OneGuyFromBarlick

PanBiker wrote:No, not tried it Kev and thanks for the offer. I have all the stuff myself but to be quite honest it's not high on my priorities. I may get round to it at some point if and when I re-instate some Amateur Radio antennas. Been revisiting some designs for 11 - 17 element Yagi's which look very interesting as a home build rather than the £200 commercial versions. I used to like building my own. Myself and a mate built 4 x 14 element to use stacked and bayed for portable contesting work on the VHF bands.

Since doing the exercise for the Emley signal from here I can see that I have quite a good take off, Holy Trinity would not impact my interest in the North East for aurora, or indeed the South East for tropospheric propagation.

I suppose I should really take this over into the Ham Radio thread (which I think I will de-Americanise shortly), it's a bit off topic here.

I was doing OK with the first 3 sentences, it then went way over my head

Big Kev wrote:I was doing OK with the first 3 sentences, it then went way over my head

Me too Kev, but it's great to hear people on threads like this with lots of knowledge and experience enthusing about their interests and not being shy of putting it about. OG makes a wonderful platform for such discussions - and you still get good value when they go off topic!

Tizer wrote:

Big Kev wrote:I was doing OK with the first 3 sentences, it then went way over my head

Me too Kev, but it's great to hear people on threads like this with lots of knowledge and experience enthusing about their interests and not being shy of putting it about. OG makes a wonderful platform for such discussions - and you still get good value when they go off topic!

I wasn't "knocking it", I'd just glazed over. My wife does the same when I talk about photography or work...

Don't be disheartened Ian - I know exactly what you are on about. Still waiting for the razor blade receiver though.

I'm with Kev! Haven't come across that transformer yet Ian. I haven't forgotten it.

Thought I'd bump this up to see if Ian has been tinkering with aerials lately.

Kev, I was talking with Doc about re-wiring his house and thought perhaps you might say what you would do in terms of wiring and aerials so as to be ready for when DABS becomes fully operational in Barlick. He is going to strip the house completely and bottom it so it's the ideal time to put in permanent wiring.

Stanley wrote:Kev, I was talking with Doc about re-wiring his house and thought perhaps you might say what you would do in terms of wiring and aerials so as to be ready for when DABS becomes fully operational in Barlick. He is going to strip the house completely and bottom it so it's the ideal time to put in permanent wiring.

I'm not qualified to advise, I can only comment on what I've done at home. I mounted an omni-directional DAB aerial on the same bracket as my satellite dish. The aerial uses the same F type connecters as the satellite so I've used satellite cable to one receiver. I would imagine you could connect to multiple sockets, throughout the house, to use with other compatible DAB receivers (those with an external aerial socket on them). Not sure if you would need to boost the signal for multiple sockets though.

For DAB you would need some kind of RF splitter and distribution box if you needed more than 2 points. The 2 way splitters are usually resistive based and would simply share the signal, each point receiving half strength. OK if you have a very good signal. IF you need multiple points you really need to shove the signal into a distribution system which has built in amplification before splitting the signal multiple ways. These are widely available and a quick search on the internet or a trip to your friendly neighbourhood aerial rigger and your sorted. The distribution amplifier acts as a hub with radial leads to wherever you need them.

The current DAB signal into Barlick is coming from Holme Moss and can be received on a small Halo dipole as Kev installed. DAB should arrive eventually on the Skipton transmitter which would simply mean we will get an even better signal. So you don't really need to go overboard on the DAB antenna.

You can do a similar arrangement for satellite signal distribution you just need a different distribution amplifier for the higher frequencies.

I'm sure Doc has already thought of this but I would also flood wire with a minimum of CAT5 or preferably CAT6 data cable, install a small 19" rack cabinet (with a bit of room left for expansion) and patch panel and a suitably sized and featured network switch. Switches, Routers all in the cabinet. You could install a couple of Wireless Access Points in the building on the infrastructure which would then support your mobile devices.

PanBiker wrote:You could install a couple of Wireless Access Points in the building on the infrastructure which would then support your mobile devices.

Definite yes for the WAP's. The walls are fairly dense on these type of terraced houses...

Where is the DAB transmitter for Barlick? I wasn't aware we could even recieve it. I have no signal at my house, but maybe with an antenna? We have an aerial and distributed repeaters for Mobile Signal as we have such thick walls, could I tie DAB into that?

Steven Chorkley wrote:Where is the DAB transmitter for Barlick? I wasn't aware we could even recieve it. I have no signal at my house, but maybe with an antenna? We have an aerial and distributed repeaters for Mobile Signal as we have such thick walls, could I tie DAB into that?

I can get a DAB signal from Park Street. I believe it's from the Emley Moor transmitter but I can't substantiate that.

Emley Moor is indeed our DAB radio transmitter. The relay at Nutter Cote only carries the main FM radio channels. You will need an external antenna unless you have a particularly good aspect. The signal ranges from the back of Kelbrook Moor, if you look at any FM radio antennas still around you will see how they are oriented. More or less pointing straight down Kelbrook Road. Depending on where you live, you may well get away with a omnidirectional antenna. I know Kev has one of these as we discussed this over in the DAB in Barlick thread.

Ah, I'm guessing the transmitter is behind weets hill? I live on the end of Moorgate, next to the style into the fields. Would there be any chance of getting any signal at all?

I'm sorry about the dumb question, I just don't know any street names in Barlick. No internet to load google maps

You are tucked up a little under Whitemoor, in Billy Cocks house, the signal comes from Emley / Holme Moss which is not behind Weets, from where you are. A directional antenna would be pointing more or less towards Letcliffe Park. Are there any VHF radio aerials on the roofs around you, if so how big are they?

A standard directional horizontal VHF antenna will have two or three elements, they are easy to spot. the elements are about a metre long and the antenna will be mounted horizontally. Much larger than the UHF TV aerials. If you have any of these in your area at the top of Moorgate, the size of the array will be a good indicator of whether or not you might have a path to the transmitter. I was in the TV and Radio trade for 20 years but that was 20 years ago now and I cant remember the exact coverage for that part of Barlick. The clues are on the roofs of the other houses though.

When dab started I bought a dab tuner, after switching on I was amazed to get good signal strength. After listening for a while problems appeared, with break up and silences. An out door antenna on the back of the house sorted most of it out, but there are still days when it is poor. On the other hand I purchased a pocket DAB radio from Maplins and the performance on this through earphones with the ariel extended is superb even in the house. Both are close to ten years old now.

I have moved Stephens query and the last few posts from the computing thread into here which is a bit more pertinent for any ongoing discussion.