Monday, January 17, 2011

Chuckle while you learn - every thing about TV aerials

I  found a brilliant web site, but before I reveal the link I'll cruelly force you to read the background.

We just bought Herbie a new TV.  Not that we watch TV a lot when we're aboard, but it keeps us out of the pub now and then.  Our old boat tv has a cathode ray tube and is not digital ready let alone HDTV and works off 240volts.  So after a lot of research we bought one ( not posh, just 15.4 inches flat screen) which is not only fit for the 21st century, well it has freeview anyway, but also uses 12v and draws only 20watts or about 2 amps.  That should save battery capacity because our inverter which is needed to run the old TV probably takes more than that on its own.

Of course to get Freeview we need the correct aerial so I got back into research mode and stumbled across a rather wonderful web site.  Not only does it have everything you could possibly want to know about aerials and where all the transmitters are etc but there is even a section recommending the best aerials for canal boats.  And, as if that wasn't enough, it is not only very readable  but also very funny!  The writer, a professional aerial supplier and installer, has a very dry wit and laces his erudition with a good dose of humour.  Even if you don't want an aerial, it's still worth a  read.

I can't praise this web site enough.  It's taken me ages to write this post because I keep referring back to the aerials site and getting distracted by reading another good bit.  For once I did actually LOL! As one correspondent writes on the testimonials page "Carlsberg (or Carling for that matter) don't do aerial websites but, if they did, this is exactly what it would be like."

Do have a browse around.  The more you look the more you find. I even learned more than I already knew about the simple job of attaching a coax aerial plug.  And don't miss the cowboy installations page, or the fascination page quaintly entitled health and safety bollocks.  Or if you just want some very useful facts, look at the pages about TV transmitters - for a boater on the move, very handy.

You can find it at http://www.aerialsandtv.com  .

1 comment:

Halfie said...

Neil, I've tried looking at this website, but I gave up after becoming increasingly frustrated that I could never read to the end of a paragraph. The words get cut off. The website's author acknowledges this problem, but suggests users change their "DPI setting" (and gives instructions for a PC). Sorry, I have a Mac, and websites should just work. Apart from that it looks like a good resource.