Freeview Signal Interference

Alfrescodave

Biggus_Dickus said:

Heedtheadvice said:

Could well be weather related if signal strength is marginal or getting moisture in to electronic parts......

Indeed!
@Alfrescodave

The most likely culprit that’s causing your poor Freeview reception (as stated upthread) is an aerial problem and/or associated cabling.

Aerials can become misaligned or damaged due to wind or accidental impact etc. Water ingress and general age/corrosion, especially where the co-ax cable actually connects to the aerial body, will also affect your aerials performance.

Depending how good your reception normally is a badly damaged or misaligned aerial can still work perfectly well and may only exhibit its shortcoming during bad weather etc. Freeview TV signals are delivered in distinct groups and some of these groups may be unaffected whilst other groups will be unwatchable. i.e. BBC1 & BBC2 may be fine whilst Ch4 and Ch.5 could be hopeless.

I had a problem last year which caused some of the ‘grouped channels’ to intermittently pixelate and become unwatchable. I traced the fault to the aerial connector block which was open to the elements because the plastic top cover had become dislodged allowing water ingress. The aerial had been in place and functioning perfectly for at least 10 years. The connector block was dried-out/cleaned and the plastic top-cover was resecured with a couple of cable ties. No issues since.

To reiterate,...poor aerial/cabling is the usual culprit. Other culprits are available though!

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the good advice, I had hoped that it would be a simple fix that I could do but looks like a trip onto the roof is necessary

Rodders53

Alfrescodave said:

Thanks for the good advice, I had hoped that it would be a simple fix that I could do but looks like a trip onto the roof is necessary

FIRST go over all the cables and connections you can reach yourself.  Most problems are due to poor connections.
Remake any suspects, replace any damaged cables.  Try alternative fly leads.  Keep hdmi and aerial cables apart (the two can cross-interfere).
Check the TV metering for Signal level/strength and Quality on each and every received multiplex frequency.  
See if there's a pattern with the numbers and the 'problem reception' ones.

Once you've eliminated all the easy to fix bits as the cause, only then may you need to pay for an installer to look at the aerial itself.

Alfrescodave

Rodders53 said:

Alfrescodave said:

Thanks for the good advice, I had hoped that it would be a simple fix that I could do but looks like a trip onto the roof is necessary

FIRST go over all the cables and connections you can reach yourself.  Most problems are due to poor connections.
Remake any suspects, replace any damaged cables.  Try alternative fly leads.  Keep hdmi and aerial cables apart (the two can cross-interfere).
Check the TV metering for Signal level/strength and Quality on each and every received multiplex frequency.  
See if there's a pattern with the numbers and the 'problem reception' ones.

Once you've eliminated all the easy to fix bits as the cause, only then may you need to pay for an installer to look at the aerial itself.

There are no easy reach connections as it is a complete run from aerial to indoor socket. I am monitoring signal strength which has now been good for past 4 days. I've spoken with an installer and agreed that when (if ?) signal fails he'll come and have a look.