Lost all my digital channels

Dilly

Hi

Can someone advise me where to start with this problem

I have an old ( at least 6 years old ) digital Sony Trinitron TV. It has the equivilent of a Freeview box in it.

When we bought it the Digital channels were not good, lots of pixelating etc. We had an ariel engineer in who re tuned the arial and told me that at that time the digital channels were very weak and as we lived in basically a hole we were unlikely to get any digital programs until the changeover when the signal strenght would be much stronger. We carried on watching analogue TV which was fine and still is

Well in Feb we are told that we will be switched over to Digital :-D
So I have just re tuned the digital channels only to find the TV has lost all the channels we were previously able to store ( even though we never watched them ) I have checked the signal strenght and there is no signal. Honest I have not touched anything on it for at least 2 years. I have checked the conections are all plugged. Just in case, as I am assuming that if the arial is receiving analogue there is no reason for it not to pick up digital.

I would mention that we also have an arial booster on the ariel due to living in an area with such poor reception

Does anyone have any ideas what to try next, or should I
1) give up and call a man in or
2) buy a new TV and TV arial

Not exactly flush with funds at the moment
Any help would be greatly apprieciated
Thanks

custardy

can't really give much advice except you dont need a new TV regardless
all you would need is a freeview box

do you know anyone who could lend you a freeview box to test on the TV?
it would let you see you have signal from the aerial at least

Inner_Zone

A lot of early Freeview build in TV's were not compatible with the changes introduced in the last few years prior to the gradual analogue switch off.

List here http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/Split_NIT_24_Nov_11.pdf

If your TV in the list try ringing Sony, but probably the cheapest solution is a £15 to £20 Freeview box.

Buzby

Many of the early DVB Sony TV's were limited to 30 channels, and until the analogue shut-down, I could only recieve 33% of the available channels due to this shortcoming (as it was never envisaged extra bandwidth would become available). It is now relegated to a second set at used rarely. A newer DVB adaptor may get it working fully again for around £30, or get a DVR with one built in.

Heinz

Dilly wrote: »

We had an ariel engineer in who re tuned the arial

I hope you didn't pay him any money because that's utter nonsense. Re-aligned the aerial possibly but not re-tuned it.

Dilly

Inner_Zone wrote: »

A lot of early Freeview build in TV's were not compatible with the changes introduced in the last few years prior to the gradual analogue switch off.

List here http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/Split_NIT_24_Nov_11.pdf

If your TV in the list try ringing Sony, but probably the cheapest solution is a £15 to £20 Freeview box.

Thanks for the info My TV is on the list ''As it did not receive an OAD freeze when receiving the first mulitplex.'' Not that I really understand that but assume that it should still be in good working order and not need anything further, new box etc

The arial tuner switched our direction from Croydon or maybe it was Crystal Palace to Slough, which gave us better recepetion. We now get Portsmouth and Southampton local news :-(

The leaflet I picked up in Robert Dyas yesterday says I should have a quality digital aerial that is CA1 approved. Not sure if this means if we have an outside aerial and freeview box we need it or if it means we need that type of aerial in any case. Ours is ancient, at least 17 years old

custardy

Dilly wrote: »

Thanks for the info My TV is on the list ''As it did not receive an OAD freeze when receiving the first mulitplex.'' Not that I really understand that but assume that it should still be in good working order and not need anything further, new box etc

The arial tuner switched our direction from Croydon or maybe it was Crystal Palace to Slough, which gave us better recepetion. We now get Portsmouth and Southampton local news :-(

The leaflet I picked up in Robert Dyas yesterday says I should have a quality digital aerial that is CA1 approved. Not sure if this means if we have an outside aerial and freeview box we need it or if it means we need that type of aerial in any case. Ours is ancient, at least 17 years old

i get freeview HD with a crappy set top aerial
so don't get hooked up on the aerial
I would be looking at a loan/cheap freeview box TBH
there was(all gone now) a £20 tesco freeview HD box on eBay just the other day
so it doesnt have to big money

Inner_Zone

Dilly wrote: »

Thanks for the info My TV is on the list ''As it did not receive an OAD freeze when receiving the first mulitplex.'' Not that I really understand that but assume that it should still be in good working order and not need anything further, new box etc

If it missed the update which it may have done is you never used it in Freeview mode, then it won't be in working order. As I said try contacting Sony, they maybe able to send you out the update on a PCMCIA card which would temporarily slot into the CAM slot probably on the rear of the TV. I know Panasonic did this for some models.

Dilly wrote: »

The arial tuner switched our direction from Croydon or maybe it was Crystal Palace to Slough, which gave us better recepetion. We now get Portsmouth and Southampton local news :-(

There is no TV transmitter in Slough, I know I used to live there and still work nearby. You are probably getting Hannington, that's a long way away and would explain the poor signal.

Dilly wrote: »

The leaflet I picked up in Robert Dyas yesterday says I should have a quality digital aerial that is CA1 approved. Not sure if this means if we have an outside aerial and freeview box we need it or if it means we need that type of aerial in any case. Ours is ancient, at least 17 years old

Don't worry about the aerial, yet anyway. Either contact Sony or get or borrow a Freeview box, as above Tesco's Ebay store have been selling nearly brand new (customer returns) HD boxes for £20. You may not need the HD facility but its an excellent price.