Poor digital reception

portchieboy

I have an old CRT telly, linked up to a Panasonic EX75 HDD, and a seperate Freeview box for when recording on the Panasonic. The aerial is fairly old, and in a loft, rather than on the roof. I have also put in an aerial amplifier from Maplin behind the set.

Now the reception, whilst generally brilliant, does at times 'stutter'. It is as if an old film jams for a moment, then continues, sometimes messing up the sound, but not normally. This happens predominantly through the Panny, though very rarely the Freeview will also pixallate, but not so as you would notice.

Can anybody tell me if this is a sign of needing a better aerial set up. It will cost £150ish to put it on the roof, and I do not want to waste it just in case? If I get in an aerial company, are there tests they can do to see if it will help?

I have tried Av forums, but frankly have not had any joy.

wakandem

If you can live with it then leave it. You must be fairly close to a transmitter if you are getting reception in the attic. Over the next few yaers the digital signal will be boosted & this will happen as they switch off analogue. You will probably find the set up you have improves as this happens & you may not need to go 'outside'.

chaddy7604

Think you probably answered your question with your post title

Digital reception is really dependant upon recieving a good signal and it sounds as though your problem is with your old aerial being located in your loft (probably old co-axial downlead too?) also any buildings or tall trees in direct line to your nearest digital tv transmitter can also affect the signal recieved, whilst the amplifier wont really correct any bad signal just boosting the good bits.

The best place for any aerial is at the highest point you can get it so as to get the best signal, probably is time to review what your using

http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/digital_tv/freeview_troubleshooting.shtml

portchieboy

It is still co-ax cable coming down through the cavities.....would that matter?

Woby_Tide

another thing worth considering is do you need the amplifier where it is, if the signal is degrading on the way from the loft then all the amplifier does is 'amplify' a poor signal. It could be worth considering either A) resiting the amplifier close to the aerial itself, best location is about 1metre from the aerial, though this then requires a plug socket in the loft so if you have already then it's no issue or a masthead amp, this can be located again about 1m from the aerial but you then power it from near the TV using a spare socket, the power is sent up the coaxial cable. The main advantage of both these options is you are boosting the signal at 'source' rather then attempting to boost a weakened signal. (Option C is do you need an amplifier at all? A 'weaker' solid signal is better than a 'stronger' patchy signal technically, depending on your freeview box they often have a signal quality meter, 100% quality 50% strength is better than 80-90% quality but 80% strength, the quality determines how much of the actual signal you are receiving)

I did similar recently with my loft aerial and improved my signal somewhat by replacing an old amplifier in the loft with a newer one (old one had <+5dB rating, newer one had <+12dB rating and it has made a big difference to my picture in that I get literally no pixellation now when it was noticeable once or twice an hour previously. I even bought a new 'digital' aerial to run some tests, it provided exactly the same signal as the old 'analogue' aerial, the amplifier was making all the difference to the signal(only improvement will be to move it outside in future if I so choose.

For £15 at Homebase, an amplifier could be the easy short term test before laying out £150 on an aerial.

portchieboy

Thanks

I will try putting a socket in the loft, and placing the Amp up there. If no joy, I will try a better aerial. If no joy, maybe upgrade the Co ax if that needs doing.

Cheers all.

Woby_Tide

the coax unless it is really damaged will provide least benefit normally, the best solution is an outdoor aerial, it's also teh costliest is the problem, the amp is the inbetween that hopeully should do teh job for a lot less outlay, the cost of some decent coax is probably getting close to amp costs unless you know someone else so you can buy stuff in bulk instead

Aiadi

Has anyone found a solution to the problem of the very brief interruption to the video or audio signal of freeview when an electrical device nearby is switched on or off? Mine has an excellent reception through an external antenna but does this even when something as simple as the light in the living room is swiched on or off.

superscaper

Aiadi wrote:

Has anyone found a solution to the problem of the very brief interruption to the video or audio signal of freeview when an electrical device nearby is switched on or off? Mine has an excellent reception through an external antenna but does this even when something as simple as the light in the living room is swiched on or off.

Something like this?
http://www.maplin.co.uk/free_uk_delivery/Plug-In_Mains_Interference_Conditioner_and_Surge_Protector_for_Hi-Fi_46836/Plug-In_Mains_Interference_Conditioner_and_Surge_Protector_for_Hi-Fi_46836.htm

Don't know how good these are for energy spikes though such as switching on a light.