Aerial cut by previous tenant's TV provider... eh?

boing333 · 1 May 2013 at 8:39AM

So me and my partner have just moved into our new rented home and were looking around for broadband, phone and TV providers. Initially we chose TalkTalk (which you must never do) and they sent out some contractor who drilled a few holes in the wall, installed a new BT phone line that doesn't work and then after being told that he "didn't have time for this", he promptly told me that he was heading off to the exchange and then never came back. Wonderful.

I'm digressing. Anyway, we eventually got in touch with TalkTalk and cancelled our contract, and got a contract with Virgin Media. No TV; just internet and phone. At the minute we're kind of (ie. not really) managing with the TV using a tiny little Bush freeview box and a £7.99 indoor aerial we bought from Wilkinsons but we were hoping to get a better Freeview box and hook it up to the aerial on the roof for better reception.

Backtracking a bit - yesterday we had Virgin setup the mobile and telephone. Prior to the installation we'd noticed that the previous tenant had Virgin Media as well, but as it turns out also had the TV subscription we currently don't have (coaxials still in place, etc).

I was looking around for some decent Freeview boxes this morning and decided to go with a Humax Fox T2. So I looked at the manual for it online and noticed that the input required a good old fashioned antenna cable from the wall. I looked around the house for a socket but discovered that where the socket used to be is actually where the existent Virgin Media cables are. I went outside to find the cable from the aerial dangling from the side of the house and noticed that it had been ripped out of the wall and not linked to any apparent indoor connection.

Basically I'm just wondering what the next best step is to getting a Freeview signal in the house, because it's obvious we're not going to be able to use the aerial any time soon without paying £££'s for a new aerial installation. I'm also assuming that I can't use any of the Freeview services with the Virgin cables without linking them to one of their boxes and having a TV subscription.

Any thoughts, techy ideas... or will the indoor Wilkos aerial be our only hope of seeing something choppy on the TV?

Cheers

penrhyn · 1 May 2013 at 10:17AM

Do you have an outside aerial at the property. If so its a simple job to reinstate the cable for the average DIY enthusiast. Unless the end of the cable is out of reach, then don't do a Rod Hull get in a professional.

Indoor aerials are only any good if you are close to the transmitter.

boing333 · 1 May 2013 at 10:39AM

The aerial's cable was ripped out of the wall on he outside and has just been left dangling there, yes.

Naf · 1 May 2013 at 10:52AM

Can't you thread new cable through the existing hole in the wall and fit coax commectors to the ends?

macman · 1 May 2013 at 10:58AM

Why do you think you need to 'pay £££'s for a new aerial installation'?
Assuming that the aerial is in place and there is no other damage, you simply need to reconnect the existing co-ax cable.

boing333 · 1 May 2013 at 11:50AM

No. The hole in the wall is currently occupied with Virgin cables. A load of cables from the outside go into a single box on the inside, which then leads into one single cable that comes out of the bottom. This cable then goes into the router me and my partner use, obviously, to access the internet.

Before the Virgin guy fitted this new cable, he took out another cable that led into what looks like some sort of splitter, which split into two more coaxial cables - one led to the previous tenant's router and the other which, I assume, went into his Tivo box.

Basically, it seems the cable from the aerial has absolutely nowhere to go. It can't go to any wall socket because there isn't one, and where it used to be has been replaced with the cables and such that Virgin put there.

penrhyn · 1 May 2013 at 12:08PM

Buy a socket, and reconnect the coax. Its not hard, is there an aerial on the roof?

boing333 · 1 May 2013 at 12:22PM

There is an aerial on the roof, yes.

Quick question (this is what I'm getting at) - the coaxial cable from the aerial will go into the socket and said socket will be attached like every other wall socket in the world to a wall inside my house. Without drilling more holes and not taking the Virgin cable out of the already existent hole where the previous wall socket was (that Virgin replaced), how do I get that coaxial cable inside the house?

JimmyTheWig · 1 May 2013 at 12:26PM

boing333 wrote: »

Without drilling more holes and not taking the Virgin cable out of the already existent hole where the previous wall socket was (that Virgin replaced), how do I get that coaxial cable inside the house?

You don't.
Though you could try asking Jonathon Creek!

If you want something on the outside to come inside, you need a hole for it to come through. If the only hole is already full, you will need a new hole.

keith1950 · 1 May 2013 at 12:27PM

Usual place would be to drill a hole in the bottom corner of a window frame.

You don't need a wall socket just feed it straight into the tv.

Whatever you do don't rejoin a cable on the outside of the house otherwise water may end up in the cable and make it's way into your set topbox or tv.

McKneff · 1 May 2013 at 12:32PM

I;m presuming you mean freeSAT and not freeView, you don't need a satellite dish for freeView.

Aerial cut by previous tenant's TV provider... eh?

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