How to improve the quality of TV signal reception?

The following factors have a strong influence on the quality of the transmitted image:

large distance of the TV from the signal repeater (TV tower);
external obstacles of natural and artificial kind (high-rise buildings, hilly and low-lying terrain, large trees, etc.);
poor-quality connecting cable;
wrong choice or incorrect orientation in the antenna space;
metal objects in the path of the signal or in the immediate vicinity of the TV antenna.

Almost all items are closely related to the main device for amplifying the television signal —TV antenna. A properly selected antenna improves the quality of the received image and increases the chances of organizing a stable broadcast of the required channels.

Antennas for receiving terrestrial television signals are indoor and outdoor. The first, as the name implies, are designed for indoor installation, and the second — respectively outside.

Indoor antennas

Portable and inexpensive antennas for internal use should be preferred at a slight distance from the repeater of the television signal (up to 30 km from the TV tower). Moreover, it is desirable that the signal source is in the line of sight, since its multiple reflections from buildings and objects do not contribute to improving the picture.

The family of indoor antennas is divided into two separate categories by design type:

frame — consist of an open metal frame and are designed to operate in the UHF decimetre range, which is commonly referred to as frequencies from 300 MHz to 3 GHz (in fact, frequencies over 900 MHz are practically not used in television broadcasting);
rod antennas are TV antennas with rectilinear metal "horns" (or "whiskers") that receive television signals in the metre range VHF (from 30 to 300 MHz).

It is preferable to install indoor antennas as close to the window as possible

When using a room antenna, you will need to determine the most effective place to install it in order to minimize the reflection of the signal from various objects in the room and achieve the highest quality image. If the broadcast picture still does not look the best, then you can pay attention to the antennas with an active amplifier or get a device to amplify the signal in a separate order. What is a TV signal amplifier and what functions it performs is described a little further.

� Interesting to know! If you live in close proximity to the repeater, you may need a reverse amplification device of a kind — a signal attenuator called an attenuator. It prevents image and sound distortion resulting from excessive TV signal strength.

Outdoor antennas

They are used at a great distance from the repeater of the television signal (often in rural areas). The variety of their types is much greater than that of representatives of the class of indoor antennas:

half-wave vibrator;
wave channel;
logoperiodic antenna;
common-mode antenna array.

The overlap of the metre and decimetre range is provided by combined solutions combining several of the above-mentioned structural types of antennas.

Useful to know! The quality of receiving a TV signal using an outdoor antenna is influenced by the height of its installation, the presence of high-voltage power lines in the immediate vicinity and the terrain.

The higher the outdoor antenna is raised, the more confident the reception of the TV signal will be provided by it

Antennas for outdoor use are also divided into several types according to the type of signal amplification. The simplest representative of the class are passive outdoor antennas, which do not have components in their design that enhance the TV signal.

Active antennas use a special chip to amplify the signal. The antenna amplifier can be its direct part or an independent device.

Antenna amplifiers

The television signal amplifier should be selected taking into account its technical parameters:

frequency range (the lion's share of antennas on the east european market is sharpened to work with local frequencies "out of the box", but sometimes there are exceptions);
gain factor (about 10 dB for metre range and 30-40 dB for decimetre range);
noise factor (preferred value — less than 3 dB).

The secondary parameters when choosing are the voltage and supply current (5-12 V and 30-60 mA, respectively), as well as the location of the amplifier (on the receiver or near the device).

One of the many ways to connect an antenna amplifier to a TV

However, even with the availability of high-quality components and serviceable equipment, the quality of broadcast TV shows may be unsatisfactory. This may be caused by the use of low-quality coaxial cable, its connection by twists or loss of integrity. It is desirable to select a cable with a thick central core and a standard wave resistance value of 75 ohms.

Interference in the picture is also introduced by various household appliances and external sources (for example, radio stations, cellular transmitters, etc.). The use of antennas with a narrow directional pattern will help to protect against them.

High—quality coaxial cable is the key to confident reception of the TV signal

For antennas, there is no fundamental difference in the reception of analogue and digital television signals. For the latter purposes, support for the decimetre range will be required, and if the DVB-T/T2 receiver is not in the TV, then it will need to be equipped with an external TV tuner.

Finally, it is worth mentioning satellite dishes in passing. Their diameter can vary between values from 50 cm to 5 m, depending on which the sensitivity of the antenna changes. Installing and configuring satellite dishes is not an easy task, so in most cases this is done by highly specialized specialists.

Enjoy watching live TV shows!