Sie sind auf Seite 1von 4

TEST REPORT

DTT Antenna

AntenasCastelo M-1038

Indoor / Outdoor Antenna

can be mounted indoors and outdoors flexible mounting for horizontal or vertical signals excellent design good workmanship

66 TELE-satellite International The Worlds Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine 1 1-12/2012 www.TELE-satellite.com

www.TELE-satellite.com 1 1-12/2012 TELE-satellite International

67

TEST REPORT

DTT Antenna

Terrestrial Antenna In an Elegant Enclosure

1 1-12/2012
AntenasCastelo M-1038 Highly elegantly styled antenna for in and outdoors

www.TELE-satellite.com/12/1 1/castelo

TELE-satellite focuses usually on satellite dishes rather than terrestrial antennas. However, as the digital switchover takes place almost everywhere in the world, a new interest in terrestrial reception arises. And it often entails a need for a new terrestrial antenna. If your old antenna is in good condition and the new digital channels are transmitted with high enough power from the same direction as the analog ones were, your system should be fine for new technology. But if not, you will need to reconfigure your reception system and a new terrestrial antenna may well be a part of this job. AntenasCostelo (www.antenascastelo. com.br) is a manufacturer in Brazil with more than 40 years of experience. They have introduced a remarkable little antenna, which can be used both indoors as outdoors. The M-1038 surprises with its small size: 23 x 14 cm (9 x 5.5). Its black plastic enclosure matches the shape and proportions of a modern flat screen TV-set. Upon a closer look, it turns out it can be installed both horizontally as well as vertically. So, if in your particular location the vertical position yields better results, M-1038 can be assembled in the vertical configuration. If so, it will correspond not to a modern TV screen but to a loudspeaker of a home cinema system. If you think of keeping this antenna outdoors rather than indoors no problem. There is a special holder attached in the kit allowing you to mount the M-1038 on a pole of 25 - 34 mm diameter (1 through 1-3/8 inches). Our big compliments for the mechanical design as well as esthetics to the designers of this product. The M-1038 is a passive device, meaning it does not have any amplifier built in. As every TV fan knows, small passive antennae can not achieve the performance of full size systems, like multi-element yagi antennas installed on a roof of a building. So, we were hesitating in what way we should test the M-1038. It would not be fair to compare it with a full size outdoor antenna. Finally, we decided to take as our reference the simplest form of an improvised antenna a metal rod. After all, many people use such a solution if TV signals are strong in their location: Just a segment of wire connected to the inner wire of the coaxial cable hooked up to your TV-sets antenna input at its other end. Our improvised rod antenna was 170

68 TELE-satellite International The Worlds Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine 1 1-12/2012 www.TELE-satellite.com

1. The small AntenasCastelo M-1038 mounted outside on a mast. 2. The antenna can be mounted horizontally (see picture) as well as vertically

mm (6.7) long because we wanted to keep it comparable with the size of M-1038. At our test center location in Western Poland you need to have a rather good antenna to receive terrestrial signals. So, to begin with we decided to used a terrestrial signal analyzer to measure how strong the signal is at the output of the M-1038 and at the output of our reference rod antenna. In this way, we achieved an objective evaluation of the M-1038 performance. And what was the performance? We started in the center of the terrestrial band an analog channel on 417.25 MHz (channel S21). As you can see on the frequency spectrum scans,

70 TELE-satellite International The Worlds Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine 1 1-12/2012 www.TELE-satellite.com

the AntenasCostelo M-1038 gave 3 decibels more than the rod antenna (50.1 dBV vs. 46.9 dBV). Thats quite something. After switching the analyzer to measurement mode, the difference even increased (50.0 dBV vs. 46.6 dBV). For your reference, our roof antenna produces over 62 dBV on that channel. Also the signal-to-noise ration looked significantly better for M-1038: 34.5 dB vs. 30.9 dB. Although, we did not plan it initially, we connected M-1038 to our TVset. The picture was noisy but readable.

Then we got bolder. we tried to go live and catch the real digital channels which in our location transmit on 634 MHz and 666 MHz. But the signal from both antennas was too weak to measure it with our signal analyzer. But then we realized: the AntenasCastelo M-1038 can be mounted outside! We rushed up to our balcony and mounted the M-1038 outdoors on a small mast. The improvement was noticeable at once. The signal on 634 MHz rose to 51.6 dBV with MER equal to 26 dB. The second signal, on 666 MHz, was some-

what weaker and it rose to 42.9 dBV with MER equal to 16.2 dB. How would this result on a tv screen? We decided to connect the antenna to our DVB-T receiver. The multiplex transmitted on 634 MHz was receivable but from time to time our receiver notified us that there is a too weak signal. The other multiplex on 666 MHz was below the reception threshold of our receiver. We compare those results with the simple rod antenna. As could be expected, for both transponders, the M-1038 was better. It pro-

vided stronger output by 3 decibels for 634 MHz and even by 5.5 decibels for 666 MHz. Naturally, MER was also better: by about 1 dB and 2 dB respectively. Using a single rod antenna we would see none of the two DVB-T signals while the M-1038 was good enough to catch at least one of them. To sum it up: the M-1038 like every other small antenna can not replace a full size external antenna. However, if you live relatively close to the transmitter, especially on a high floor, such small antenna could do the job. It is very easy to install and everybody can do that. If only possible though, try to mount it outdoors as this improves its performance significantly. The AntenasCastelo M-1038 proved to be visibly better than that of a simple improvised rod antenna in the center of the terrestrial band. However, being very simple in design, the M-1038 could not beat the rod antenna for every frequency. Performance of such simple designs depend on the ratio of RF wave length-to-antenna length. So it is obvious that for some frequencies, 170 millimeters of rod antenna could perform better than M-1038.

But what is also obvious, you can put the M-1038 anywhere in your room and it will not harm your esthetic feelings, while our improvised rod antenna will not look great. The M-1038 has yet another advantage over a rod antenna. It has a tel-

escopic antenna for FM radio (88-108 MHz) inside. So, you can use it for double purpose: TV and radio reception. All you have to do is to pull it out and position for the best radio reception. We tried, and had no problem at all with FM radio reception.

TECHNICAL
DATA
Manufacturer ANTENASCASTELO, Alameda 15 de Dezembro, 1487 - Penha - Bragana Paulista - SP - CEP: 12910-691 Brazil www.antenascastelo.com.br 55 (11) 0800-773-3601 / 4035.3601 M-1038 Terrestrial TV& FM Radio Antenna Indoor or outdoor 14 through 69 (60 806 MHz) 2 through 13 (54 - 216 MHz) 88 - 108 MHz 75 23 x 14 x 5.5 cm (9 x 5.5 x 2.2) 450 g

Web Phone Model Function Application UHF channels VHF channels FM Frequency Range Impedance Dimensions Weight

72 TELE-satellite International The Worlds Largest Digital TV Trade Magazine 1 1-12/2012 www.TELE-satellite.com

Exceptional design can be used both indoors as outdoors Various positioning options: horizontal, vertical, on a stand, on a pole. Good performance in the center of terrestrial band no option for an active amplifier
Jacek Pawlowski TELE-satellite Test Center Poland

Expert Opinion

1. M-1038 output signal. 2. M-1038 output signal measurement results

3. Rod antenna output signal. 4. Rod antenna output signal measurement results.

www.TELE-satellite.com 1 1-12/2012 TELE-satellite International

73

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen