No outside aerial so how will I get freeview??

annaangeluk_2

Hi all,

I've just bought two new tv's, one for the living room and one for the bedroom both with built in freeview. I've come to connect them and just discovered that I don't have an aerial socket! I've currently got virgin but was hoping to cancel that to pay for the tv's!

What the heck do I do now?!?! I don't even know if there is an aerial on the roof and it's too dark to go out and look now!

I've looked on Argos site and there are all sorts of indoor aerials and signal booster thingys but I'm lost where to start with those!

If I do have a roof aerial is it a big job to have a socket fitted? And roughly how much would that cost??

Thanks in advance!
Anna x

absent_dad

Hi anna

My guess is, if you cannot find an ariel socket the chances are you havn't got an ariel...and even if you did, it will probably be the old analogue one so next to useless.

You're gonna have to fork out for a new one I'm afraid.

Did you check to see if you are in a good signal area first as some areas cannot pick up digital signals.

You can fit an ariel in the loft if you have a good signal but you cannot have any obstructions like another house in the way. You will have to put it on the roof, usually the chimney as this is the highest point. If this isnt high enough you may need an extension pole as line of sight because of the curvature of the earth is only about 15 miles so the higher up you go the better the signal.

You may need to get in a pro for all this as climbing around in unboarded lofts or roof tops isnt for the novice. Running the coaxial cable down and splitting it into the bedroom shouldn't be a problem but is still work.

Get a few quotes.

Hope this helps

Inactive

absent_dad wrote: »

Hi anna

My guess is, if you cannot find an ariel socket the chances are you havn't got an ariel...and even if you did, it will probably be the old analogue one so next to useless.

First of all, it is an aerial ( ariel is washing powder ), secondly there is no such thing as an analogue aerial.

absent_dad

First of all, it is an aerial - ha, keep doing that...sorry.

secondly there is no such thing as an analogue aerial. - Well that is a matter of opinion but technically you are right however an aErial is not just an aeriel.

Most older aeriels do not have what is called Blauns on them. Without a balun the outer of the coax feeder is effectively part of the aerial. Without going all techy this prevents the whole aeriel picking up stray signals, usualy unsuppressed mains powered electrical devices such as drills, mixers, etc even light switches. This will make the picture break up or freeze, on old analogy tvs this effect is negligable as you may get a slight effect on the screen, some of the old mobile phones caused this effect. If you are in a strong signal area this may not happen on digital but in my experience where people have been told there is no difference I inevitably get a phone call saying something to this effect that 'the picture keeps breaking up' and have to go back round to change the aeriel, with a wry grin and I told you so.

The benchmarking guidelines for the DTG/CAI state that it is unlikely that an aerial without a balun will pass because on the specific requirements of DTT reception. So the term 'digital aeriel' has been adopted because of this new benchmark test.

So, even though there is no such thing as digital/analogy aeriel, there is a diffrence.

Hope this helps

dander

Definitely worth checking your roof before you panic - in the old days cable companies used to remove aerial sockets when they installed to trap you into staying with them (they're not allowed to do that any more) but they wouldn't bother taking the aerial itself away, so you may already have something in place.

ormus

there is no difference in a TV aerial, full stop.

larger digital aerials are being punted about to scare peeps into upgrading. they do have extra gain to pull in a weak signal. however 90/99% of houses dont need one.
i get a digital signal with my "normal" aerial in the loft.

i also get a digital signal with a tiny indoor aerial on my computer. about 3 inches tall.

ps
if your area is now fully digital, the power from the transmitter is greatly increased too.

keith969

Read this:

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

it has a lot of good info about whether you need to change aerial.

Inactive

absent_dad wrote: »

The benchmarking guidelines for the DTG/CAI state that it is unlikely that an aerial without a balun will pass because on the specific requirements of DTT reception. So the term 'digital aeriel' has been adopted because of this new benchmark test.

So, even though there is no such thing as digital/analogy aeriel, there is a diffrence.

Hope this helps

Still doing it, it is an aerial, not an aeriel.:)

The analogue / digital aerial difference is all marketing hype, despite what you say/ have been told.

gingerninja72

We've just moved, and none of the aerial feeds in the house worked, possibly as the previous owner had satellite installed.

Ended up paying a guy to install a brand new aerial on the roof and put in two feeds in 2 other rooms. Cost £180 for everything. Not sure if that was a lot or not, but have got excellent reception on freeview now, so worth it for the peace of mind

Mankysteve

There no such thing as analogue aerial. its a myth created to sell people new aerials. Dont know about my place at the moh but my parents house the aerial has been there since we they moved in sum 18 or 19 years ago and works fine.

Do you know how strong a signal area you live is. If you got a loft you can mount an aerial in there.

becs

Whilst they go all techy on you I'll answer as best as I can! We had a new aerial fitted and 3 internal sockets for £180 however my dad has a small internal aerial for their bedroom tv which picks up freeview brilliantly. So that may be a cheaper option but you will then need to have another piece of equipment next to your tv's.