Kingham TV Set-Up

Thanks Dave, that explains it, we don't take a TV with us so no experience of the difficulty of reception. Thought I was missing something obvious, didn't realise it was that they didn't work! Felt like a silly question when I asked it!

Mike

Not a silly question when you didn't know the answer Mike. 

Not all of them are naff. The technical reasons why they are often not much use are beyond my tiny mind, but I suspect the fault sometimes lies at Willersey. At least a few members have investigated and found the connections very carelessly, or even wrongly made. Even a single errant strand of the shielding wire can affect reception, so it's something that needs particular care and attention. ('Nuff said?  )

Gromit wrote:

Mike187 wrote:Isn't that what the external TV socket is for?
Mike

In theory Mike, but a number of members have found that the external socket doesn't work very well, sometimes not at all.

The easiest remedy (as said earlier in this thread) is to bring the aerial lead in through the window, directly into the back of the TV.

My van doesn't have an external socket , so I never gave that a thought.

looking at your aerial booster you have 3 coaxial cables 1 from aerial that leaves 2 surly there is a tv aerial socket/lead already setup just add tv

Gromit wrote:

Mike187 wrote:Isn't that what the external TV socket is for?
Mike

In theory Mike, but a number of members have found that the external socket doesn't work very well, sometimes not at all.

The easiest remedy (as said earlier in this thread) is to bring the aerial lead in through the window, directly into the back of the TV.

I discovered with our Warwick XL, which has the same TV aerial and TV booster in the wardrobe as the OP, that it only really works in good reception areas. If using an on site bollard socket and coax lead, the signal booster in the wardrobe needs the 12v unplugged or switched off first which in effect disables the roof aerial ...... The outside socket then works perfectly OK for getting the sites boosted TV signal into the van.. 
In practice we also carry a Maplins portable satallite TV system for use when all else fails.


Bringing a TV lead in through a window isn't really an option with Kinghams and Warwicks as they have non opening black glass windows except for a sliding window in the sliding door and the toilet.....

Justus2 wrote:
If using an on site bollard socket and coax lead, the signal booster in the wardrobe needs the 12v unplugged or switched off first which in effect disables the roof aerial ...... The outside socket then works perfectly OK for getting the sites boosted TV signal into the van.. 

That's interesting Justus, I didn't know that.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it next time we are on site. Never thought of switching off the 12 volt supply.

Would someone be kind enough to take a photo of one of these on site booster posts ?

My TV bracket arrived today, disappointingly the TV hasn't.  Hope it's here for Saturday as that's when I planned to fit it all.

ymfb1 wrote:Would someone be kind enough to take a photo of one of these on site booster posts ?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

It's the white box top right on the bollard, same as external van socket but it can be located anywhere on the bollard

Thanks, clearly a posh site compared with our usuals, lol

Paulmold wrote:

ymfb1 wrote:Would someone be kind enough to take a photo of one of these on site booster posts ?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

It's the white box top right on the bollard, same as external van socket but it can be located anywhere on the bollard

ymfb1 wrote:Thanks, clearly a posh site compared with our usuals, lol

Paulmold wrote:

ymfb1 wrote:Would someone be kind enough to take a photo of one of these on site booster posts ?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

It's the white box top right on the bollard, same as external van socket but it can be located anywhere on the bollard

Just took it off Google images, don't know which site.!

Regarding external socket does not work:
This has been addressed before on this forum and is covered in the manual for my van.
If you use the outside socket to connect to the site bollard TV then the aerial socket on the TV must be connected to the f type socket on the panel in the van. And I think that the booster must be ON.
You can buy from Maplin for £2.99 an adaptor - f plug to coax socket. You plug the bollard lead into the coax socket in the Maxview outside connector box, not the f socket which is for a satellite dish.

Can I add that in my, recent, experience the "non-directional" aerial on the roof is worse than useless. In a reasonable reception area it 'may' get you a signal but anywhere remote it's a waste of energy trying. The white box on the wall is a 'booster' but boosting zero signal still gets zero. I ended up getting a log periodic aerial from Screwfix, I think. that will work in a lot of places on it's own. I then disconnected the cable from the roof thing to the booster and ensured that the cable from the outside point was OK and then fitted that directly to the pre-amp(booster) The biggest hassle was getting a portable mast to fix to the van to put the antenna on. 
There are a jumble of connectors fitted throughout the van which doesn't help with weak signal distribution. 
The flat cable might be needed but it adds another 2 connector transitions.

bertb wrote:Can I add that in my, recent, experience the "non-directional" aerial on the roof is worse than useless. In a reasonable reception area it 'may' get you a signal but anywhere remote it's a waste of energy trying. The white box on the wall is a 'booster' but boosting zero signal still gets zero. I ended up getting a log periodic aerial from Screwfix, I think. that will work in a lot of places on it's own. 

Absolutely right.

An example of an omni-directional aerial is the commonly seen Status flying saucer type. Less common among Status (because they are expensive) is the directional. They do work and give decent results. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] 

However you can get even better results for a fraction of the cost of a Status by using a bog standard Yagi tv aerial such as this; [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

This is what I use. Not as much gain as a 13 element yagi but a lot shorter. About 15".
Our last van had the Status directional and that worked OK but this one has a Teleco set up, antenna and pre-amp.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Screwfix at £13'ish.

How does the non-directional aerial cope with local antenna, i.e. vertical signal rather than horizontal?

About as dismally as they fail to cope with any other signal!! 

A short length of wet string would probably be just as good!!

They really aren't much use, specially as a good many campsites are situated is poor reception areas.

bertb wrote:This is what I use. Not as much gain as a 13 element yagi but a lot shorter. About 15".
Our last van had the Status directional and that worked OK but this one has a Teleco set up, antenna and pre-amp.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Screwfix at £13'ish.

Perfect.......and at £13 odd it's a no brainer. Plus if you have a bike rack you've got a sturdy ready made mount to stick a pole on!

I bought a Vision Plus mast with an adhesive bracket which I stuck on the van side. The mast is just tall enough to allow the antenna to rotate 36 degrees without clouting the roof. On a 2013 Dorset. If the aerial was any longer it would foul the hi top.

Well I have to say the omni directional aerial and Avtex TV has worked perfectly.  Very simple to Auto Tune, we have been watching the athletics and breakfast TV.  Radio 2 also works a treat.  Will buy a BT adapter so we can listen to the BT speaker before the next trip.

Looking at the wardrobe it looks you already have a aerial lead going to a TVs point some where, yours is exactly as mine 3 coaxial cables one from areal one from external socket and one from tv point, I have the same type of aerial and get a good reception as long as I'm not surrounded by trees

Our Kingham tv set up is the sane as this.
The white box in the wardrobe is a booster. Make sure its turned on (switch on side of box) - red light comes on when switched on. Then just plug in the TV and tune it in. You usually need to re-tune everytime you move.
The roof aerial is omni-directional so you dont move it.
Ours works very well.
We used to use a pole mounted portable external aerial on our  old Duetto and ran a lead through the window. But so far have found the Kingham fitted roof set up gets better reception.
There is a dial on the booster in the wardrobe but I dont know what it does and would love to know!!. We think that when its turned to half way it seems to get best signal

The dial will al;ter the gain.  In weak signal areas it should be turned right up but in strong signal areas it may need to be turned down.  Halfway is a good general compromise but you may ned to tweak it sometimes.

inspiredron wrote:The dial will al;ter the gain.  In weak signal areas it should be turned right up but in strong signal areas it may need to be turned down.  Halfway is a good general compromise but you may ned to tweak it sometimes.

Cheers Ron... that's good to know