Avtec TV

Hello all,

When we collected our Nuevo from the dealer we stayed a couple of nights nearby to check everything out. We could not get the Avtec to tune in. The screen just showed no stations available. The warden at the park said that TV reception was bad so we left it at that.

On arriving home we were able to get reception as we have almost line of sight to the nearby mast. The booster in the wardrobe needed to be turned on. We spoke to the dealer who said that the new type roof mounted aerials are not as good as the adjustable type fitted on caravans, but are now used because they take up less roof space.

We then spent a couple of days 15 miles away and the Avtec showed no programs available. The following day we tried it again and hey presto it worked.

The last five days we have spent at Barmouth and had the same problem. Ist night no reception. Second and third nights reception fine. 4th and 5th nights no reception, and despite retuning, having the booster on, and a connection to the park system, no reception.

Am I correct in thinking that these latest models automatically retune to whatever area you happen to be in. We tried unplugging from the power source but this made no difference.

Also does anyone have any views about the wifi unit. There is provision for a sim card but I can't see the merit of purchasing a card to support TV usage as the bandwidth consumed on an affordable contract would quickly be used up. It is doing something because I have received two warning messages to my phone re low battery state.

Any comments gratefully received.

We are beginning to think that this new technology is to smart for its own good and maybe we should go back to the simple television we used previously.

Deleted, misread post.

I find my “Smart” Avtec needs tuning at each new location. I can’t see how it could work otherwise. I also find the signal meter display very helpful with adjusting the antenna direction. Great tv.

Never had a problem with the TV - the aerial, however.....  On the old van we had an adjustable type which was fine, the new one has a fixed, multi-directional and it struggles to find a lot of stations so ended up getting a stubby.  Only problem is the last couple of sites we have been on the reception has been fairly good and we haven't had to use it yet...typical.

There are a few threads on this in the forum about TV's and aerials if you want to search for them.

Our new 1921 van was the same, Tim at auto sleepers had a mess with the Ariel connections and it has improved. never going to get a good signal from a omnidirectional Ariel even if in the line of the transmitter.

We to bought a stubby and it has been used a couple of times successfully.

Pete

The occasions when I've been unable to get a TV signal, it's due to the signal coming from a transmitter broadcasting vertically. It's very rare and most broadcast in horizontal polarisation. Just your luck if you are closest to the few who do send out a vertical signal.  Mostly in rural or areas with high hills and deep valleys etc. Not 100% sure of the technical side of it, but definitely worth investigating the info for the transmitter you are trying to tune in to. I always manually search and rescan to get the best available reception. Never has an "auto" tuning set-up ever beat a manual tweaking in my experience. 

From memory the main Freeview transmitters transmit a horizontal signal, and repeater stations transmit vertical signals.

Main transmitters include the likes of Sutton Coldfield, Crystal Palace etc. The relay transmitters are all local and only cover a small area.

I use an app "UK Aerial Alignment" and find it useful.

An omnidirectional aerial will be less selective than a directional one, and may be harder for the TV to find the stations. A good quality signal is what the TV needs.

Hope that is of help.

Dave

Hello 

I should have spelt AVTEX correctly.

Thanks for your replies. On our caravan we were able to adjust the position from horizontal to vertical and generally had no problems apart from on the coast in West Wales, usually at the foot of hills.

Dave Gee referred to a stubby aerial; sorry if I sound thick, is that a supplementary aerial which you plug in the to outside socket and set up in a suitable direction?

Thanks again

Morning, yes- it's a short aerial which plugs into the socket outside the van.  It has a magnetic base. Fine for conversions but coachbuilts might have more of a problem finding somewhere to place it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/High-Gain-Freeview-Aerial-Television-Black/dp/B007JPOX8O/ref=asc_df_B007JPOX8O/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309757320705&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=650832658138410860&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006957&hvtargid=pla-392235575749&psc=1

Those stubbies seem to get great feedback on here, I may even get one as I’ve just sat on my brilliant backup Avtex STH3000 aerial and damaged it!
I also ripped out my flying saucer and fitted a Status 570 directional which is vastly better.
Something only touched on above though is the general standard of A/S coax cabling and connections. You may be lucky with your van but many of us have needed to do some major work on the cabling to improve the signal.

I bought a stubby after reading about them on here (£12.95 so worth a punt)

First opportunity to try it out was on the switchbacks from Bewdley to Stourport on Severn so in a river valley and not expecting much from either Ariel.

The van set up found no stations at all but the Stubby found 12, all funnily enough BBC (I think) all solid IE no interference, I hadn't put the Ariel outside so it may have done better if attached to the cab, the joy is, broken down it takes very little room and it seems to work.

Pete

We have a Burford and had a similar problem with our new Avtex Smart TV. There was no signal on a site where I was told the reception was good. I tested the TV at home and got plenty of stations. Subsequently, booked in with dealer to check the arial and was told it was ok. Still didn't think it was performing properly. It even pixelated when we were walking through the van. Had an arial installer check the signal. The arial point in the bedroom was reasonable but the main one was poor. I removed the microwave and checked the connections of which there are many. The main one was loose in several areas. After much fiddling around and tightening connections, the signal is now acceptable. You have to retune for each location. Hope this helps.

I believe that most main transmitters are now both vertically and horizontally polarised, but as previously noted omni directional aerials are basically a joke always better to have a directional aerial. Try both v and h , vertical should give a more robust signal but you may not receive all channels that are available though this should only apply to the less popular channels.

Hi,
The new omni directional aerial is next to useless, the multi directional Status 530 is 10 x better,
As with all TVs in motorhomes and caravans HAVE TO BE RETUNED every time you move the vehicle, even if you just move pitches on same site. Also I found the booster had to be turned up to max. Jeff

I have to disagree, we get well over 100 stations on many sites, rarely less than 20 with our Teleco omnidirectional.