Having had a Status 315 aerial on the last and current vans and not being happy with the performance on either i was going to use a normal external aerial on a pole as i have been doing. Read a few posts on here that mentioned the 530 and stated it was much better.
As we have just changed our van over and am due to have it serviced and some extras put on it i was wondering if it would be worth spending a few pounds extra and changing my 315 to a 530 as we should have this van for a few years now. I store the van at home and when anyone visits it is used by them so we would get a fair amount of usage out of it. I currently have an external aerial on the side of the garage but it is not quite good enough, not high enough i think, so wondered how good the status 530 really was and how well they wear with lots of use.
So do you have one and what is your experience of them?
I have had a 530 on my past 3 'vans. Last 2 had them as standard, had it retrofitted to the one before. (Used a bog standard external aerial on previous vans).
I have managed to get a picture on most occassions, even in the middle of the Perthshire hills. The only time it has failed is on Gibson Park at Melrose but that is not unusual - hence the Caravan Club have TV hook ups.
Sometimes takes a wee bit fiddling about but worth it in the end.
Worth the money in my opinion.
------------- 2020 Volvo XC60 B5 R Design Geartronic / 2018 Swift Elegance 580
Best Wishes
Iain
Discounted Insurance Quotes for UKCampsite.co.uk visitors! Up to 12.5% off!
Fitted it to my last van; have it as standard with the current van.
Very good product both performance wise and as user friendly as any directional aerial can be.
However it cant perform as well as a huge domestic aerial twice its size but what a great deal less hassle than erecting poles and praying it all will not hit the van when the wind gets up.
Agree, just fitted a 530 and sat on the drive 10ft lower it actually performed equal to our house roof mounted aerial?
On site in Skegness it picks up the digital Yorkshire mast no better than the the old 315 but now the 530 picks up east midlands analogue signal perfectly which is a bonus.
Ditto, sometimes I dont even need to move it at all, I just let the freeview box do its thing and begin watching.If I don't get any channels then its normally just a quick turn one way or other, having a peek at other aerials, and job done.
It is one of the rare times you can say "you get what you pay for" - I can get a better picture on my drive with the 530 than the house aerial. They are good, and when it is raining and windy being able to adjust it in the van is a godsend.
Worth every penny and when the digital switchover is done, these will be THE aerial for freeview.