Television in an A'van!

Television Aerials in an A'van! - Siggy Nowak

Camping in an A'van beside a bubbling stream or a roaring sea can be positively decadent. But whilst some of us enjoy getting away from the maddening crowd, many of us need a fix of Neighbours, or Sea Change, or reality TV. Personally, my favourite is English premier league soccer - any soccer for that matter. If I miss my soccer my life is not worth living.

So it is not surprising that one of the first items on our shopping list when we first took delivery of our A'van was a television set. We spent time looking around and decided the best alternative was an Orion. This set is the best on the market - very compact, dual 240 and on 12volts capabilities, retractable aerial and a video player built in. The most fantastic thing about the set is that it has an automatic tuning facility - just select "Auto Tuning" and the TV does it for you. It is worth the $800 price tag and can even double up as the second or third Video/TV at home when not camping.

The Orion TV/Video unit worked very well at home when we unpacked and tested it. I could not wait to use it on our first trip. We settled back in the A'van at a caravan park in the Gold Coast hinterland and I watched my soccer while Heather read her book. The picture quality could have been a little clearer but the happy campsite resounded with my cry of "goal, goal, goal". You beauty!!!! I was pleased. No matter where we camped I would now never miss my soccer. Or so I thought.

The following week we decided to experience the wild and camped near Boonah next to a beautiful creek miles from anywhere. Now normally, free camping in the forest is our idea of heaven, but in this particular case it was a absolute disaster. I missed the bloody FA Cup!!!! I was in shock. The frigging aerial picked up nothing except snow and I had to endure the 6th video viewing of The Sound of Music. Talk about the hills being alive with my howling.

The Orion TV

I was so mortified about missing my soccer that aerials quickly became a priority in my life. I needed an aerial badly. Heather could not see the urgency and did not want to simply buy an aerial off the shelf without doing some research first. So, we visited a number of specialty camping shops, read camping magazines and also talked to other campers willing to share ideas about aerials. We soon discovered that choosing an aerial was going to be a pain in the neck. What a quagmire. Aerials are worse than bike racks.

The A'vanners Club meeting at Crows Nest was fast approaching so we waited knowing that seasoned campers could give us advice. We were not disappointed. Trouble was that everyone had "The Solution". There were TV aerials everywhere we looked although we spent most of our time inside vans watching Days of Our Lives and other such rubbish!! God I didn't realise how boring soapies could be. But could anyone get SBS and the soccer? No!!!!! Lots of great recommendations but what I needed was a "soccer" solution, not a Home and Away solution!!!! We also needed to solve other problems.

In making the right decision for us we realised a number of key issues had to be looked into: where to attach an aerial to an A'van, how do you make aerial wiring neat and tidy and, the most important question, which antenna brand works the best.

Where to put the pole?

I believe some time back A'van offered an aerial as an option with a pole strapped onto the apex of the van. Unfortunately they do not offer this option anymore. Pity because the majority of poles we have seen were not incorporated as part of the van. Many poles are fixed to the front or back of the van or even strapped to the drawbar. Most sit upright and look unsightly. Typically a pole is made from 2 or 3 pieces of aluminium tubing which can be extended when in use. This means the pole usually flexes when there is any "activity" in the van due to the weight of the aerial at the top. The other type of pole we have seen is one that fixes to the apex of the van when up. This means that the aerial sits on the highest point of the van and there is therefore no need for a long extendable pole. This is what I believe most A'van owners prefer - a design where the aerial simply slides into or is incorporated into the highest point of the van. It should be integrated as part of the van but unfortunately so many aerial poles we have seen do not take advantage of the A'van's cathedral roof.

Aerial Wiring

If aerial poles look like an afterthought then aerial wiring we have seen is positively messy. The problem is that external aerial wiring needs to be linked to the TV which unfortunately sits inside the van. Most aerials therefore have black wires dangling down and across the A'van roof which are transferred inside the van in various untidy ways - through the hole where the power lead comes out, through an open window or door or through a gap between the A'van wall and roof. One day the manufacturer will realise the need for integrated cabling and make it part of the construction process. Just check out the Chalet next time you see one. Problem solved.

Which antenna is best?

Choosing an antenna is not a simple exercise. Rabbit ears, either inside the van or high up on a pole outside the van may give you acceptable results close to the city or regional town but when you are away from the maddening crowd getting that elusive signal for that show you simply can't miss cannot be guaranteed. Mind you, many of the antennas we have seen are made primarily of wire inside a plastic tube arranged either in a circle or in a rabbit ear design. I even saw an aerial with a coat hanger on the top. The strangest example we saw was a van that had two aerials - one for SBS and the other for the rest of the channels. Right on!!!!!

Basically there are three categories of aerials. Simple twin wire directional, omni directional and the satellite dish.

Type ONE - the rabbit ear refined: a twin wire usually inside plastic tubing positioned either in a circle or a V shape. The major problem with these is that unless they are pointed towards the channel you want they will not work. If you read the fine print the instructions urge you to "tweak" the antenna until you get a strong signal. If you are on the road every night this means the direction of the strongest channel signal can vary considerably. Examples of these aerials include Foldaway Antenna and the Mini-Compact Antenna. The only redeeming features of these is that that are very compact and provide value for money costing around $120.

Foldaway - www.foldawayantenna.com.au

Camec
Mini Compact

www.antenna.mtx.net

Type TWO - the multidirectional antennas trap signals from any direction without the need to "tweak" or point the antenna itself. Explorer and Phaselink are good examples. Most have lots of aluminium vanes and are usually more expensive and have difficulty folding into a neat small package - they can be fragile too and therefore have to be carried on the back seat of the car. Some aerials are more convenient circular plastic dishes. Others are aerodynamically designed with wings and are built into larger vans and wound up when required. When coupled with a signal booster this type of antenna provides the best reception but again there are no guarantees. Costs vary up to $400.

(Photos include explorer, explorer2, multidirectional, and omnidirectional)
Phaselink - Camec or Explorer - Classic RV Accessories
Traveller - Camec
2070 Omni - Camec
Winegard Sensar 2 - Camec
4 Way Convertible - Camec

Type THREE - for the most discerning and decadent camper - the satellite dish that, if pointed to the correct satellite guarantees up to 14 channels anywhere in Australia. The obvious question is who wants to have a monstrously big dish attached to a little A'van? Unless of course if you are serious TV critic. The cost of such a dish is around $1500. (photo of satellite)
Satellite - Camec

Conclusion

We are still looking for an aerial that guarantees SBS every time the soccer is on no matter where we are camping. We have yet to find one that we can afford. As a result I simply don't go camping if the FA Cup is on and I tape the English premier league matches at home when I am away - just in case. I also read lots more books or I watch videos such as Sound of Music if our reception is snowy while camping. Sometimes, to confuse our camping neighbours, I find a long stick, hang a bra on it with string and attach it to my TV. Miraculously, nine times out of ten I get the soccer. They tell me pigs fly too!

Siggy and Heather Nowak