Bongo Fury

Hi, Has anyone mounted a omnidirectional ariel permanantly on there
freetop roof?

Just bought one off E bay & it requires a short mast, any idea's on mounting would be much appreciated.

Cheer's in advance Ian.

Someone must have fitted one

Quick before i get me drill out

Personally wouldn't drill any holes in my roof - I'd be concerned about water ingress & chopping it off in the multi-storey car park. I have a pole mounted aerial & am currently modifying the brackets so it can clamp to the rear ladder.

i brought my Bongo to get away from tv. I watch the sunsets drinking a bottle of wine.

you must have more sun in your neck of the woods, cant you watch a sunset on the telly?

Drill the roof as a last resort

If you do go for that route make sure you prime the affected metal work, and use some nice rubber grommets and some sealant (tiger seal or equivalent form your local paint shop) to keep the water out.

Omni-directional aerials are very expensive and not necessarily the best option as they are really just a compromise to enable them to be a permanent fixture.

The Bongo has an obvious advantage over a caravan in that the roof is plastic which should not degrade a TV signal too much, whereas a metallic structure can virtually eliminate it.

My solution was to use an amplified mini yagi at about £20. I have the 12v supply and the aerial connector permanently fitted through to the roofspace so that I just need to connect and clip to the internal roof when it is raised - adjust for the best signal and that's it.

I speak with a little authority here as I used to manufacture omni- directional aerials for marine use.

Doug, this is an interesting subject. I have a Freeview receiver and find that because a lot of the campsites are in poor signal areas, then all a booster does is boost the white noise. It seems to me that the only way to get a signal in these places is to have a 2 metre pole with aerial on it AND a 12 volt booster. What do you reckon?

Ian,

I don't think there is any easy solution on campsites other than a satellite system. I also don't think that Freeview Digital has enough coverage as yet as they only broadcast from the main high power stations (as a general rule horizontal aerials receive from the high power stations and vertical aerials receive from low power local repeaters).

Look around the permanently fitted aerials on and around the site and you have a guide.

The high pole and amplified directional aerial (yagi) is really the best way out if you are determined to receive good TV - make sure it is a wideband aerial and not a domestic aerial with colour coded plastic (red, green, or blue if I remember).

My suggestion in the previous post of the 12v powered mini-yagi is also a big compromise that will provide mediocre results in comparison to the mast setup you describe. Omni-directional aerials are non-adjustable for direction and may receive signals from several directions at once causing ghost pictures - not worth the large expenditure when there are cheaper options - good status symbol though.

Have a look at the Soundex DAE 302 Aerial which has a 20Db 12V masthead amplifier
and is small enough to pack away in the Bongo.

I often get a fairly good digital signal and rarely fail with analogue.

IAN:
At Polstead you could have got freeview with a coat hanger dangling on a piece of wet string,
the transmitter must have been extremely close.

Thanks for this Ben. It looks a good spec aerial at a decent price. It only seems to be available at one place in the UK; Leisure Aerials of Manningtree.

http://www.ca-la.co.uk/leisureaerials.html

Freeview wasn't a problem at Polstead (I watched that dreadful England v Macedonia game) nor at Seaton, but it was terrible at Stourport.