Freeview Box Tuning Help

Fifer

avfc4life wrote: »

Well this is the second freeview box ive had and i picked up all the channels on the other one. I think its more a problem with the box as surely it would be able to pick up ITV channels as every tv in the country can (same with C4)

No, every TV in the country cannot, at least not on Freeview. It sounds like you are using an indoor aerial which is rarely a good idea with Freeview uless you are in a very strong signal area.

Channels on Freeview are broadcast in groups (called muxes) and you appear to be not recieving one or more of these groups. This is quite common with installations not using a good quality wideband aerial. Some boxes have greater sensitivity than others, so a previous box might have been able to pull in the ITV mux where this one can't. It's probably not a fault with the box.

avfc4life

So to get all the channels i will need to get a new external aerial and roughly how much will that cost?

See the government acts like its so cheap to turn to freeview but if you have more than one tv in the house it can become very expensive, plus this new aerial will probably cost a pretty penny.

I heard America was offered freeview and turned it down.

Anyway ive done some googling and found that i should look in the yellow pages for someone to put a new aerial in and point it towards the mast. How much should i be looking to pay for this?

Thanks for all your help.

Fifer

avfc4life wrote: »

So to get all the channels i will need to get a new external aerial and roughly how much will that cost?

See the government acts like its so cheap to turn to freeview but if you have more than one tv in the house it can become very expensive, plus this new aerial will probably cost a pretty penny.

I heard America was offered freeview and turned it down.

Anyway ive done some googling and found that i should look in the yellow pages for someone to put a new aerial in and point it towards the mast. How much should i be looking to pay for this?

Thanks for all your help.

A lot depends on what installer charge in your area. I paid about £100 for a roof mounted aerial with a mast-head distribution amplifier in my last house, but I suspect that was a very good deal. It may seem like a lot, but most people will have to pay for that regardless of whether they want analogue or digital TV. A 'digital' aerial should be no more expensive than one for analogue TV. Many people will not need to change their aerial to switch. (I suspect most people will not need to change their aerial if they wait until the analogue switchover with the increased power transmissions which will be used then).

If you are getting most of the muxes with an indoor aerial, you must be in a reasonably strong signal area. I suspect chucking a cheapish wideband aerial in your loft pointing in the direction of your local trasmitter might be perfectly adequate. I'b buy one from Argos and try it with a cheap aerial extension lead through the loft access hatch to see if it works. If not, you can return the aerial for a refund.

foreversomeday

I've had the same problem. (Ie, bought a cheap freeview box from tesco, except ours was Sagem and £30) Been told that we live in a low-signal area, but the signal is worse than low - can hardly pick up anything. Tried it on a friend's tv down the road who had sky installed (therefore better arial anyway) and it worked there, but my conclusion is the cheaper boxes don't pick up the signal as well as the more expensive ones. I haven't tried a more expensive box though, so no idea if that would help. But see if any of your friends have one you could borrow to test your arial.

Inactive

foreversomeday wrote: »

I've had the same problem. (Ie, bought a cheap freeview box from tesco, except ours was Sagem and £30) Been told that we live in a low-signal area, but the signal is worse than low - can hardly pick up anything. Tried it on a friend's tv down the road who had sky installed (therefore better arial anyway) and it worked there, but my conclusion is the cheaper boxes don't pick up the signal as well as the more expensive ones. I haven't tried a more expensive box though, so no idea if that would help. But see if any of your friends have one you could borrow to test your arial.

Sky is nothing to do with Freeview, different system entirely, it is also not true that a more expensive Freeview Receiver is better than a cheap one at pulling in weak signals.

One of the best Freeview Receivers for weak signals is a Wharfedale that cost about £20.

More info can be found at DigitalSpy and AV Forums.

avfc4life

I think ill get looking in the yellow pages to get my aerial sorted. Since everything is turning to digital in 2012 ill probably have to have it done at some point anyway and i can bet the price for it goes up as it will be in demand alot more.

Someone said i wont need a new aerial, what the person do? Just add a few extra things onto it or will they just point it towards the mast?

When ringing up for a quote what do i ask for as im not really sure:o ?

Fifer

Do you have a roof or loft mounted aerial now? What transmitter do you get your signal from? (if you don't know, enter your postcode here).

avfc4life

Fifer wrote: »

Do you have a roof or loft mounted aerial now? What transmitter do you get your signal from? (if you don't know, enter your postcode here).

Ye i have roof mounted aerial but have had it for years so it might need updating?

The transmitter i get it from is in Sutton Coldfield which is about 8 miles away according to that website.

Fifer

You are actually quite unlucky not to get a good signal on all muxes. Sutton Coldfield is a fairly high powered transmitter and the digital channels are broadcast of frequencies which should be adequately received by people's existing analogue TV aerials.

It's normally one of the end muxes (1 or D)which is a problem when people try to use their original aerial but all the programmes you are missing are on Mux 2. I suspect it's because ITV squeeze more channels into their muxes using a poorer quality modulation method.

One last thing might be worth a try before springing for a new aerial. Asda do a signal booster for under a tenner which might be worth a try. Stick it in and rescan your channels. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, take it back and get an aerial man out. Tell him you want have problems with digital reception and you want him to check the aerial and downlead and replace what's necessary. It could be that your aerial is needing re-aligned (maybe it's shifted slightly in the wind) or maybe the aerial is fine but you need a new downlead.

Most people recommend a Group B aerial for analogue and digital in your area. Cowboys will always just use a wideband because it works everywhere, but it's a jack of all trades and master of none.

You might also want to try your digibox in someone else's house who you know gets a good signal, just in case the box is faulty, but I don't really suspect that it is.

See if a neighbour or anyone on MSE can recommend a good aerial installer in your area. There might be recommendations on Digitalspy too.

HTH.

avfc4life

Thanks for your help. My aunty has just had a new digital aerial fitted so will take it round there just to make sure it isnt the box.

I will look into that thing at Asda.

If i do have to get someone in to do the job how much roughly would it cost just for them to re-adjust it?

If i do have to get a whole new Group B aerial how much would it roughly cost?

Sorry for all the questions i just dont want to get ripped off and also just want to know the costs before i get go for it.

Thanks