IN modern world It’s hard to imagine life without television and the Internet. Without a TV, it’s at least boring, and the Internet is sometimes simply necessary for life: work, communication, news, etc.
Often, owners think about installing Internet and television after the premises have been completely finished, and this in turn brings a number of problems during installation. As a result, the cost of installation work can increase significantly, the interior and exterior of the house suffers, and some problems seem practically impossible to solve.
Therefore, it is very important to design and install low-current networks (TV and Internet) before finishing work begins. Designing low-current networks requires a careful approach, because errors may later be irreparable.
Internet. If the house is located within the city, then most likely there will be no problems; you will easily receive several excellent offers from local providers and will be able to choose from them the most profitable offer for you. But if the house is located far from the city, then your choice will be modest: Satellite Internet, 3G/4G Internet from cellular operators, Internet via Wi-Fi or radio channel. Let's take a closer look at each of the Internet connection options in country house.
Satellite Internet . Organized by installing a satellite dish and modem. Reception and transmission of traffic occurs through a satellite channel.
Pros:
- you can connect anywhere in the Russian Federation where another type of communication is not available;
- the ability to connect a static (white) IP address (allows you to easily set up remote video surveillance and control of automated systems).
Minuses:
- high cost of equipment and installation;
- high subscription fee;
- relatively low speed by modern standards (most often up to 8 Mbit/s for reception and up to 2 Mbit/s for upload);
- long Ping (inconvenient to play online games).
3G/LTE internet. It is organized by installing and configuring an external directional 3G/4G antenna and other equipment. Reception and transmission of Internet traffic occurs through cellular communication mobile operator.
Pros:
- fairly high Internet channel speed;
- relatively low cost of equipment and installation;
- affordable tariff plans.
Minuses:
- you can connect if there is a cellular operator network;
- no without limit tariffs (there is either a traffic limit, or they start cutting off the speed).
Internet via radio or Wi-Fi. This type Internet connection does not have many disadvantages. There are no restrictions on traffic, cost of equipment and subscription fee does not greatly exceed the cost of payment from mobile operators, the connection speed is comparable to city wireline operators. But this type of connection is only available if there is an appropriate operator and close to it base station(usually up to 30 km from a station located in a city or large regional center).
A television. Possible options: cable (analog and digital), IP TV, terrestrial (analog and digital), satellite. The first two options can only be considered if your house is located within the city. For a house located outside the city, the systems most often used for receiving terrestrial TV, satellite TV and hybrid (terrestrial and satellite).
Terrestrial TV. We won’t consider analog anymore; we still live in the 21st century. Digital terrestrial TV allows you to view from 10 to 20 or more channels in good quality. The number of channels depends only on how many channels the transmitting television station (tower) broadcasts, distributing the signal in the territory where your home is located.
Satellite TV . Reception of channels is possible almost anywhere in the Russian Federation, the main thing is that there are no obstacles in the direction of the satellite dish: tall dense trees, tall buildings located close to your home. Such obstacles can interfere with the signal from the satellite to the satellite dish. On this moment Broadcasting in Russia is carried out by the following operators: NTV-Plus, Tricolor TV, Orion Express (Telekarta, Continent TV), MTS. The antennas of NTV-PLUS and Tricolor TV in the central part of the Russian Federation are directed to the south, the signal from the satellite is strong and stable, the satellite is located high above the horizon, so the satellite antennas of these operators can be installed in most country houses, problems arise only if the house is installed in a forest . The MTS and Orion Express dishes in the European part are directed to the southeast, the signal is stable, but the satellite is located close to the horizon, so these antennas are more demanding on the installation location. The satellite signal is not distributed throughout the rooms of the house using splitters (as in terrestrial TV), so it is important that the design and installation are carried out by professionals.
Combined TV reception systems in a country house. They combine terrestrial and satellite TV; design and installation are also best left to professionals.
A house outside the city is primarily intended for relaxation from the bustle of the city. In addition to clean air and close proximity to nature, there must also be a sufficient level of comfort. One of the important components is television.
It’s worth noting right away that in the city there are several ways to receive high-quality broadcasts of channels. As the distance from the city increases, significant difficulties arise. However, there are ways to watch your favorite movies or shows without interference.
When analyzing possible television communications, it can be stated that some of them are simply inaccessible outside the city. For example, in the countryside there are no collective antennas for reception terrestrial television. This connection does not require the purchase of any equipment, and is simple and low cost. Therefore, television in a country house can be obtained using an analog antenna or a satellite dish.
Analog signal
Watching analog channels is becoming less and less popular for several reasons. Among them, the main disadvantages can be considered not a large number of channels and poor reception quality. Nevertheless, such a source is still used in connection with minimal costs for antenna installation and ease of connection.
If the number of received air channels cannot be increased, then the signal quality can be slightly improved. To do this you need to install two antennas. The first is for receiving ten-meter waves, and the second is for meter waves. For such a system to work, an antenna combiner is needed that can combine all the signals into one cable. Most TV models have only one cable connector.
It must be remembered that the higher the television antenna is located in a country house, the more cable will be required. Cable length directly affects signal attenuation. To avoid this, you need to install a television amplifier. Setting up channel reception is carried out within half an hour by rotating the antenna towards the TV tower and then fixing it in the most effective position for signal reception.
Satellite TV
Satellite TV is the next generation. The main differences can be considered high quality and a large number of received channels. If analogue television allows you to watch about 20 channels, then satellite television allows you to watch many times more. Moreover, TV channels can be not only from the post-Soviet space, but also foreign ones. It all depends on the selected software package.
The main advantages are mobility and independence of quality from signal reception level or distance to the nearest city. A small visible sector of the sky will be quite enough for normal operation.
The fundamental difference is that there cannot be poor image quality. The broadcast will either take place or it simply won’t happen. Mobility lies in the possibility of repeated installation or dismantling of all equipment. For example, you can install it in a country house in the summer, but remove it in the winter when the owners are absent.
There are two possible approaches to get satellite TV. From the point of view of financial investments, they are opposite:
- with subscription fee;
- no monthly fee.
The first approach involves no payment for the equipment and the dish itself, but requires a monthly payment for viewing channels. The amount varies depending on the package chosen and the availability of paid channels. Regarding paid channels, it should be noted that there are no annoying advertisements, and nothing will interfere with watching your favorite movie in high quality.
Satellite TV without a monthly fee requires the purchase of all necessary equipment, and there will be no additional monthly fees. This will be possible only if you receive paid channels, which must be discussed in advance with the operator.
Modern equipment also allows you to view channels high resolution. HD quality is 4 times better digital image. This is very relevant today, because the size of TVs is increasing every year. If previously a TV with a diagonal of 70-80cm was a rarity, now this is almost a standard screen size.
New approach
The state, for its part, is also trying to improve not only the quality, but also the quantity of broadcast analogue channels.
Thanks to the modernization of equipment, now everyone can purchase an inexpensive set of equipment and start using the new broadcasting standard DVB T-2. This digital television is not inferior in quality to satellite television. Currently there are more than 20 channels broadcast, but over time there will be more. This is due to the fact that not all TV towers have the necessary equipment yet, but it will be installed in the future.
Having analyzed all possible television sources, we can say that the TV antenna for a country house receives analog signals is gradually becoming a thing of the past. Recently Implemented Standard digital television DVB T-2 is not yet very competitive, because it is significantly inferior to satellite television in many respects. But, nevertheless, with stable development in the future, this will be a worthy replacement for free analogue television. At least from a financial point of view it will be more profitable than a satellite.
If you have sufficient funds, today it is best to connect to satellite television. Purchasing equipment will save you from monthly expenses and allow you to watch free channels in excellent quality. Besides modern technologies They also allow you to access the World Wide Web. This integrated approach is in great demand and allows you to save money, including on equipment installation.
Experts believe that the main disadvantage in the future is the fact that the most interesting free channels will begin to be encoded. In order to view them, you will need to purchase decoders or access cards. This, in turn, will require additional costs, which will ultimately have a detrimental effect on popularity satellite television.
The following video shows how easy it is to make an antenna for reception at home digital signal DVB T-2 format:
Let's look at a typical circuit diagram for connecting television to a cottage. Television in a cottage is usually formed from terrestrial and satellite. Terrestrial television allows you to receive local television channels that are in demand among television viewers, and satellite television complements the so-called terrestrial television channels with popular foreign, specialized and national television channels of the Russian Federation.
To organize video surveillance in the cottage, incl. and remote, as well as security (from intrusion and fire), you can use the universal multifunctional complex CADENA UMK-587 with a set of sensors. This complex also allows you to view terrestrial digital television channels, access the Internet to view various applications, and can be used as a multimedia device for recording and viewing various video files.
Description of the complex can be found
We select and supply antenna equipment throughout Russia!
Fig.1. Typical connection diagram for an over-the-air antenna and satellite dish for eight rooms in a cottage.
In the figure Fig.1. shows a diagram of connecting an over-the-air antenna and a satellite dish for eight rooms of the cottage. In practice, the number of rooms may differ up or down, but this will not significantly affect the diagram; you just need to select the required multiswitch.
Equipment for receiving terrestrial television: It is best to use a tri-band antenna, cable and sockets from well-known companies, a three-way amplifier, details about this can be found in the “DIAGRAMS” section of the website.
The Alcad AM 407 amplifier indicated in the diagram has an additional FM input. If you install an antenna of the first meter range of Russian production, for example, REMO OMEGA-PRO channel 1-5, frequency range 47-100 MHz, then the FM input of the amplifier can not be used to receive FM radio stations in the range 88 - 108 MHz and an additional FM antenna will not be needed , because The OMEGA-PRO antenna allows you to receive FM radio channels.
If an imported antenna is installed on channels 1-3, then you will need to install an additional FM antenna, because Imported TV antennas have a narrow bandwidth, which does not allow them to receive 4-5 channels of television and FM programs.
Satellite television: We recommend to cottage owners the equipment of the satellite operator NTV Plus; when connecting several televisions to a satellite dish, it can be combined with Tricolor TV equipment. Both operators, Tricolor TV and NTV Plus, broadcast from one group of satellites located at 36 degrees east longitude. NTV Plus has the most diverse set of channels, designed for different tastes of viewers.
Equipment for receiving satellite television: on a dish with a diameter of at least 0.55 m, it is necessary to install a circular converter with two outputs; to independently distribute the signal to TVs, the converter must be connected to a multiswitch; when connecting 8 TVs, this is a LUMAX MS-3801 multiswitch.
The connection diagram can be found in the section "How to independently connect several TVs to a satellite dish"
INTRODUCTION
This article was born in a very interesting and flattering way for me. The fact is that, as you would expect, all my colleagues know about my hobbies in the field of living in a private house. Most treat them with humor: like a “guy with oddities,” while others take them quite seriously, read the materials on the site and come up with questions and advice. Of course, I am very, very pleased with this.
So the other day, a colleague of mine came up to me and asked if I could advise anything about receiving a television signal far, so to speak, from places where this signal is received well. When I told what I knew, a colleague asked me in bewilderment why I had not yet written an article on this matter. That's how the idea to write this article came about.
I want to immediately warn you that I am not an expert in the field of television and television antennas. Everything you read here is the result of my efforts to set up a normal picture on my own TVs at various points on at different distances from the transmitting center.
I started, like probably many others, with a Polish television antenna with a large square reflector grid. I was seduced by the obligatory presence of an antenna amplifier, which was sold along with the antenna. I remember that there were quite a few modifications of amplifiers with different gains, designed for different distances from the transmitter. This circumstance also inspired me with a certain trust and respect.
The first suspicion that this antenna was unlikely to help me appeared very soon, when I began experimenting with it right in the room of my Moscow apartment, from the window of which, by the way, the Ostankino TV tower was visible. My first lesson was the following. An external television antenna is radically different from an indoor one. The latter may work better, at least in indoor conditions. However, as I now understand, this lesson could be interpreted in another way: a good indoor antenna is better than a bad outdoor one.
The second important lesson followed almost immediately. It consisted in the fact that even window glass represents a significant barrier to the television signal. For the antenna to start working, it needs to be hung outside the window. Moreover, this applies equally to both indoor and outdoor antenna options.
The next surprises began when installing the antenna on the pole. The first thing I did was read the instructions. Frankly, I was really amazed that it was proposed that the antenna be grounded without fail. Since I was deeply convinced that if the antenna was grounded, then the television signal would go there too, namely into the ground, I had to spend time finding out what, after all, was grounded in the television antenna. And here's what I found out.
Have you noticed that there are simple television antennas - with two “mustaches” - and complex ones, similar to arrows or spaceships? So there you go! It turned out that only “mustaches” catch the television signal. All sorts of beautiful things that make the antenna look like a spaceship do not directly catch the signal and are grounded. Don't think that these bells and whistles are not needed, but more on that later. For now, let's return to the notorious mustache. This "whisker" is called a vibrator and often consists of two pieces of metal tube located in a horizontal plane and connected to a television cable. These tubes can be folded into an ellipse, there is no big difference. By the way, everything matters here. Judge for yourself. The “shoulders” of the vibrator should really be tubular. I haven’t found out about their “correct” diameter, but I’m sure it matters. The tube material must conduct electricity well. Thus, iron tubes will perform worse than aluminum tubes, and aluminum tubes will perform worse than copper tubes. To tell the truth, antennas are usually made from aluminum tubes with a diameter of about 10 mm. I suspect that it is precisely these tubes that provide the necessary compromise in structural strength, weight and price.
Go ahead. The “whiskers” or “shoulders” of the vibrator should be located precisely in the horizontal plane, since in our country television waves have horizontal polarization. And finally, the most important thing. "Shoulders" or "mustaches" must be of a strictly defined length. This length depends on what television channels you are going to catch from the air. The higher the channel number, the shorter the mustache should be. The length of the "whiskers" strictly depends on the wavelength. Somewhat deviating from the “dummies” narrative style I have chosen in this article for dummies, I will note that this antenna design is called a half-wave vibrator, which means that the length of the mustache is exactly half the wavelength at which the broadcast is made. I won’t tell you anything further, because I forgot school physics a long time ago, and I don’t remember at all how to convert hertz to meters. I only remember that it is possible and not even difficult. At least I very quickly found two sets of “whiskers” on my antenna. Some are long - designed to receive television channels from 1 to 12, others are short - designed to receive UHF channels. In addition, I also realized that this antenna simply cannot work the way I need, since the tubes from which the vibrators are made are very thin and are made of unknown material, and there are also serious design flaws in it that cannot be leveled out even the most powerful antenna amplifier. In short, everything turned out exactly as I expected, that is, this cheap antenna did not give me the opportunity to increase the quality of the received signal and the number of received programs. Very soon I went to the market to buy a new antenna.
At the market, having “raped” a large number of sellers using my proprietary method, I learned everything I needed and am reporting it to you.
Let's start with the coolest option. We have three completely different antennas. The first is for the range 1-12 channels, the second is for the range 6-12 channels and the third is for the UHF range. Each antenna is created and tuned strictly to its own range. Each antenna has its own cable. The cables are connected to a rather complex electronic device that performs several functions at once. First, signal amplification. The most advanced devices can adjust the signal gain by channel. Secondly, summing the signal from several sources. You only need one cable to plug it into your TV!
Why amplify signals across channels? Everything is very simple. Different channels have different intensities initially. For example, the first channel is stronger than the sixth simply because the transmitter on the first channel is different and more powerful. And the RTR channel, as I suspect, is generally broadcast not from Ostankino, but from Shabolovskaya. Thus, channels differ from each other in broadcast intensity, noise saturation and, therefore, some channels need to be further amplified, while others do not, or less. On the other hand, if we amplify an already strong channel, we will get the opposite effect and the image on this channel will no longer be ideal.
The described antenna complex allows you to obtain a simply ideal image of all possible channels at a considerable distance from the transmitting antenna. I have a friend who has this system and watches all possible channels in excellent quality at a distance of 75 km from Moscow.
Unfortunately, it is better to entrust the installation of such a system to specialists. And this pleasure is not cheap.
The next option is to use combined antennas. Such antennas most often have two vibrators, designed to receive signals from 1-12 and UHF channels. In such antennas the signal is summed without using electronic devices directly on the antenna. To do this, we use a device similar to the “crab” that we use to connect several TVs to one antenna. What’s worse here is that with such passive summation the signal is attenuated. Next, we need to amplify the already broadband signal, and this in most cases excludes the option of ideal reception everyone possible channels. Some channels will show better, and some worse. However, this option is quite viable. It’s just that the question of analyzing the price-quality ratio is on the agenda. It is quite possible that the image quality in this case will completely suit you. By the way, the theory at this stage is practically over. Let's move on to practice.
SELECTING THE SUITABLE ANTENNA
Here the choice of antenna is in the foreground. If for you the issue of quality comes first, and the issue of price comes last, then you should hire a company that will come to you and do everything. This is a great option. I like it the most, but for now I still have to remember the joke about desires that do not always coincide with possibilities, so let’s consider other alternatives.
If we decide to do without the services of specialists, we need to choose the right combination antenna. Remember when I talked about the details that make the antenna beautiful and look like a spaceship? Did I also say that all this beauty needs to be grounded? So there you go! This beauty serves to amplify the signal with the antenna itself. The transverse parts that are located on the horizontal axis in front of the receiving antennae are called “directors,” and the openwork part that forms the focusing surface, located behind the vibrator, and making the antenna look like a spotlight is called a “reflector.” There can be several “reflectors”, as well as “directors”. All these additional parts of the faucet are important. The more there are, the longer and more complex the antenna itself, the better the reception, and the more expensive the antenna itself. In my experience, it is the length of the antenna that mainly affects the quality of reception. You can see for yourself that there is a relationship between the antenna gain, its length and price. The fact is that the instructions for any decent antenna should indicate its gain in decibels (db). This should be a characteristic of the antenna itself, and not its amplifier, if it is included in the kit. For indoor antennas, this coefficient can be even less than one. For stronger antennas it can be 2.3, even 5 dB. A gain of 10 dB characterizes a very complex and expensive antenna that will operate at a significant distance of 100 – 120 km from the transmitter.
The following diagram shows the different antenna options. Please note that they are all built according to the same principle: “Reflector” -> “Vibrator” -> “Director”. However, only “Vibrators” have the same appearance; other parts can be completely different. Apparently, the choice of one configuration or another is the result of labor-intensive calculations and experiments, which you and I, I mean dummies, are not capable of.
Television antenna configurations and elements
However, increasing the number of elements and complexity of the antenna also has a downside. The main disadvantage of making the antenna more complex is that it becomes more highly directional. On the other hand, targeting a transmitter from 100 km away can be quite a challenge. Therefore, you should always remember this possible inconvenience and choose an antenna that is not the most complex, but, say, adequate to your distance to the transmitter.
Since the antenna is supposed to be grounded, the method of attaching it to a metal pipe naturally suggests itself. Taking into account the fact that the antenna needs to be mounted as high as possible, we can propose the following antenna pole device. A piece of water pipe that is 2 inches in diameter and three meters long, a piece of pipe that is an inch and a quarter in diameter and 3 meters long, and finally a piece of 3/4 inch pipe that is long enough so that you can then lift the entire structure. I suggest splicing the sections using threads using adapters from one diameter to another.
It is better, of course, to use pipes from a landfill or construction site, left over after replacing the heating system. This way you won't have to thread them, which can be difficult and expensive. Since the antenna will be attached to the pipe with a metal clamp, the pole itself will need to be grounded and there will be no need to run a ground wire from the antenna itself.
When installing grounding, use a copper wire of a decent cross-section - at least 10 mm square (diameter slightly more than 3.5 mm). Remember that small diameter wire can easily burn if severe lightning passes through it. If you feel sorry for wasting copper wire on this matter, then any other wire should be of a much larger diameter. For example, you can use reinforcement with a diameter of 10 mm. You can read about the grounding device.
What other subtleties remain? Let's start with the fact that serious antennas are sold without those poor amplifiers that are mounted on the antenna itself. You can find characteristic boxes on the antenna, but they only contain cable fastenings. Such antennas are designed to use more serious amplifiers that are installed in the house, and not on the antenna.
The antenna cable must have a characteristic impedance of 50 ohms and it must be “thick”. The central wire must be single-core, and the shielding braid must be braided and sufficiently dense. If the wire that is offered to you on the market differs from what I described above, keep in mind that it is most likely a wire not intended for use with a television antenna, and the image in this case may be seriously damaged.
Now the question is distributing the signal from the antenna to several TVs. For such wiring, special “crab” devices are used. Keep in mind that with the help of such passive devices you can distribute the signal without any noticeable loss of quality to no more than two TVs. If you want to distribute the signal to a large number of TVs, say 4, you should use special electronic devices, essentially amplifiers. Please consult your dealer regarding the use of such devices. Just keep in mind that there are a lot of such devices different types and you should not buy them where there is little choice or the seller cannot clearly explain how one device differs from another.
Another subtlety concerns the attachment of the longest antenna whiskers to the horizontal base. For example, I have birds sitting on these whiskers and the whiskers often break. This is very unpleasant, since the reception of regular meter channels deteriorates and you have to lower the pole and repair the antenna. When my whiskers broke off the first time, I made a horizontal bird perch above the antenna, but this did not help and the whiskers broke off again. In addition, it is not clear how the presence of such a perch affects the reception of television channels. So I had to make additional reinforcing brackets for the whiskers. In fact, it later turned out that some manufacturers include such amplification brackets in the design of their antennas and we, ordinary people, do not need to think about it. So, if you notice a large number of crows and (or) pigeons, it is better to play it safe and look for an antenna taking this circumstance into account.
And one last thing. The instructions for the antenna may indicate that the antenna is also designed to receive VHF (fm) radio broadcasts. I want to upset you. You will not be able to use your television antenna to improve the reception of your VHF FM receiver. There are two reasons for this. The first and main thing is that the polarization of radio waves is different from the polarization of television waves. This suggests that if you want your television antenna to catch anything on the radio, you need to at least rotate it 90 degrees in the horizontal plane so that the whiskers are not horizontal, like wings, but vertical, like a sail and the keel of the ship. After this, you will still have the problem of matching the antenna and receiver. The issue of coordination is extremely obscure to me. This is clearly beyond the capabilities of a teapot. In appearance, a tiny transformer or inductor, which is several turns of wire on a tiny ferrite ring, is responsible for matching. In short, try turning the antenna over first. If reception does not improve, I advise you to buy a special antenna. I personally did just that, as a result of which I received ideal reception of all possible music and news in the VHF and FM range.
By the way, do you know how VHF differs from FM? Many, I’m sure, will say that VHF is our Russian band, and FM is a foreign band. This is not entirely correct. The fact is that these two terms mean completely different things and are intended to be used in conjunction with each other. The term "VHF" refers to wavelength and is translated as ultrashort waves, that is, a wave range that has a wavelength shorter than "short" waves. In this sense, both Russian and foreign bands are “VHF”. Now "fm". This term refers to the method of modulating the signal. Here, too, with them and with us, everything is the same. Long, medium and short waves are transmitted by amplitude modulation (am or am), and all ultra-short waves are transmitted by frequency modulation (fm or FM). Hence our range is designated as “VHF chm”, and theirs, the bourgeois one, as “fm”. However, we need to somehow distinguish our world championship from their fm. So let the established terminology remain.
Let's summarize. If your house is located not far from the transmitting antenna, say up to 35-40 km, I think that a good passive antenna will be enough for you, that is, without an additional amplifier. On a sufficiently long pole and if you follow the instructions, such an antenna will provide you with viewing all channels of the meter and decimeter ranges. If you need to amplify a particular range, or distribute the signal to several TVs at once, you should install an antenna amplifier. Moreover, let’s make a reservation right away that those microscopic amplifiers made of 5-6 parts that are placed on the antenna are unlikely to help us. If your home is located at a considerable distance from the transmitter, say, more than a hundred kilometers, you will have to make simply herculean efforts to watch most of the transmitted channels tolerably. You will hardly be able to watch all the channels at all, and the quality, to put it mildly, will not be ideal. In this case, perhaps you should pay attention to local channels, among which, I am sure, there are also rebroadcast central ones.
We, dummies, should buy an antenna in a store, since creating complex antennas is a matter of serious research, experience and investment. Over the issue of improvement television reception Entire institutes are working and more than one dissertation has already been written.
And finally, photos of my own antennas. Which one is for television should already be clear. Right with the neighbor's pigeons. Click the photo with her. In the larger version, fragments of reinforced fastenings are better visible.
The mustache “amplification” block is visible
A true FM antenna for perfect radio reception
That's all. I hope I was useful to you. If I made an inaccuracy, or missed any aspect, write, we will correct, add...
I ask specialists in the field of television reception to write comments. Just don’t forget that the article was intended as an informational one and I don’t want to complicate it with incomprehensible terms and concepts.