Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

I bet people in strong signal areas carried on using them for 625 UHF. Just a thought, in a very strong signal area would it be possible to receive a modern day digital TV signal good enough to get a picture?

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

Even close to Winter Hill, the early sets had valve tuners and the NF at the top end of Band 5 was poor, needed every bit of signal to get a snow free picture. Transistor tuners were a great improvement.
No doubt some could get by with the wrong aerial but we couldn’t from Winter Hill and it was line of sight.
In 1969 when all 3 stations were on UHF we usually fitted a new aerial with a new set.

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

Thanks Frank. I was just trying to say that I bet some people, signal level allowing, simply carried on with their old VHF aerial if they could get a picture.

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

Hi Steve,
On the lower frequencies of Band 4 it probably did occur, especially with transistor tuners. We had quite a lot of fun and games in the early days get noise free pictures on Band 5.
Philips valve tuners seemed to perform better than those from RBM and Pye.

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

Certainly, when we lived in Durham, not far from Pontop Pike and Burnhope, BBC2 reception was awful from the attic VHF aerial. Chs 5 and 8 were received perfectly however. So, despite the horizontal mounting, a UHF aerial is/was a must.

Funny to think years later, reception of ATV from Oxford UHF was better on a fixed six element Band 2 aerial than it was from a UHF rotatable one which was a bit odd!

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

The following photo was taken, whilst stuck at temporary traffic lights on Muller Road, Bristol last Friday evening.

It is an aerial I have noted for years, to me a local landmark, and I'd notice it straight away if it ever disappeared ! Have always looked up at it, even though my eye should be on the road!!

It a Band 1 VHF TV aerial, that would have provided its household with BBC 1, from Wenvoe, before we had the Mendip transmitter of 1970 to serve us in Bristol.

Not sure of the make - a sort of folded dipole arrangement, which I used to see a lot of in Bristol in my childhood - possibly Telefield, a local manufacturer, now long defunct, from 259 Kingsland Road St Philips, Bristol ? - Does anybody else recognise it?

The two contract style UHF aerials on the neighbouring property, pointing to Mendip, I guess were added to an existing mast, (now truncated) which appears to be 2" diameter - I guess when first added to this mast, the mast may have supported a larger VHF array further up top.

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

Looks in remarkably good condition for its age. We used to receive mendip down in Charmouth. When Stockland Hill went UHF you couldn't get a decent signal down in the town because of severe ghosting. They put up a tower at 'Stonebarrow' on the cliffs, received a signal from Mendip and converted it to VHF, it was distributed by a wired system called 'Viewline'. They also had it in Lyme regis and Beer.

Of course you needed a dual standard set to be able to receive it. There is now a Stockland Hill repeater on the site.

Peter

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

I see one of these band 1 Wenvoe ch 5 aerials on my way into work. Its in Bitton on the A431 Bristol to Bath road. It seems to be holding up very well whilst the band 3 ch10 St Hilary aerial has more or less gone with only a few bits to be seen.

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

A nice array in Newport Pagnell and in very good condition too :)

Spotted during one of my early morning runs a few weeks ago...

I know of at least another two in the town but they're hard to photograph with my limited photographic kit and talent...

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

This amazing structure is still standing in the heart of Bath, exactly as it appeared in this photo taken a few years ago.
Wenvoe ch5 and St.Hilary ch10.

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

Here’s one I have been meaning to post for years, I said I’d do it while some of it still exists! It’s in Tramore, near the Church looking east, I’d say it was for Haverford West / Prescelli, many of the old band 1 /3 were vertical, there were several transmitters to pick from for UK TV, especially in the VHF days

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

There is still an "X" on channel 3 in my street, it even glints in the sunshine (a rare occurance TBH) and looks very good for its age.

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

Re: post no. 706

The double folded dipole 'X' could be a 'Dublex' brand from the early 1950s or it could be an Aerialite brand one - difficult to tell unless you have it in your hand!

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

Re: post no. 710

The Band III double 11 is a Belling and Lee - a nice design that really would be close to twice a single 11 in terms of output signal power. Many doubles have the two arrays too close together for a power increase, rather they were used for their anti-ghosting properties.

The Band I three element is a later J-Beam design with their characteristic dipole holder/junction box.

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

Re post no. 712

... In contrast to the 'X' (likely to be an Antiference Antex), there is not much left of the Band III is there ...

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

Took this picture in September. This aerial array was put up in the sixties and is still holding up well. Located near Blaydon, Tyne and Wear.
Aerial is directed to the Pontop Pike and Burnhope transmitters.

DFWB.

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

Know the location of that David. On a hill where reception would be difficult. The UHF aerials all look towards Fenham. It looks as if half the BIII array is missing yet the BI aerial is remarkably intact.

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

Well it seems this old timer from my post earlier in the thread has succumbed to recent storms and disappeared from the Ely skyline. The Band 3 rhombic is still there alone on its pole though.

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

I had my chimney rebuilt as it had big cracks in it, there was a bracket and wire strap round it, probably all that was holding it together, and I thought to myself bet that held a VHF aerial at sometime and someone on here will be able to name the manufacturer :)

Pics can be viewed here ******************************BUE5RhVRA3kqiAed7

Re: 405-Line VHF Aerials 2013 to the present day.
 

There are still quite a few of band one and band three antennas on chimneys in the old railway town of Wolverton, now part of Milton Keynes, most seem to be pointing towards the old Belmont transmitter.
Next time I can get up that way (post Covid) I’ll take some pictures