Freeview channels lost on tv

maggy50

I have a Samsung TV that was pre installed with freeview.
Having a Virgin Media TV package not really looked at freeview occasionally flicked over but did not view much .

I decided to try freeview without Virgin connected to see what it would be like so that I can reduce my cost and just have broadband .

Only thing is my freeview does not work now and after tearing my hair out I realised that I had no arial connected !! I know VM does not need arial so that was the end of that !

My very handy oh decided to tap off from the arial fittings in the attic which we successfully run a TV with freeview in another room , so now we have a functioning TV in one room and zilch in another .

It's baffling we can not think what to do , is it a case of a booster ?

macman

You need to change the source setting in the TV from whatever input you use with the VM box (probably HDMI 1) to the aerial input.
If it needed a booster after splitting the signal then you'd probably get a worse or no signal on the other TV. Definitive test is to try the other TV on the new aerial feed. if it works then you just need to change the source as above.

almillar

Your OH should know the answer if they've already been in the loft cutting aerial cables!
If you've got a good signal in your home, you might get away with splitting the aerial, if that doesn't work, look into a booster. It's a very easy job if you've got power in your loft.

maggy50

Thank you for your help but I tried the source and we swapped TV but no luck , we have no power in attic so a booster would not be able to be placed there .

Back to the drawing board ☺

JJ_Egan

I had similar fix was roof aerial from loft dropped original cable to bedroom .
Added a booster here and new cable backup to loft joined back to downstairs cable .

C_Mababejive

It isnt enough to simply chop into an antenna cable and put a cheapo tee piece adaptor in it or worse still just twist wires together and tape it up.

You are not dealing with ac/or dc power here,you are dealing with high frequency signals of relatively low field strengths.

To properly distribute signals from a single antenna you should use a purpose made distribution unit.

The other thing to remember is that digital TV signs are either on or off,there is no real in between,,so if the signal is borderline then something is not going to work.

Splicing in will mess signal levels up considerably.

This may be exacerbated if the TV antenna is not optimised for the transmitter to which it points i.e is it the right group /is it wide band/is the antenna half goosed because its been up there for decades??

teddysmum

I assume that you have tried pressing the TV button on your television's own remote ? That switches feed from box to aerial.

macman

If the OP has done a DIY splice in, how come the 'other' aerial point is still working OK?
I would move the 'bad' TV up and swap with the 'good' one now, just to be sure it's the feed at fault and not the TV source.

almillar

OP hasn't yet confirmed that they have SPLIT the signal as far as I can see - we've got the aerial in the roofspace connected to the TV in the bedroom, and the TV in the livning room is connected to a wire sitting in the roofspace. Splitting (no booster) might be sufficient - try it!

maggy50

I did compose a reply but it disappeared !
No one has chopped into the cable the T section was already fitted when we tried it for the TV we have in another room it works fine we have freeview via a digital box.
The lounge was another matter no arial connection when we moved in so it was set up with Virgin broadband and TV .

The TV we have swrapped about connections on the T section etc .
No joy there , we have also changed the aerial fittings to a better quality .

Doing all this has lost the pre installed channels on our Samsung TV also.

macman

Have you got any signal on the aerial connected TV? If so, run the tuner set up routine on it in case it has somehow dropped the preset channels.