help - freeview no reception - aeriel

indebtbigtime

Hello

I have tried freeview a couple of times in the last year or so, and had no success at all - even though according to the website I am in a coverage area

I bought a nother box tonight and gave it another go - NO JOY!

The guy in asda referred me to an aeriel for £19.99 I think it was called an element 32, which can be placed in the loft or on the roof.

I have no idea about this, and wonder if it will do the job and save me paying an aeriel engineer who I understand charge about £120?

If so, how would I install, how do I know which way to aim it etc etc?

Cheers

Inactive

indebtbigtime wrote: »

If so, how would I install, how do I know which way to aim it etc etc?

Cheers

Look at your neighbours roof aerials, see which way they are ponting.

indebtbigtime

at the risk of asking a really embarrassing questioon

how do I install, will I need to drill onto the roof?

i am not diy man in anyway......hence my question

also there is one for £19.99 an element 32, and another for £49.99

The 19.99 is according to the box to boost poor signal but freeview receiving, the other is for no reception

to be honest at £49.99 its adding up a bit, and I wonder if its better to get the pro's in?

weegie.geek

Depends on how tall the buildings around you are, where you are in relation to the transmitter, and what your roof's made of I guess.

My aerial's in the loft and gives a perfect reception. No need to put it on the roof or on a pole on the side of the house. You might find that simply laying it down on the floor of the loft, pointing in the right direction, will work. Might be that you'll have to mount it up there on a pole attached to the inside wall or something. Ideally you'd have a portable TV you could take up there with the freeview box while you align it.

http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe?

Check that. What kind of aerial does it say you need?

Inactive

tommy09 wrote: »

use a signal booster as well to get a stronger signal

I think that you mean a signal amplifier, a booster will not improve a weak signal.

exegnomad

Are you sure you can get freeview with your existing set-up? The information about digital tv reception is often misleading.

There are two types of transmitter. The main transmitters will usually be both digital and analogue. The relay transmitters are, for most of the country, only analogue at the moment.
Here in Devon we have five main transmitters, and about a hundred relays which are being converted this summer when analogue will be ended. I pick up broadcasts from a relay transmitter so I cannot get freeview at the moment unless I buy another aerial and have it aimed at Stockland Hill instead. The website says reception where I live is possible but doesn't explain about the differences in transmitters.

The way to tell if you can get freeview now before you buy a box is to go and look at your aerial - if the elements are horizontal (the spiky bits point sideways) you are on a main transmitter and should be able to get freeview. If the elements are vertical (spiky bits up and down) you are on a relay and will not get freeview until after switchover of your region, unless you can get a more powerful aerial and find the direction of a main transmitter. Some properties near me obviously have freeview - they have aerials about five foot long on high poles and pointing in the opposite direction to all the other neighbours.

Fifer

Inactive wrote: »

I think that you mean a signal amplifier, a booster will not improve a weak signal.

A booster is an amplifier. And 'both' are specifically designed to increase a weak signal; neither is capable of improving it in any other way. You might be thinking of a masthead amplifier which boosts the signal close to the aerial before it has a chance to degrade further?

But very often, a simple cheap supermarket booster is perfectly adequate. It certainly was in our house.

A_Nice_Englishman

exegnomad wrote: »

Are you sure you can get freeview with your existing set-up? The information about digital tv reception is often misleading.

There are two types of transmitter. The main transmitters will usually be both digital and analogue. The relay transmitters are, for most of the country, only analogue at the moment.
Here in Devon we have five main transmitters, and about a hundred relays which are being converted this summer when analogue will be ended. I pick up broadcasts from a relay transmitter so I cannot get freeview at the moment unless I buy another aerial and have it aimed at Stockland Hill instead. The website says reception where I live is possible but doesn't explain about the differences in transmitters.

The way to tell if you can get freeview now before you buy a box is to go and look at your aerial - if the elements are horizontal (the spiky bits point sideways) you are on a main transmitter and should be able to get freeview. If the elements are vertical (spiky bits up and down) you are on a relay and will not get freeview until after switchover of your region, unless you can get a more powerful aerial and find the direction of a main transmitter. Some properties near me obviously have freeview - they have aerials about five foot long on high poles and pointing in the opposite direction to all the other neighbours.

This is a good rule of thumb, though there are some relays already carrying Freeview. Kings Weston Hill and Ilchester Crescent in Bristol for example.

Altarf

Have a look here (ticking the box "I am in the aerial instalation trade") - http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/postcodechecker/ and also here - http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe?

And then look here to understand the results - http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/reception.html#wolfbane

whybelieve

exegnomad wrote: »

Are you sure you can get freeview with your existing set-up? If the elements are vertical (spiky bits up and down) you are on a relay and will not get freeview until after switchover of your region

Thanks for this - very useful. Many of us in Cumbria have our signal from relay stations. Do u know if all relay stations are going to send out freeview? Our change over date is in about 6 months but nobody seems to be telling us this kind of info!

Also if the relay analogue signal isn't great does that mean digital reception won't be great either?

exegnomad

To answer "whybelieve" --
The best site I have found for relay transmitter switchover information is
http://www.ukfree.tv/closedown.php

It looks like all the current transmitters will be digital, and there will be at least one new one here in the southwest.
Analogue signals gradually get weaker giving a fall in picture quality. Freeview signals being digital basically either work and give a good picture, or are too weak and the picture is very blocky or non-existent. There has been talk that some remote (coastal or valley?) areas in the southwest will not be able to get an adequate digital signal and will need a satellite dish.

On a different aspect, looking at the http://www.ukfree.tv/closedown.php
information on what will be transmitted, many people will only be able to pick up BBC,ITV, channel 4 and 5, not the extra forty channels that keep being mentioned in the advertising for the digital switchover.