Technical Info - Selecting a Marine TV Aerial

Marine TV Antenna Facts - TV Antennas and Brackets

Selecting a TV Antenna for use on a boat is a different affair to that of selecting one for your home, caravan or motor home. The main reason is Movement. While your home never moves and generally speaking a Caravanner or motor homer will generally find a location, set up and bobs your uncle. No further moving until its time to go home. These Antennas are generally directional. So the antenna when set up is pointed in the direction of the transmission source and then are not moved. If they are moved then transmission quality is compromised.

On a boat when we are at anchor the boat is constantly swinging depending on the tide and the wind. We also have to take in consideration the pitch roll and yaw caused by waves and boat wash. Due to this movement a directional TV antenna is just not practical unless you wish to sit there at the antenna constantly moving it to get a decent picture.

There is an answer and that is using a good quality omni directional Marine Antenna. These antennas are specially designed to pick up TV signal from all directions and are not affected by swinging at anchor and the affects of pitch and roll.

These Marine antennas are also designed to cope with the Marine environment such as salt, sun and water.

Like all TV antennas there are factors that can affect picking up good quality signal. Some of these factors are;

Poor signal strength due to distance from a transmission station
Obstacles blocking the signal, these could be mountains or hills, high rise buildings or even a large boat that may be next to you. Generally speaking the clearer the line of sight the better the signal quality will be.
Atmospheric Conditions, thunder and electrical
Rain can degrade signal quality because of signal reflection
Other hardware that may be mounted near the TV antenna that may block the TV signal, these may include items such as Masts, Targas, Radar units or even other aerials or antennas
Height of the antenna. The higher you can get the antenna the better quality signal you will get. Just have a look at houses, the TV Antenna is almost always mounted on the house’s highest point.
Quality of the Antenna, the old saying “you get what you pay for” is true for marine TV antennas. You should look for an antenna that is made by a respected manufacture, is both analogue and digital ready to be future ready and also an antenna which is amplified to ensure the best quality reception.

Keogh's Marine are industry leaders when it comes to Marine TV antennas. We can help you in selecting what antenna is right for you, how to install it and how to set it up. In our experience most owners will go through about 4 different antennas before they are happy. So talk to the staff at Keogh's Marine Electrics and get it right the first time.

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