freeview question: could this be my equipment or my aerial?

jasonwatkins

a daft question i appreciate, but i would be interested if anyone had an opinion.

i've got a wharfedale dvd recorder with built in freeview tuner.

whenever i re-scan the box, it never picks up BBC1, 2 or 3.

It occasionally picks up BBC4, but it always picks up the BBC radio channels.

Everything else is fine, and if i check my postcode i'm in a strong freeview reception area as well.

Admittedly i'm on the ground floor of a 3 storey block of flats, but as i said, all the other channels pick up fine with strong receptions, and, for the record, i'm based in Ockendon in Essex.

so i'm wondering if the equipment could be norked?

aliEnRIK

Id say thats definitely the signal. As savemoney said ~ look at all the wiring etc (That you can)
Whats the signal strength say in the menu settings?
I assume with you being in a block of flats you share an aerial with someone?
This is one of those cases where you might want to try an amplifier to boost the signal

Inactive

savemoney wrote: »

If you can try another freeview box

But it could be your aerial/cabling/connection fault or even nearby buildings/trees if aerial isnt high enough

Agreed, usually BBC channels have a stronger signal than others, I would try a different receiver if you can.

jasonwatkins

Inactive wrote: »

Agreed, usually BBC channels have a stronger signal than others, I would try a different receiver if you can.

i can't actually try another receiver unfortunately - don't have one and don't know anyone who does.

i know my DAB radio in my bedroom never fails to pick up the BBC stations because of the overall signal strength.

i'll try and get some pictures of the various menu settings and signal strengths so that might help.

kwikbreaks

What sort of aerial are you using? Your own? Communal? Outdoor, loft, indoor?

It is very unlikely that the equipment will fail to pick up one of the multiplexes (groups of channels) unless the signal strength is low.

Analogue TV uses 5 frequencies grouped fairly close together and aerials for a region were made to pick up those channel groupings (A B C and C,D) but digital can use frequencies right across the UHF bands so a wideband aerial is needed. The worst results would be had if you had Band A antenna which covers the low end of the UHF bands because the type of aerials used (yagi) tend to have a sharp cut off in gain at frequencies above their design point.

jasonwatkins

i assume it's a communal aerial as i'm in a block of flats.

bizarrely, i picked up the bbc channels last night and they had strong signals but then i re-scanned about an hour ago and lost them all again, along with channel 5.

i think i'll have to bite the bullet and take it back ..

imho

I just had a new aerial fitted and my diggi box when the aerial guy tuned it in he kept the aerial out for 5 seconds because of the same problem you are having . I have a dvd tuner recorder and i couldnt do it the way he did it so i have no Bbc 1 or 2 .Just borrow someone diggi box and do what he did and you will find you will pick up Bbc 1 and 2

jasonwatkins

too late now - taken it back to the cash generator shop i bought it in.

rather interestingly, I note today that they've put it back out for sale - even though they acknowledged it was faulty and gave me a credit note for it, they're obviously hoping someone else buys it and doesn't really bother about the tuner.

imho

But i think you will find that will happen with every Freeview recorder you buy. Your in a area like me where the Aeriel has to be put in 5 seconds after you have started to scan for channels. Try with a Diggi box as i bet you still wont get BBc without doing the 5 second thingy. I never heard of doing this before but its the only way we get Bbc 1+2 and lots of other channels .

Strider590

Freeview via old analogue TV aerials is just rubbish.

I nearly paid to get a special Aerial fitted, until I found out that..... Old sky box + unrenewed sky subscription card = Perfect digital freeview from the old sky dish on the side of my house Bargain!

Inactive

Paul_R wrote: »

If you are quick you can buy one of the 160Gb Thomson TopUp TV/Setanta Freeview boxes from ASDA as I bought one last week for £35. 2 week programme timer and very good qulaity. Only drawback is that you can't transfer to DVD and the playback loses its place when powered off and you need to start from the beginning of the recording.

I wouldn't buy another Thomson PVR, I have chucked 2 in the bin now, they are plagued with problems, ( do a Google to clarify ), absolute rubbish.

If you are going to buy one, get a Humax.