Signal Booster - Freeview

ZootHornRollo

Hi,

Following a relationship breakdown i have moved back to my folks house - hopefully very temporarily.

I bought a used TV for a few quid that has a built in freeview tuner. When i set it all up and switched it on i got the channel info - channel name, program name, times etc but no picture or sound.

The aerial is in the attic, lying on the water tank if i remember correctly, a run of cable drops into the room into a signal booster then a longer run of cable to the TV. This set up is something like 20 years old.

Remembering how old the signal booster was i decided to switch it off and see if that made any difference and hey presto! i now have over 50 channels. However a few of them seem to come and go. Perfect one minute, sound but no picture the next. Some channels have a little 'distortion' (blocky) and some can't figure out correctly if they are 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio.

Is it likely that a new signal booster might help in these circumstances?

googler

Sounds like the booster is kaput.

If you have a power supply in the attic, place your new booster as close to the aerial as you can. If you can replace the cable with new, all good and well - do that too

ZootHornRollo

thanks,

any recommendations for a decent signal booster?

fwor

The ones that Maplin sell work well for me, though I had to replace one a few years back. It seems that they are a bit susceptible to nearby lightning strikes.

If you get one with a variable boost setting, try not to set it too high initially, as higher than needed will cause distortion.

And as already said, changing the 20 year old cable for current top spec will also help.

penrhyn

You would probably do better by getting a higher gain aerial for the loft, and a new downlead.
BTW Have you checked the orientation of the existing aerial is correct?

alanrowell

As you get most of the channels with the booster turned off the first thing I would do is remove the booster totally, connect the two pieces of aerial lead together and see what happens.

If that still gives you good signals then tune to one of the weaker channels, display the signal strength and turn the aerial gently until you get a peak signal

Only then should you start considering a new booster

ZootHornRollo

penrhyn wrote: »

You would probably do better by getting a higher gain aerial for the loft, and a new downlead.
BTW Have you checked the orientation of the existing aerial is correct?

i haven't been near the loft yet. will get up there tomorrow morning.

ZootHornRollo

alanrowell wrote: »

As you get most of the channels with the booster turned off the first thing I would do is remove the booster totally, connect the two pieces of aerial lead together and see what happens.

If that still gives you good signals then tune to one of the weaker channels, display the signal strength and turn the aerial gently until you get a peak signal

Only then should you start considering a new booster

I will remove the booster tomorrow morning. i think the run of cable that goes between the tv and the booster might be long enough to take back all the way to the aerial so that will avoid a dodgy connection.

If that fails then i will follow the most popular advice which is to replace the cable with new.

Thank you all.

ZootHornRollo

penrhyn wrote: »

You would probably do better by getting a higher gain aerial for the loft, and a new downlead.
BTW Have you checked the orientation of the existing aerial is correct?

i'd rather avoid replacing the aerial at this stage as i am hoping this will be a very short term tenancy and will have my own place fairly soon. however, i have a feeling it will be months so i won't rule out replacing it.

I guess it it comes to it i can always get the ladders out and sneakily mount it on the pole that the main house aerial is attached to.

My old man won't let me touch his aerial/cable in case it ruins his perfect picture.

ZootHornRollo

removed the booster completely this morning and joined the two cables together (longer cable wasn't long enough to stretch all the way to the aerial).

My picture is now perfect.

Thanks for your help.