freeview reception advice & recommendations

VoucherMan

I've had a Humax PVR for a few years & usually have good reception, however sometimes the signal weakens or disappears altogether but only on channels from 1 or 2 multiplexes at a time (I'm not techie- so I hope it makes sense). Over Christmas it's been the main BBC TV group & the one with ITV2 +1, but sometimes I lose the Sky channels.
After reading a few other threads I'm guessing it's down to an inferior ariel??

I get my signal from Winter Hill - changeover scheduled for end of this year. When this happens and the signal, currently between 10% and 50% depending on where I look, is boosted is the reception problem likely to clear up?

If not any recommendations on which is the best option:-

Upgade arial & keep Freeview box.

or

Buy a Foxsat HDR and get the Sky dish left by the previous owners rewired?

All advice and suggestions appreciated.

brig001

Assuming it used to work OK, what has changed? Is your aerial old? Is there something new (like a tree or neighbour's extension) in the way? If you have moved the Humax recently, check the aerial connector into the back as the plug may have worked loose on the cable.

Aerials can degrade over time and start leaking water into the connection box which can cause problems. Poor quality cable/amplifier can allow interference from wireless networks etc. to degrade the signal.

If you want to start from scratch:
Put your postcode into here http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe? and check what sort of aerial you should be using. Use a decent cable with foil and braid screening (satellite type) and connect the aerial directly to the Humax without any intermediate connections (faceplates etc.).

VoucherMan

Thanks for the comments brig001. I think the aerial is quite old, and although i've had the problem for quite a while, it seems a lot more persistent now. I haven't been able to receive any of the channel 5 group stations for about a fortnight (no great loss).
I've had a look on the Wolfbane website. Even more confused now. Freeview box shows signal coming from Winter Hill, channel listing suggests signal from Pendle Forest. Looks like I'll have to upgrade.

Any suggestions on which is better between Freeview & Freesat?

brig001

You could be in an area where reception from either transmitter is possible. The Wolfbane web site will give you a guide for if you wanted to DIY a new aerial. I looked at the signal strengths for the two we could get and picked the best, then bought an aerial to suit. It also tells you which way up (horizontal/vertical) and which way to point it (I used neighbours' aerials as a guide).

Speaking of neighbours, are any of them having problems? It might not be a problem at your end.

Freesat would give you HD, but you would need a new PVR and dish so it gets expensive (£400 ish). New aerial and downlead would be £30 ish to DIY or £100 ish to get someone in.

VoucherMan

Thanks again brig001. I've found a few posts in the forum with similar questions, and then came across this site http://www.ukfree.tv/txdetail.php?a=SD825384 which I think :huh: explains why I struggle with channel 5 & group. It also answers my query about displaying Winter Hill as the signal source.

On another page it recommends against the use of loft aerials http://www.ukfree.tv/fullstory.php?storyid=1107051194 which was my next idea, but as the Wolfbane site suggests using a Log Periodic aerial with the Pendle Forest transmitter, and I've not found anywhere that sells them locally, it looks like it's time to call in a local aerial installer.

fwor

It's quite unusual to find an external aerial that ~isn't~ log-periodic.

This example from Maplin is, though the description doesn't say so, and isn't bad value at £25 if you fancy teetering on a ladder yourself:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=22523

Maplin also sell at least one other model that is higher gain if you need that.

VoucherMan

Thanks fwor. I'd been looking at http://www.aerialsandtv.com/atvschoiceofaerials.html#LogPeriodics and misunderstood. I did say I'm not a techie!

All log periodic aerials are wideband, but not all wideband aerials are log periodic.:T
I'm getting there slowly.

So if I get one of these aerials together with some good quality cable I should be able to install it in the loft. Worst case scenario - poor signal or good signal that weakens in the future, I can ask a local installer to fit it on the roof.

Just in case they don't have any when I go, how do you know an aerial's log periodic? As you said, the description doesn't always say so.

rsvtoddy

Voucherman - check firstly that you have no programme numbers in the 800s (this indicates that you are picking up more than one transmitter) then check that the programmes that are breaking up are on the correct transmitter (menu/system/signal detection).

Hopefully if you have any in the 800s they will be from the wrong one, if not make a note of which channel (e.g. 52) they are on. Delete the 800s and all should be well. If the 800s are the right transmitter delete these AND the corresponding ones from the wrong transmitter and do a manual scan to put the right ones into the correct numbers.

Hope that makes sense (had to do that with my 9200 yesterday as my BBC1/2/3 were on the wrong transmitter)

Good luck!

fwor

It's probably fair to assume that any aerial where the spacing of the dipoles gets closer together at one end is log periodic. There's a comparison with other types here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log-periodic_antenna

As you say, it's worth going for the top quality cable (foam dielectric, not the nasty cheap air-cell type, plus a foil layer outside the braiding) to keep losses low.

I'm in a weak signal aerial and got on Ok with a loft aerial for several years, though it did suffer from signal break-up in very heavy rain. If you're in a moderate or good signal area it's probably worth a try.

espresso

fwor wrote: »

It's quite unusual to find an external aerial that ~isn't~ log-periodic.

This example from Maplin is, though the description doesn't say so, and isn't bad value at £25 if you fancy teetering on a ladder yourself:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=22523

Maplin also sell at least one other model that is higher gain if you need that.

Actually log periodics are not that common and that is not an example of one, it's a standard Yagi type with a few extra elements that generally do nothing but make it look like you are getting something extra for your money. Most of these cross element yagi's don't actually perform any better that a good standard construction yagi.

This is an example of a log periodic sold by Maplin here with each element of a different length, the front element tuned for the highest frequency and the rear element tuned for the lowest frequency.

Inactive

Agreed ...more detailed info about aerials here;

http://www.aerialsandtv.com/atvschoiceofaerials.html