Beaker, did you try this one?
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=115127&doy=20m12
It's the one I went for, in the end - mainly because it has quite a high variable gain compared to others, and it claims to have signal filtering technology that boosts the signal, but not the noise.
And, this if the set-top box I got:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=96872&doy=20m12
I'm actually pleased with the set-top box, considering it's the cheapest Maplin sell (£17.99) - you even get a scart lead with it. The only thing that worried me was the very nasty looking remote (look at the zoomed image of it on the maplin site). The good news is that they've changed the design. The new remote is alot less cheap looking.
As for the aerial, I've still yet to fully make my mind up about it, TBH. Things didn't start well when I first plugged it in and couldn't even get a slight signal with the booster turned off, despite my TV loop aerial being able to pick up at least a few channels! Things didn't get any better when I turned the booster on and dialed it up... almost reached max setting now and still nothing. Not a jot of a signal! :/ However, as soon as I maxed out the booster setting, things suddenly flashed into life.
I was getting a pretty strong signal (~95%) on most of the main Freeview channels but simply couldn't get Channel 4 or Channel 5. After quite a bit of messing about with the aerial position, I'm now getting C4 and C5 pretty strong, along with pretty much ALL the other available channels! \o/
I'm going to roadtest the aerial for a couple of days before I decide whether to keep it or not because it seems to chop and change with how well it works... or, maybe it's just taken me a while to find a sweet spot. <crosses fingers>
The booster dial is definately weird, tho - it's like an on/off switch. Just a tad below max and you get no signal whatsoever.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=115127&doy=20m12
It's the one I went for, in the end - mainly because it has quite a high variable gain compared to others, and it claims to have signal filtering technology that boosts the signal, but not the noise.
And, this if the set-top box I got:
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=96872&doy=20m12
I'm actually pleased with the set-top box, considering it's the cheapest Maplin sell (£17.99) - you even get a scart lead with it. The only thing that worried me was the very nasty looking remote (look at the zoomed image of it on the maplin site). The good news is that they've changed the design. The new remote is alot less cheap looking.
As for the aerial, I've still yet to fully make my mind up about it, TBH. Things didn't start well when I first plugged it in and couldn't even get a slight signal with the booster turned off, despite my TV loop aerial being able to pick up at least a few channels! Things didn't get any better when I turned the booster on and dialed it up... almost reached max setting now and still nothing. Not a jot of a signal! :/ However, as soon as I maxed out the booster setting, things suddenly flashed into life.
I was getting a pretty strong signal (~95%) on most of the main Freeview channels but simply couldn't get Channel 4 or Channel 5. After quite a bit of messing about with the aerial position, I'm now getting C4 and C5 pretty strong, along with pretty much ALL the other available channels! \o/
I'm going to roadtest the aerial for a couple of days before I decide whether to keep it or not because it seems to chop and change with how well it works... or, maybe it's just taken me a while to find a sweet spot. <crosses fingers>
The booster dial is definately weird, tho - it's like an on/off switch. Just a tad below max and you get no signal whatsoever.