Digital TV repeaters in Pattaya

[mahjongguy]

I live in Jomtien and I'm wondering if the odds are good for a clear DTV signal.

 

I see one on the map somewhere in Naklua. Is that all? I thought there was another on Pratumnak hill.

 

 

[RichCor]

https://dtvservicearea.nbtc.go.th/webpeople/

 

[mahjongguy]

Ah, so there is one on Pratumnak hill.  That's great.  I'll buy an antenna this weekend and see what I can see.   ????

 

Thanks.

[johng]

2 hours ago, mahjongguy said:

I thought there was another on Pratumnak hill.

Yes the main one is on Pratumnak hill   if you have a good line of site to the hill then you should be in luck..also the signal from Bangkok is  strong enough for me to  receive signals in Na-Jomtien with a rooftop antenna.

 

Use the above website @RichCor mentioned and it will give you distance and pointing directions as well as the frequencies to tune to.

 

This one is good 500 baht from Amorn, Tuk Com basement.

 

[mahjongguy]

Has anyone here set up their own DTV antenna? I'm getting mixed advice. One guy says it's easy to orient the antenna. Another says it can take hours, because the TVs are so slow to scan all the freqs. Who do I believe?

 

I guess my question is, do I really need a signal locator like the professionals have? 

[RichCor]

2 minutes ago, mahjongguy said:

Has anyone here set up their own DTV antenna? I'm getting mixed advice. One guy says it's easy to orient the antenna. Another says it can take hours, because the TVs are so slow to scan all the freqs. Who do I believe?

Um, both?

 

If you look on the map and have a compass heading for the primary tower then it can be quick. -Vs-  If you are doing it blindly, hoping to deduce the direction by just doing a TV Channel Scan and seeing how many channels your antenna direction picks up from multiple source towers then it can take hours.

[mahjongguy]

Bought a decent antenna at Thai Watsadu. Laid it on the bed in the guestroom, pointed it NNW, ran the scan and picked up a few channels. That was encouraging.

 

Laid the antenna on the roof of the carport. Got 13 channels. Had a friend hold it up near the peak of the house's roof. Got 21 channels.

 

Complication: There had been a satellite dish before, wired to three rooms using splitters. Would this signal be strong enough after splitting? I could only guess, so we did some calling, found a guy who was willing to bring over his signal strength meter and advise.

 

He turned out to be a very smart and energetic fellow with a good command of English, and after scrambling around the roof he recommended adding some height. He had a 2 meter mast and suitable wall brackets.  Within an hour the antenna was up, distributed to all three rooms, with the patch cords at each TV measured for zero signal loss (one failed).

 

All 27 channels are perfect steady on each TV.

 

For his parts and labor he asked for 1,000 baht.

 

Thank you richcor and johjg for the encouragement.

 

Farewell Truevisions. Bye-bye to three heat-generating satellite boxes.

 

[RichCor]

3 hours ago, mahjongguy said:

There had been a satellite dish before, wired to three rooms using splitters. Would this signal be strong enough after splitting? I could only guess, so we did some calling, found a guy who was willing to bring over his signal strength meter and advise.

 

Glad to hear you got it all working.

 

The satellite equipment, being powered by the boxes, would have been providing a amplified signal for splitting. With aerial antennas you're relying on the original electromagnetic radio signal conversion to wire electrical to be strong enough for the signal to remain intact to be decoded by the TV. Even so, if you ever experience signal freeze or breakup you can install a special inline signal amplifier (and power-passing signal splitter) that would boost the signal at the antenna.

 

More and more, people are switching to getting their media entertainment and news content via the Internet by IPTV subscription or just watching YouTube. We still have 3 PSI satellite boxes (no subscription fees) but they're mostly used for "no be alone, no ghost" on-in-the-background duty, while everyone quietly plays on their smartphones. 

[johng]

On 11/22/2020 at 3:36 PM, RichCor said:

if you ever experience signal freeze or breakup you can install a special inline signal amplifier (and power-passing signal splitter) that would boost the signal at the antenna.

In my case  the cable run was long and also possibly interference from  4G mobile telephone transmitters so

they installed these at the nearest indoor point to the antenna.

 

 

keep the cable length from antenna to amplifiers as short as possible , a "masthead" amplifier would maybe give even better results but would need to be waterproof so more expensive ?

 

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/55522/masthead-indoor-amplifier.pdf

 

[mahjongguy]

I could place my antenna in a more discreet position, much lower, if I used a booster. I know they work well. But, there was an incident in my family (in-laws) where a young mother was electrocuted by an antenna booster that was leaking 220vac to the mast. That has made me cautious to an extreme.

[KhunHeineken]

6 hours ago, mahjongguy said:

I could place my antenna in a more discreet position, much lower, if I used a booster. I know they work well. But, there was an incident in my family (in-laws) where a young mother was electrocuted by an antenna booster that was leaking 220vac to the mast. That has made me cautious to an extreme.

Not as good as a masthead booster, but these are so cheap you could one on each TV.  

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/hdtv-aerial-amplifier-signal-booster-tv-hdtv-antenna-with-usb-power-supply-kits-i454718506-s839034699.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.4.65c821e2gx1lOt&search=1

[mahjongguy]

That is an interesting design. Safety-wise, I would be comfortable with it. Thanks.

 

If that time comes, I'll hope to find a model that uses Asia standard TV connectors rather than F connectors. Simpler is better.