Dockside tv antenna

[chicagodave]

Looking to add a rail mount TV antenna for use at the dock.
Any suggestions for a reliable antenna (preferably HD) would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[philwsailz]

There is nothing fancy, special of different between an antenna marketed as HD and any regular old-school UHF antenna. Most of the HD spectrum is broadcast in the old UHF frequencies.

When you say rail mount, are you talking line temporarily mounting the antenna to your stern rail and then stowing it when you cast off lines? Know height is key to good reception. I see your sig and notice you are in Chicago, so it is likely you will not have a height issue but you might. An antenna at the masthead is going to work better than the same antenna down low at the rail.

I have used Shakespeare and Glomex amplified antennas with good success. They can be spendy compared with a non-powered antenna but they do work.
.

 

[chicagodave]

Thanks Phil,
My boat is a Beneteau 423 and was planning to permanently mount an antenna to the stern rail.
I was looking at a Shakespeare 3004, but was looking for feedback to determine how good was the reception.
Dave

 

[JeepJeff]

Might be a little late, just joined, but when looking for "broadcast" TV stations (the free ones) it depends greatly on the direction your antennae is facing in many areas. I would recommend a rotating mount of some sort for best results.

To see a list of broadcast stations you "should" be able to get go to the following site www.titantv.com . Site defaults to local cable/satellite stations so you have to change it to broadcast. Good luck

 

[tahomathundr]

If you plan on using this in your slip and you are not too far from the tv towers you may be able to get by with a rectangular HD antenna made for indoors. I have one on my Cat 309 and get great reception and mounted in the salon.

 

[philwsailz]

Thanks Phil,
My boat is a Beneteau 423 and was planning to permanently mount an antenna to the stern rail.
I was looking at a Shakespeare 3004, but was looking for feedback to determine how good was the reception.
Dave

Based on my experience so far having done three different installs on three different boats, I feel that you will have better performance with one of the larger antennas. I would recommend maybe the Shakespeare 3015...

Knowing size is an issue, I might also consider this one: https://www.skodot.com/us/catalog/p...RptnNJKjLWNHfOj1cpKLP-MyWH05MHQYLkaAvCj8P8HAQ

I have installed this antenna on the helm of a powerboat, (it was very inexpensive for me to purchase at the time and the size was right) and it works fairly well for me, being about 45 miles away from the broadcast antennas. It surely would work much better for you as you should be closer to the TV antennas.

 

[Benny17441]

I do not think antennas can define whether the signal carries HD programing or not. The factors that mostly affect them are direction and distance to the broadcasting antenna and the strength of the signal. Some come with an amplifier to boost the strength of the signal, some are directional and others multi-directional and some offer better signal capture configurations. In a boat we are lucky as most seem to work quite adequately at 40' above the deck. For a boat I would choose a multi-directional antenna (does not require rotating or adjustments) with a powered amplifier. Check the specs so that you get a fairly efficient one for the desired task. In the past we "snow in the picture" and "ghost images" to contend with but now with digital processing the TV stations are more likely to come in good or not at all. They are not impervious to weather so you may still experience picture break up from time to time. I have a 120V powered TV and antenna amplifier so with the use of the inverter I can have TV on when under way. Great for watching football games on Sundays.