Asda Freeview box - help needed

fruitpie

Hi guys

Happy New Year ... help needed please .

Bought a Freeview box from Asda just before Xmas... cant get any TV stations to come through, although we can get radio stations ... !!!

Husband has been fiddling with all sorts of cable until today - when ..I took the dam thing back.

Asda wont refund as they say its their policy not to on this type of product ... charming !

Any ideas why it wont work ? Thanks

black-saturn

You could try going on a Freeview website and type in your postcode and see what coverage is available in your area.

You can do this on this site:

http://www.freeview.co.uk/

fruitpie

Thanks Black Saturn, already checked our postcode - says all ok - its available in our area ...

ginger_nuts

you may need a wideband aerial . I used to be able to get freeview on my old aerial .then one day no freeview .The aerial work without freeview . I had to get a wideband aerial .
Try the freeview in a different location ,see if its the box or an aerial problem .Can you borrow a freeview box . That way you will no if you need a new aerial .My parents had the same problem they got a new aerial from Santa .

just to check your box try this . aerial into freeview ,connect scart to box & TV
.At this stage dont worry about to RF out or connecting a video . If this setup dosent work you probably need a new aerial .

djohn2002uk

fruitpie wrote:

Husband has been fiddling with all sorts of cable until today - when ..I took the dam thing back.

Asda wont refund as they say its their policy not to on this type of product ... charming !

Any ideas why it wont work ? Thanks

Don't be too hard on Asda, Argos have the same policy on Freeview boxes and about a year ago Currys were the same. I think it was because people were thinking we'll buy it to try out the signal and take it back if it doesn't work. And as a lot of people like me, won't accept an opened box, they would have loads left on the shelf.
If it should work in your area and you are picking up radio stations, I would first check that the connection on the end of the aerial lead is 100%. i.e. no fine bits of the braid shorting to the centre core and everything is nice and tight. Where the centre core goes down the small tube, put a bit of a bend in it to make sure it fits tight in the tube. Also the same on the end that goes in the wall socket if there is one. Joins anywhere are favourites for loss of signal so check them all.
I say this because it seems strange that you get no pictures when here we are not suposed to be able to get Freeview but trying my daughters box here we get some stations and some others are blocky. So I would think you have a dodgy aerial connection somewhere to get none.

fruitpie

Yep, understand your point of view - I am with you on that score, but I bought it in good faith, and also after reading the instructions on the box, I just thought it was a plug in and play thing ..and hey presto extra channels. (thats the impression it gives you on the box anyway)

Will have another go tomorrow.

How much are these ariels do you know ? Cheers, and now determined to get it working !

fruitpie

Thanks Ginger nuts too... will report back.

ginger_nuts

fruitpie wrote:

How much are these ariels do you know ? Cheers, and now determined to get it working !

A new aerial , depends on the local market ,how much they charge .My parents aerial cost £50 including fitting .But I could have bought the aerial for £15 if I had done it myself ,but you wont get me onto the roof .
Ask around it really depends on the local market .if you get a new aerial make sure they replace the aerial cable as well .No point in replacing the aerial and using old aerial cable .

millie

I took a freeview box back to Asda acouple of weeks ago that I bought in July, and told them it keeps freezing up, they never even questioned it just asked if I wanted a replacement or a refund. As we are getting a new television with freeview built in I had the refund. Try taking it back again to a different Asda, and just claim it is faulty they do not have facilities to test them so they do not usually quibble about it.

marksimpson

Right... what radio stations are you getting? If you're getting some radio but NO TV then the box sounds faulty. While you may well need a wideband aerial to get all the channels I would be surprised if you can get NO tv channels with an old aerial. Is your aerial on the roof, and what is your nearest transmitter? If you don't know, then tell us where you live!

To explain how this works...

Freeview TV and Radio channels are transmitted in groups called multiplexes. Each multiplex will have 6-8 TV channels. There are 6 multiplexes in total, each one transmitting on a different frequency. On analogue TV one frequency could only carry one channel.

Why may you need a wideband aerial when your old aerial was perfectly fine before? Well, for example here in the Greater Belfast area analogue BBC1, 2, ITV and C4 are transmitted on channels 21, 24, 27 and 31 and the old aerial is most likely designed to receive channels 21-37. But the digital multiplexes are transmitted on 23, 26, 29, 33, 34 and *46*. As you can see one multiplex, or group of channels is "out of group" for the standard aerial that was fine before, and it will probably not get those channels.
(For info, in this case its Multiplex C that causes a problem - E4+1, Sky News, Sky Sports News, Sky Three and UKTV History).

fruitpie

Thanks for that Millie, will try to take it back again - think the assistant was a bit stressed - cant blame her really - it was New Years Eve afternoon - I will tell them its faulty. !

Thank you Marksimpson too - my hubbie still aint got it working properly - so its probably the aerial, we are now thinking of a new TV, apparentely Freeview is built in, so will have a new aerial and wot not then ... thanks everso though .. I love these forums - so many knowledgable people :beer: