Does anyone get a TV picture just using their roof top onmidirectional ariels? We haven't had must luck even with a booster. Most people seem to have a dish or a second ariel which they put in a nearby hedge!
Are they a con, as all vans seem to have one, but are they any use?
------------- Anyone who says something is foolproof hasn't met a determined fool!
Get a great pic with mine then it all depends on the signal your getting.If the sites your using is surrounded with trees or in a valley this might have to do with the strength of the signal you get..
I could never get a decent picture with a "flying saucer" even in Southport with line of sight to Winter Hill, it was dropping out. when I plugged my Log periodic in I got a perfect signal even with it lay on the ground.
If a "normal" TV aerial (yagi or log periodic) receives a signal in a 15 degree corridor, then to ask an aerial to receive a signal from 360 deg, it can only get 1/24 of the signal strength
When we first bought our caravan that has a fixed roof omni-directional aerial (flying saucer design) we encountered a lot of interference and couldn't get much of a picture either. To cut a long story short it turned out that either the previous owner or the dealer had cut the coaxial cable about 6" below the dish to which is impossible to repaired because the connection is fitted during the manufacturing process and cannot be accessed so I had to buy another identical second hand aerial as a replacement. Since fitting the new one we have had no problems whatsoever and the picture is perfect with zero interference so just to confirm that these roof aerials actually do work but like Jeff said it can depend on where you are located as valleys and trees can play a significant part of a reduction in signal strength. So my advice is to check for the unexpected and trace for any faults at the aerial first because like myself you may be rather surprised at what you could find.
I found mine 50/50 and very dependant on signal strength (obviously). I originally traced a performance problem to incorrectly fitted coax fittings on the aerial cable and the cables to and from the booster.
Another thing folk overlook is that the booster can induce 'noise' into a strong signal and cause a symptom similar to poor signal; actually overloading the TV's tuner. Bypassing the booster altogether with a coaxial barrel adaptor (connecting TV plug direct to outlet cable) can improve the issue when a signal is too strong.
On a slight tangent to the Op's question, a fairly cheap and cost effective signal strength meter can not only help with directing an external aerial (should you get one), but can also indicate when a signal is too strong, when you can then try the by-passing trick mentioned above.
I use a UHF Signal strength meter from Fringe (second item on page in link) and have found this invaluable for helping with TV set-up on site.
I have now upgraded my Status 330 aerial and installed a new Status 560 directional; works an absolute treat.