03/06/2024
There has been some opinions in the market lately relating to Phased Array ( Grid ) vs Yagi Aerials.
Do you need a Phased Array Aerial for Digital TV? No you don’t.
The clue is in the name….. Triax Digi 6 , Digi 10 , Digi 14 .
This is a great marketing ploy to sell Phased Array aerials if that is all you have however it is an opinion that is out of touch with the latest technologies. At Digital we would rather sell you the right aerial for the right location be it a Yagi , Log Periodic or yes if necessary a Phased aerial
We carry the latest technologies from Europe and the UK backed by R&D divisions updating our technologies including head ends yearly. In Europe and the UK Phased technology is rarely seen.
Get the latest technology from Digital Imports.
We put this question to our Triax team in UK. ……..
Yagi Aerials:
Description: Yagi aerials, also known as Yagi-Uda antennas, are the most common type. They are suitable for suburban and urban areas with moderate to strong signals.
Design: Yagi aerials consist of a driven element (dipole) and a series of directors and reflectors. The directors focus the signal in the desired direction, while the reflector enhances gain.
Application: They work well for receiving TV signals from local broadcasting towers.
Versatility: Yagi aerials are straightforward and effective, making them a popular choice.
Grid Aerials:
Appearance: Grid aerials don’t resemble typical TV antennas. They are flat and have signal elements inside.
Purpose: Grid aerials were commonly used before the digital switch-over to limit signal “ghosting” (analogue signal interference). However, with digital TV, this issue is resolved.
Wideband: Grid aerials are wideband and often consist of four dipoles mounted in front of a large reflector.
Usage: They are still seen occasionally and go by various names, including Fireguards, Stacked Arrays, and even Billboards.
Remember, when choosing an aerial, consider your signal strength, location, and specific requirements
We will add to the above to say that both have their pros and cons and that aerial selection is not as simple as this one or that one as there are multiple factors to consider.
In general terms, certainly here in the UK, the industry advice in recent years has been to use Logs or Yagi as they on the whole provide the best overall performance in moderate to good reception areas as they can provide:
Good directivity - minimal side lobes
Good F/B ratio – minimal rear lobes
Reject impulse noise well
Provide balanced gain across the band
Offer reduced wind loading compared to a Grid
In weaker signal areas for Dx reception then Yagis or Multi-Element or even Multi-Boom aerials can provide extra gain and directivity and could be considered but would require consideration of weight and wind loading when installing.
Grids ( Phased ) are not in general use today. This is in part down to their wide acceptance angle as well as their reduced forward gain not to mention their increased wind loading.
Any aerial used today should now be Group K (or Group A if appropriate) but no tuning of any aerial in its manufacture will have sufficient rejection in the adjacent 700-800MHz band to prevent 4G/5G LTE Mobile Broadband interference on its own. This interference usually takes effect when entering an amplifier, so although attention should be paid to the aerial type in the first instance, the LTE filtering of any amplifier installed in the coax network, and how good it is, becomes critical. This type of filtering will have far greater affect on the signal integrity and quality and is often essential where there is a local 4/5G mast and a distant TV Transmitter and here too, directivity (acceptance angle) of the aerial becomes key.
Even though good LTE filtering on an amplifier is sufficient in most cases, in some more extreme scenarios, an additional filter maybe required prior to the LTE filtered amplifier to increase the rejection of the interfering signal.
Using a Yagi tuned to reject LTE wherever possible would be advisable as a go to aerial and this would improve the overall LTE filtering/rejection prior to any amplification and it is for this reason that TRIAX recommends the use of:
· a Yagi Aerial for moderate reception areas (majority of cases)
· a Log for strong reception areas
· and our HG Wolsey Range for distant reception as the Wolsey range has the increased forward gain and better side lobe rejection to help receive weaker signals
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