DVB-T Digital Tuner and Diversity antenna questions

[Arctra]

Hi all

Before I start I would just like to state that my intention is not to watch TV while driving on public roads. It is to have the option of watching TV when the vehicle is stationary (e.g. when sitting at a checkpoint waiting for kayakers to reach the checkpoint in the Hawksbury Classic Kayak race) or to simply be able to listen to the TV broadcast while driving (I can turn the screen off on my unit by pressing the DIM button). So please keep your opinions of the dangers and legalities of being able to watch TV while driving to yourself as I am fully aware of them.

Now, I have an AVC9000-1 with the built in DVB-T digital TV tuner. The antenna supplied with the unit was little more than a waste of space however, as even when stationary it struggles to pick up a decent signal. From what I have read what I need is a Diversity Antenna. I have struggle to find very much information on what I should be looking for (2, 3, or 4 antennas, signal boost, etc) and how I should install such an antenna.

Can anyone on this forum point me in the right direction?

It seems there are a plethora of 2 antenna diversity antennas, but also 3 and 4 antenna ones too. Presumably more is better?

Secondly, when it comes to installing them, my preference would be to not have to remove any/much paneling from my Tiguan to install it. Preferably I could just put the antenna in the creases between panels (or panels and glass) where they are out of sight for the most part, but are still effective. However I’m not sure it works like that. Also, do the antenna need to be at particular angles to one another (e.g. 1 horizontal and 1 vertical, or both vertical parallel to one another a set distance apart, etc) and does the angle of the antenna relative to the ground matter? Does it matter if the antenna are close to metal/glass/plastic/etc? Does the distance the antenna are from the headunit matter (e.g. must the antenna be near the front, or would putting them in the boot lid be a better/worse idea?

Thank you very much in advance for your assistance and advice.

[thamwk]

Diversity only works if there are 2 or more demodulators available on the DVB-T card itself. If you can confirm that the AVC9000-1 has this, then I would bother with a diversity antenna.

There's no real hard and fast rule about how the antenna's should be placed as I believe the diversity that DVB-T utilises is spatial diversity. This basically means that the antenna should have a certain space between them.

This is all based on my knowledge of DVB-T used in the home, though I'm pretty sure it transposes to the unit in your car as well. Don't forget to check that your tuner supports diversity.

[Maverick]

The best placement for diversity antennas for use when moving is behind the front bumper on the Golf, one on each side and stuck to the back of the plastic. I can't find the link at the moment but some tests where performed with an A3 and this gave the best results with a proper tuner that had dual inputs. There's similar information around as well from fitment to Golfs in Europe where the front bumper was the best location, for some reason the rear bumper did not operate as well (I assume because the rear is so high compared to the height of the bonnet).