No t.v. aerial in new house

pollythena

I've just moved into a house on a 12 month tenancy, the previous tenant had NTL/Virgin Media and no external aerial has ever been fitted. There is a t.v. point and the house is fairly new (around 10 years old) so I think the cabling was built within the walls but no aerial connected to it.

I had Sky at my old place but realised all the channels I watch are on Freeview anyway so I bought a Freeview box after checking that it was available in the area. After realising about the aerial I also bought an internal aerial which was suitable for digital and also had a signal booster. However, despite much jiggling of wires and wafting of the antenna, I can get no digital signal at all (I can get analogue, however).

Do I have to get an external aerial fitted to be able to receive digital tv? Can anybody suggest ways of reducing this cost or getting around this? Would I be able to ask my landlord to pay for the installation?

I've already had to pay £125 to get a landline installed so another £100+ would not be very welcome. I also refuse to use Virgin Media based on past experiences with them.

Thanks

Marty_J

I would talk nicely to your landlord. As far as I'm aware, they are not required to fit a TV aerial, but they might do so if you let them know the property doesn't have one. It seems like a pretty standard thing for a house to have.

geewhiz

The aerial socket on the wall will more than likely be wired into the attic (if you have one). Most new builds have the coax cable connected and just left in the attic ready for an aerial to be connected.

Loft aerials only cost £5 to £10 and placed correctly will pick up digital channels ok.

It's also possible to use the cable connection to pick up freeview channels but you would need to buy a box for that.

espresso

Depends on your location and distance from the transmitter but try connecting the aerial that you have bought to the end of the downlead in the loft space or try another bigger aerial in the loft e.g. here.

pollythena

Thanks for the advice. I will have a look in the loft space (if I can get in - it's a tiny hatch and my hips are not so tiny!)

System

Marty_J wrote: »

I would talk nicely to your landlord. As far as I'm aware, they are not required to fit a TV aerial, but they might do so if you let them know the property doesn't have one. It seems like a pretty standard thing for a house to have.

There again, as NTL/Virgin is available, the LL could decide that it would be a waste.

pollythena

!!!!!! wrote: »

There again, as NTL/Virgin is available, the LL could decide that it would be a waste.

That's partially what I'm afraid of. I didn't bother asking him about the landline as I thought he'd point out that there is already a cable connection, and clearly all the previous tenants have used this.

However, I had a horrendous time with NTL in the past and will never ever use them, but it seems a bit unfair if I pay up for the landline installation and a tv aerial and then move out in 12 months time. In a way the NTL line means you are tied to one supplier, whereas a normal landline and aerial means you can go with pretty much whoever you want.

Marty_J

!!!!!! wrote: »

There again, as NTL/Virgin is available, the LL could decide that it would be a waste.

If the Landlord wants to pay the OP's Virgin subscription, then that seems reasonable!

superjaggybunnet

I moved into a new house which had TV points in the living room and main bedroom.

I plugged my TV's in and no picture. The builders don't put an actual aerial in. Cheapskates - it would only have cost them a few quid with their buying power to get a decent one.

esbo

Whats your postcode, or the first 3 letters of it.

If you put it in here it will give you an idea of what to expect.
http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe?

The field strength is the important figure, mine is 50 and I get all the freeview channel
on a loft aerial, I also have a booster in the loft but I can almost manage without one.

I would not get a picture on an indoor aerial though.
My aerial only cost £12, I can see houses with more expensive outdoor aerials they
don't really need.

Anyway if you give the first 3 letters of post code I will have an idea of what you need.
There tends to be a fine line between all or nothing with digital

BexTech

superjaggybunnet wrote: »

I moved into a new house which had TV points in the living room and main bedroom.

I plugged my TV's in and no picture. The builders don't put an actual aerial in. Cheapskates - it would only have cost them a few quid with their buying power to get a decent one.

Problem is you might find a poor quality 'contract' aerial installed and if you are in a weak digital area then not big enough to pull in the weaker channels - still once analogue is switched off then even a wet piece of string should do.

The Wolfbane site is a good indicator.

As mentioned a decent high-gain or extra-high-gain aerial doesn't need to cost that much.