Freeview - terrible reception

Legacy_user

We have bought a Freeview box ready for when our Sky contract is cancelled. At the moment we have connected it to our upstairs portable TV. The TV has no scart so my husband has connected it through the video. When we watch it it is constantly freezing the picture and the sound goes off. Is there anything we can do to stop this. It does say on their website it is not available ion our area.

Thanks

LincsLad_3

It does say on their website it is not available ion our area.

I think you have answered your own question here. :-/

Woby_Tide

LOL

Lopo

Freeview can actually work in areas where Freeview actually state it does not work...

I know of a couple who have achieved this. Its purely down to luck and the signals bouncing around in a perfect manner straight to your aerial.

In response to the original post though, if anyone looking to get freeview is in doubt since Freeview have officially said no, just try and borrow someone elses unit first to see if you may get lucky or not...

The only other suggestion for the original poster is to consider perhaps changing your aerial for a better bigger one and relying on LUCK, bearing in mind that Freeview have said no, your surroundings (obstacles,..trees, buildings..etc), and the simple fact it may not work afterwards. Is it worth the expense ??? Thats for you to work out and maybe be prepared for dissapointment...

[glow=purple,2,400]Lopo... ![/glow][glow=red,2,400]Lopo... ![/glow][glow=orange,2,400]Lopo... ![/glow]

Lopo

.......forgot to add.......seeing as you should still have your original Sky equipment of dish and box,....why not consider getting a free to air card for that instead.

I dont know too much about it all, but believe it gives you more channels than a traditional freeview setup does and makes use of what you have already for little extra one-off outlay.

Hopefully other people familiar with it here could guide you better....

[glow=purple,2,400]Lopo... ![/glow][glow=red,2,400]Lopo... ![/glow][glow=orange,2,400]Lopo... ![/glow]

System

Thanks Lopo for your help.

To the other posters I do not feel there is any need for sarcasm if you don't know the answer or do not want to answer my post then don't.

Boohbah

Following on from Lopo's excellent reply, may be an ariel booster would help.
They start from around £10 at Argos.

Also, Argos sell a high gain TV ariel specifically for Freeview reception.

Also, If your aerial cable (co-axial) is more than 10 years old, I would recommend replacing it.

Good luck

Fifer

1. A better aerial might help.
2. The main transmitter for your area might not carry Freeview, but you might be able to re-direct your aerial towards another transmitter which does.
3. If your aerial and/or downlead is old and/or in poor condition, replacing them might help.

Where do you live?

sicker

You need a strong signal from a particular mode of aerial which any installer will advise you about. Doubt if you will get enough signal from portable aerial. Sorry can't help anymore.

John

Fifer

We are all forgetting one very important factor. TV aerials are optimised to receive signals on the channels used for broadcasting in particular areas. In some areas, Freeview is broadcast on a different group of channels to analogue, meaning that the old analogue aerial will get very poor Freeview reception and will need to be replaced by a wideband aerial capable of receiving all channels at an acceptable level. It's possible that the OP lives in an area where the digital signal is broadcast outside the old analogue group.

Lopo

Agreed,...

Was thinking that also...but never typed that in my earlier posts!! whoops! hehe!

Although the freezing mentioned by the original poster is indicative of perhaps a faulty freeview decoder box??

It seems they are getting some signal...the freezing is something I have unheard of if I really think about it....may even be a combination of issues. Only way to find out is to test the options explored here...! ::)

Hmm....

Think the obtaining a free-to-view card using the existing Sky equipment is by far the best option....

Let us know how you get on please mysterious guest....and boo-hiss(!) :P to those who choose to heckle at rather than aid those in need of a little info...


[glow=purple,2,400]Lopo... ![/glow][glow=red,2,400]Lopo... ![/glow][glow=orange,2,400]Lopo... ![/glow]