I can't get freeview in my house due to trees. What are my options

StealingSilver

Hi guys,

I just moved to Bracknell and as it is surrounded by trees TV reception is almost non existant. When the house was first built in 1979 Telewest plumbed in cable to all houses and streamed free analogue channels. This stopped a couple of years ago. Most people in my area seem to have given up and bought Virgin.

I know I could pay an aerial installer to fit an area on my roof. But what are my other options? Is it just worth me getting Virgin or sky?

Thnaks in advance!

almillar

Depends. We don't know your house, garden, trees, transmitter or aerial. A good indication might be your neighbours. But in general terms, trees can block satellite or terrestrial (aerial) but obviously not cable.
It will cost more to top the trees and/or get a better/higher aerial. A standard satellite install MAY suffice, but you need to get someone out to check and quote. If you don't want a subscription, you might want to look into Freesat, where you can get a recorder in HD for around £200, plus the cost of fitting a dish.

macman

What is the problem with having a proper roof top aerial fitted if that is the only way to get a signal?-that is the way that most of us get Freeview. A set top aerial rarely does the job with digital TV.
Trees are far more likely to block satellite reception than terrestial reception. But if you can get a line of sight to the satellite, then Freesat is the obvious way to go. Why pay for Sky or VM if you don't actually want the subscription channels?

almillar

Oh yeah, so you don't even have an aerial. Have a look around your neighbours' houses to see if they have an aerial. If they do, that's a decent indication of whether you'll be able to get it too. Note the direction they point in to see if you'll have any trees in the way...

OK_Sauce

Freesat may be an option for you. To find out if you have line of sight you can put your postcode into Dishfinder.com, select 28.2E satellite, zoom into your house and then see if there's anywhere on your property with line of sight (could even be at the end of your garden!)

Here's the link

http://www.dishpointer.com/