I don’t know how long ago you moved away… but only one element looks out of alignment… perhaps a big fat pigeon sat on it….
1 Like
perhaps a big fat pigeon sat on it….
that’s the only advantage of having a loft aerial!
1 Like
Maybe a big fat pigeon was ‘sat’ on top of another big fat pigeon that was perched on the aerial cooing the hell away😳
For large aerials … … then really you do need planning permission, and it helps to get the support of your neighbours… and then there is a good chance all is ok… getting neighbour support ahead and in villages getting your parish council on side helps too. If your property is listed or has another restricted covenants then you might have to put in the loft space.
But with a regular 5 or 4 element VHF Yagi perhaps with folded dipole you should be fine without planning permission and good front to back and good gain… the only thing is that they need to be higher from the roofline compared to DAB or TV DVB antennas unless you want to throw performance gain away which can make the aerials prominent… as Adam’s photo shows.
The things to check are the quality of the coax downlink, and whether you need to provide a BALUN or it’s built into the antenna. Yagis are balanced antennas, and coax is obviously unbalanced. Mismatch here throws away much of the signal, breaks the antenna gain pattern, and makes it prone to interference.
1 Like
@LindsayM, regarding the stereo decoder light… when the light is on is the stereo image good and low noise? Is the difference on R3 with regard to noise when stereo or not very noticeable.
If there is no great noticeable difference in noise (there will be some) then it’s unlikely to be a signal strength issue, and R3 is generally in the part of the band with the highest antenna gain.
Thanks.
Stereo image excellent and no noise.
And when the stereo light is off, are you in fact getting a mono signal coming out of the tuner on R3? Or is it still stereo (which would be weird).
1 Like
No it’s mono - tested last night by switching to mono on the pre-amp.
So it really doesn’t sound signal strength or aerial related…
When it next happens, check by putting your post code in.
1 Like
Before I spend £s on the aerial I’m going to talk to the BBC about what might be going on.
About 38 years ago - unbelievable to me. Used it with a Creek (which I still own) and an ONIX.
WAY back then I was going to buy a NATO2 but DAB was coming in and FM due to be retired. Then later - FM was going to be retired - and so on until I can now count 40 years of pleasure denied.
I had my Creek DIN output modified while I was at Naim to take a HiLine. It proved to have quite a bit more to offer when so connected.
1 Like
Wow, it’s doing well… your point about national FM retiring… yes it has been like a stuck record…
I do hear the transmitter backbone digital network for BBC VHF FM is now very old and creeking… so it might be legacy digital tech that causes the demise of a perceived analogue medium, BBC VHF FM… as I suspect the money is not there to upgrade it… but hopefully I am wrong.
1 Like
Perfect for Adam’s Creek tuner then.
1 Like
I checked that BBC www engineering service (& others) yesterday when Lindsay first posted, there was no indication of any engineering work or signal mono or strength change, the service was reported as “good” at various times, including before 11:30.
Unfortunately the transmitter owner Aqiva don’t have a service status reporting www.
2 Likes
Hm, I wonder if it needs to go to Salisbury for some TLC… ideally try an alternate aerial first. I believe the NAT01 uses an LM4500 stereo decoder in a reasonably standard setup, but according to the LM4500 data sheet there is a pot setting for optimum performance of its VCO at 228kHz.
But if the NAT01 has a LM4500A, that has a blend circuit for weak signals… so hiss is reduced but so is the stereo field on weaker stations… so if showing stereo, but still not much stereo field , it might be lack of signal related after all.
1 Like
Funny thing Adam about 1990 when I had an Ariston RD80/LVX/k9/Rotel/Heybrook I needed a new K9 stylus and went into Listen Inn Northampton and was served by one Peter Swain, he had a Nait and Nat 01 playing through Kans and I so wanted, but we had a baby on the way so……….
Took me until 2005 to get my first Naim amp (202/200) and then a Nat 5. Has taken until now to get the 01 but I can confirm without hesitation it’s been worth waiting for.
2 Likes
Talking about stereo lights. In 1970 I bought an Armstrong 524 tuner for £40 but it was only mono. Annoyingly, it had a stereo light which of course never came on and which continually bugged me. For £9 10s I bought the M4 stereo decoder from Comet. You had to take the top of the tuner off and slot in the decoder. When the stereo light came on I was more than pleased and this was using 2’ of co-axial cable stuffed in the aerial slot!
2 Likes
Here’s an aerial I prepared earlier…well just the photo of course.
Rigged by the late RS himself just shy of a quarter of a century ago - where has the time gone?
The FM G17 points to SC transmitter.
The chimney is garden side, so it is all but impossible to see the rig from the lane outside.
I’m interested in @Simon-in-Suffolk 's comment re pp - not something I was aware.
I had the downlead replaced about seven years ago. My NAT wasn’t performing as previously.
RS’s son George suggested I check the downlead, which with a very good signal is split in the loft, one part direct to NAT in main system, the other to a labgear distribution for elsewhere in the house. The first run from the aerial, showed rust - replaced and all well thereafter.
I hope the op manages to find the cause of the issue! It took me awhile to find someone who could be bothered with FM - in the end, very good and quick work to change the downlead.
3 Likes