength does vary according to the atmospheric conditions and
sometimes drops to about 45-
When checking the best place to mount the aerial I found there was a drop of about 10dbf from Divis if even a half of the lower part of the aerial was shielded by the roof overhang. Hope this helps.
We were suffering quite a bit of interference with the ribbon type set back aerials on our FM radios so I fitted an FM Half Wave Dipole outside on the TV aerial mast. It clears the roof where it's installed but not the ridge which is higher up. Installing the FM Half Wave resulted in a big improvement to the signal over the set back aerials but it still wasn't perfect and had some annoying hiss. Originally I used one of those plastic Y splitters to combine the FM and radio signals, then sent the signal round the house using various amps and splitters. There were two points requiring TV and FM, for one I installed a wall plate type diplexer but for the other I used another Y splitter (because I didn't know about set back type diplexers at that time). The next step was to get rid of the two splitters (one used as the initial combiner and the other as a splitter) and replace them with 2 set back diplexers. That made a significant difference, so now we finally get clear reception on all channels !
However, that wasn`t quite the end of the story, by changing the splitters for diplexers and changing my old cable for your satellite stuff, I`ve been able to get rid of the amplifiers in the system. I originally needed them for decent reception off Emley, even after the switchover, but now I`m OK without them.
The above aerial report is particularly interesting in that it covers not only the aerial but the diplexers as well. Coincidentally the report came in (November 2011) just as I was doing some crude tests on the differences in loss between splitters and diplexers. I arranged two diplexers back to back (i.e. to combine then split out the signal) then checked the signal levels relative to each other and also "straight through" (i.e.with no combiners in use).
Loss using two diplexers was around 2dB, i.e. each one was losing about 1dB. For loss the CoAx set back diplexers were just as good as the F conn mast head types. Their downside being they`re not screened and the CoAx plugs can pull out more easily than the Fs.
Loss using two splitters (one as a combiner) was 7 to 8dB (i.e. each one lost about 3.5 to 4dB). And that`s a significant difference. However, that`s not to say that using splitters won`t work if your signal level is high enough,
or you`re flukey enough.
NOTE The quoted loss figures are for UHF (TV). Losses for VHF (FM/DAB) would be slightly lower, FM having a little less loss than DAB (as the latter`s frequency is higher).
Whilst I had the splitters on the bench I also took the opportunity to check whether using the CoAx splitter "incorrectly" (i.e. with an "output" as an "input" and vice versa) made any difference to its loss figure. This is relevant because the layout of CoAx splitters encourages some people to plug the male "input" into the TV then plug the aerial into one of the female "outputs". Somewhat surprisingly using the splitter in this way did make a difference, though some frequencies were rather more affected than others. For some frequencies there was minimal disparity, but for some others there was up to double the normal splitter loss of 3.5dB. So be warned !
M Smith Emley Moor Transmitter
Hi Guys. recently purchased a DM18 from you to use in Leeds off the Emley moor transmitter, mounted it very nice, good solid parts but dismal picky, my fault as I had joined it with a connector to the existing coax that was very neatly installed. Big mistake, ran the new coax direct to TV and have all the freeview no problem and a discreet aerial installation to boot, many thanks and will use you again.
This is a very significant aerial report in that even a small aerial, like a DM18 at only 2ft 6ins long, picks up perfect digital 25 miles away from the transmitter. The aerial height was about 95m, so it`s not exactly up on the hills at 1000ft either ! Having said that Emley Moor is pumping out 174kW, which, particularly for digital, is big big power.
R Holmes FM Half Wave Dipole v amplifed indoor FM aerial
excellent website & sales purchased a panasonic hifi with fm/dab radio hoping to
be able to receive radio manchester to listen to the match reports when city were
playing. it came with a pathetic ribbon type aerial that would not pick up dab &
very poor fm. then tried a nikkai indoor 20dBgain aerial (maplins) this received
good dab and fair fm but very poor radio manchester. followed your advice & purchased
from yourselves an fm half wave dipole aerial excellent dab very good fm & good radio
manchester so can listen to the matches as we win the premiership once again thanks
(and this was before they`d won in 2012......)
Once again we see that an amplified indoor aerial does not equate to a decent aerial, and, particularly a decent aerial outside (or in the loft)....... Incidentally, amplifying FM is rarely needed (even when splitting), and it`s often counterproductive. Just get a decent signal in at the front end, then go from there.
(Also see Testimonials)
We are more than willing to give advice to those actually purchasing from us. Could those only seeking information please just find the answer somewhere on this site, or ring an aerial installer local to them, or call the reception advice phone numbers.
I Smith FM Half Wave Dipole
My old FM aerial was a round Omni type and it didn`t work too well, though to be fair the dipole terminal box was full of water which probably affected its performance a bit! I asked the retailer where I bought my FM tuner to recommend an aerial installer to come and put me a new one up but he didn`t seem that interested, in fact said it`d be more likely I had a faulty tuner. So I decided to do it myself and fitted an FM Half Wave dipole. As recommended for omnidirectional performance I installed it vertically though I did find a significant difference in the performance according to which side of the pole it was installed. Once I`d optimised the position it picked up loads of stations I`d never even heard of before including a community radio station. I was impressed with it but unfortunately FM Radio 2 was a bit intermittent so I phoned up ATV for advice. Justin recommended I tried polarising the aerial horizontally and then peak its direction up to get the best Radio 2 I could, and this worked fine.
Whilst messing about with a Half Wave on my roof at home I also found a significant difference in signal level according to which side of the pole the aerial was mounted though I think this may well more to do with reflections off the roof than the position of the aerial in relation to the pole.
The reason I recommended trying horizontal polarity was to give the aerial a bit
of directivity in case the problem was co-
I think it`s interesting that even an aerial installer recommended by the radio supplier wasn`t that bothered about doing an FM aerial install, and that`s despite the aerial trade experiencing a post switchover slump at the moment ! Having said that we have actually had reports of this from other customers and I suspect it`s due to the installers not having much experience in FM aerial installs, particularly if the customer doesn`t want an Omni which is the only aerial many installers have ever fitted. As it happens this particular install was a bit of a buggar and needed time farting about to getting best out of it, thus it`s distinctly possible that the customer actually ended up with a better signal having done the job himself !
D Farrow Touring Campervan
I've got an all singing all dancing self seeking satellite system on my van, it works reasonably in England but once I go to Scotland it's another story. So I bought a DM log and bolted the mounting pole to the ladder on the back of the van. The aerial sticks about 12" over the roof and I leave it up permanently. So far the aerial has given us a perfect picture everywhere we've been, including Orkney! In fact it worked better than our home aerial, so I bought another one!
I`m pleased to hear the DM log has worked so well. When we use one for boating holidays ours works almost everywhere, but not quite everywhere !
Obviously it`s vitally important the aerial is set up correctly, or it won`t perform at its best.
With our old loop aerial with amplifier the analogue BBC 1 & 2 are poor, ITV and Ch.4 are watchable, just, and 5 is there in sound but with little picture. On Digital we get BBC 1& 2 OK but no signal on 3, 4 or any ITV. This does not enthuse my telly addict crew to boating and if she who must be obeyed is not happy…..
Just back from fitting the new aerial and pleased to say the improvement is amazing, particularly as I only have it on the short section of the caravan pole at the moment. The previous aerial was fitted on the roof on a short copper pipe about a foot long which the caravan pole sleeves over nicely without swinging around. I reckon it would take the short section plus one or even two of the longer ones without needing a stay. On digital it has picked up nearly all channels with a good, steady picture and those that are missing are not important e.g. channel 8 which in Scotland is a Gaelic language channel. On analogue BBC1 & 2 and ITV are good, however Channels 4 and 5 have no signal and probably need the aerial raised a bit more. Some of my neighbours are now jealous. Many thanks for your prompt attention and advice. All I need to do now is get the Lat and Long of the various transmitters and enter them into the GPS as waypoints to help align the aerial when in “foreign parts” and we should be good.
On our first long trip on our narrowboat the DM Log aerial proved very successful. What an improvement on our old 'Flying Saucer' ! With the addition of a signal strength indicator when other aerials were not in sight we had Freeview all the way from Anderton to the Ashby and then back via the Staffs & Worcs and Shroppie. Mostly with one extension pole, once with two. Many thanks for your help when deciding what to go for.
C Leach Bluebell Hill Transmitter
Just a note to say thank you for an A1 service,including advice and your website. I installed all the kit I bought from you and I now have a perfect picture and a sound / good quality setup. many Thanks. Highly recommended.
M Smith Touring Caravan
We had always tried getting a picture off an amplified set top aerial in the caravan, and the results were really rather mixed. I took the plunge and invested in your DM Log, a caravan pole and a couple of the double clamps to attach it to the jockey wheel. I`m very pleased with the results, it works great, recommended.
G Gordon Canal boat
I recently bought a log periodic aerial & caravan pole for my narrowboat ,following your advice by telephone. I just want to say thank you. Reception is amazing and the pole is fine supporting the aerial & very convenient on a narrowboat. Thanks Again
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J Marsh DAB 5 Element
We live in an old farmhouse with thick stone walls which is located in a bit of a valley. We get poor FM, no mobile phone signals and no terrestrial or DAB if we try set top aerials. You advised a DAB 5 element aerial and I purchased one and fitted it in the loft. It worked fine into one radio but I wanted the signal through four points throughout the house so plugged the aerial into the four way amp we already had (note that some amps, particularly some older ones, will not pass the DAB signal). We now have perfect DAB reception throughout the hose when we were previously unable to get any DAB signal at all. Thanks to your thoughtful advice and efficient service, much appreciated.
S Askey Ridge Hill Transmitter
I'm 9 miles from Ridge Hill. I haven't got line of sight to the transmitter -
Amazingly The DM log also picks up Sutton Coldfield signals on channels 40+ (Sutton
Coldfield is a group B is it? (Yes) ) -