Will a Booster improve freeview signal?

fuzzgun19

I have got a freeview box on my portable tv in my bedroom. As the aerial in the loft is pants, I bought one of these indoor aerials -
http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=3801&productId=150335&clickfrom=name

The reception is ok with this aerial, but I cant get BBC1 + 2(which I need to watch my favorite soap!)
I have tried moving it around and tried an aerial extention lead and re-scanning the channels which doesnt seem to help.
I was thinking about buying this booster -
http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=3801&productId=157572&clickfrom=name
but I'm not sure if it would help.
I have seen some 'wideband' indoor aerials for around £10-20, would one of these be better?

sra

From my experience you can't really tell what's going to work till you try it.

Freeview will tell you that only an external aerial will do.

My external aerial looses me half the channels. I have a boosting indoor aerial that gets me all the channels - interestingly it only works when not only my aerial but also my TV are in a certain place in the room - which means I can't change my furniture around that much

Edinburghlass_2

I have tried a booster in the past at the caravan and it didn't help

I was then told it will only "boost" the signal you have so if you haven't got a good signal it won't provide a signal for those channels.

At home I run a freeview box in my daughter's room off a Tesco £5 indoor aerial but obviously have a good signal in the area.

HTH

jampton

A random cheap booster works for me.

Cheapest one from Argos I think

Joe_Bloggs

@sra and all
Have you tried wolfbanes digital TV predictor ?
http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe?
If the analoge stations are a completely different band to the digital then the existing aerial could be the wrong type. Analogue TV predictor here:-
http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tva.exe?

My roof top aerial points halfway between two transmitters as one was analog ITV and the other analogue BBC.
J_B.

fuzzgun19

Joe_Bloggs wrote:

@sra and all
Have you tried wolfbanes digital TV predictor ?
http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe?

I've typed in my postcode and it came up with some things, but I'm not a technical person and dont know what all this info means.
Can anyone explain?

Joe_Bloggs

It may appear way to techy but it is just a table. The first line along is the multiplex name 1,2,A,B,C,D. After that is the operator for the multiplex. NG transco is a suprise i have not seen them here before.
A multiplex can contain upto six TV channels but it is broadcast in the space of a single analogue UHF TV channel.
In the second transmitter row there are many columns.
The channel upon which the multiplex is broadcast, the power in watts and the altitude of the signal on the transmitter.
At the far right of the table there is a recomendation of the aerial group Gp. Aerials are tuned devices and you can reject interference and noise by choosing a limited range of frequencies. The alternative is wideband.
The Polarity ie which way to orientate the aerial. Distance and bearing and recommended aerial type are clear.

J_B.(Any Questions ?)

penrhyn

Hi,
I've never found that portable indoor aerials are much good unless you are very near to the transmitter.
A general rule for good reception is that the aerial should be as high as possible. Your loft would be preferable to the bedroom, you could try changing the loft aerial for a decent one, something like this: http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=3801&productId=151868&clickfrom=name


One thing to be aware of is that with digital you either get a good picture or you get nothing. A rough check on your aerial is to see if it gets a good picture on the analogue channels especially Channel 5. If not you definately need a better aerial.

Hope this is of some use

Joe_Bloggs

I broadly agree with pendlejh but I disagree with the idea that if you can get C5 then things are OK. It might be work for you. C5 has been pushed out to the extreme frequencies of the analogue channels you can get. This is because it was last to arrive. Digital TV turned up even later and may have been pushed up to the higher or lower extremeties than C5 depending upon the transmitter concerned. In some cases they squeeze the multiplexes in between the analogue channels. Older type aerials may be unable to cope with the wide range of frequencies.
The digital TV signal power is near negligible when compared to the main analogue channels. Top quality cable and mast head amplification is advisable in weak signal areas.
J_B.

Mr_S_Baldrick

The best bet is a new wideband aerial and try a different (more expensive) Freeview box.

I have 4 different boxes, comparing them all. The old £100 Pace and the new Thomson PVR totally outperform my newer ~£40 Bush chepao boxes (which lose signal and break up regularly, they are stored in the loft now)

fuzzgun19

pendlejh wrote:

you could try changing the loft aerial for a decent one, something like this: http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=3801&productId=151868&clickfrom=name

If I bought this aerial, would I be able to use it indoors? I dont want to spend lots of money paying a man to fit it and its a rented house so I dont want to leave it here either.

Would it just plug in the tv like an indoor aerial?