Digital box help please

pol

A month ago I bought a digital box thinking to see a few extra channels. Well most of the time there are several channels that keep breaking up and are impossible to watch, but not always the same channels. Is this normal? I've never been able to get a good picture on ch5 and thought this would help, but no chance, I can hardly ever get this. Is it the reception, or is there something wrong with the box?
hope someone can help
thanks

pol

GlennTheBaker

Sounds like you're in a "fringe" area where you can receive Freeview signals but they're not that strong. Normally, the best remedy is to get a wideband rooftop aerial. Try putting your postcode into the Freeview site and see what it says about coverage in your area.

PACH

You are not on your own as I have the same problem. There is nothing wrong with your box just the intermittent strength of reception in your area. I agree with the previous reply that a matching areial should improve your reception. It is very anoying when you are watching something and the pictures starts to pixelate. Good luck.

chris28sc

im thinking about getting a digital box, but am put off by the fact that i need to use a roof/loft aerial. is there anyway of getting a digi box to work with a standard tv aerial and boosters?

Joe_Bloggs

There is a good reason that outdoor aerials are put high up pointing at a transmitter. This is to obtain the best line of sight with the transmitter and hence obtain maximum signal strength.
There may have been compromises made in the past. where I live there are to two analogue transmitters about 40 degrees apart.The aerial engineers picked the middle ground and pointed at the nothing in between to get the best average signal. Now only one transmitter broadcasts digital so reception is poor.
The digital terrestrial power levels are very weak when compared to their analogue counterparts, often just a few percent. The set top boxes depend upon error correction built into the received signal. When things are too bad the picture freezes or pixelates in fast motion areas.

The problem with a weak signal is that it can be overwhelmed by local interference. Often it is best to boost the signal at the point of reception before it can be attenuated by cable losses or influenced by local interference. It is better to use masthead amplifier close to the aerial rather than use a booster close to the set top box.

The digital TV frequencies have to co-exist with analogue frequencies. This often means that the digital frequencies used are on the extremes of certain types of existing analogue aerial reception. The losses linked with poor quality/old cables may make take reception below what is viewable .

J_B.

slowen

I sometimes get break ups during watching freeview with my Phillips box but I just turn the box off for a couple of seconds then back on again and it seems to do the trick

Joe_Bloggs

@Slowen
Try changing the current channel down one and then back up one. These older boxes are like overworked computers. The latest models have hard drives and DVD recording facilities.
J_B.