Trying to find Freeview TV channels

[dave2010]

He brought his own meter to get the best setup angle so I have no suggestions.

Professional installers may well use one of the fancy meters from Horizon, or similar. I think they are very different from the cheapie things that mere amateurs will consider.

THey've probably only got to do about 30 installations to break even on the cost of the kit, and the saving in time will more than offset the costs.

[dave2010]

I'm pleased that you have raised the issue Dave, I have been having trouble with DVB ever since I got it. Readily identifiable is that my reception of the 'lower down the list' of freeview channels are often lost as a result of weather patterns.

Sorry to hear about your reception problems. I hope that this thread will eventually cover some of the issues, and maybe point towards solutions.

I'm surprised that London is not well covered, but it may just be an obstacle local to you; when in London 24 years ago my FM reception was good with only an internal dipole on the curtain rail on the ground floor.

The London area is not badly covered, though reception can be patchy. Our house there is outside the M25. The current discussion relates to a couple of houses in Scotland near Inverness which belong to family members.

So what are the deficiencies if any. of your Freesat Dave?

One house has old cable, and not enough cable links to drive multiple tuners, including a PVR. Apart from that, I have got it working, and the quality is quite good. To date I have not detected any FreeView signals at all. The post code checker suggests it ought to be possible, as also does the transmitter checker - a tool which is perhaps more use.

Postcode service checker - broad brush - limited use - http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/operation...verage_checker

Transmitter checker - worth trying this one - http://www.bbc.co.uk/receptionsearch

This gives maps, showing locations of transmitters, which may be different for DVB-T, FM and DAB, so the tool has several uses.

[willbewill]

Last place we lived had zero terrestrial digital so used Freesat which was much the same, however I think it lacks some of the HD channels.

[tapid]

Lost 3 HD channels here in nth London that we used to receive without a problem, no idea why ?. Get some wonderful Radio 3, 2, FM broadcast though through
a modest Rotel tuner despite not having a dedicated FM aerial ( just ordinary tv rooftop one ), so well pleased with that.

[dave2010]

Last place we lived had zero terrestrial digital so used Freesat which was much the same, however I think it lacks some of the HD channels.

Mostly they are the same, but there are a few channels which are not in both. Some are the delayed (+1) channels, which will only affect a few people, who may discover a programme after it's started, or want to create a more complex recording schedule for a PVR if there are several programmes of interest on different channels within the same time frame. Some may be HD channels (e.g. BBC News - with the local news omittd), and nowadays some may actually only be HD with the SD version removed from the mix. That doesn't always matter, though can have an effect on the installation (some cabling might not be quite good enough for HD) and also storage space if a PVR is to be used. This can also vary from region to region. Regional variations obviously affect DVB-T (Freeview), but may affect satellite to a lesser extent, as its possible to receive channels from different regions with satellite technology. It is also possible to do that to a small extent with Freeview by looking at adjacent regions, though there's no way that someone in the south of England could receive a channel which is limited to the north of Scotland. That option might be possible with satellite broadcasts.

It is possible, though by no means certain, that "zero terrestrial digital", tested by connecting a simple aerial to a TV might actually be OK, if a good aerial, with suitable booster, and proper installation is used - but of course if the indications are poor to start with then one might be reluctant to try, particularly if a satellite option is available. Sometimes one inherits a satellite dish from previous owners, and that can be brought back into life (even if it's not strictly the "correct" dish), and that's what I did in one of the two houses mentioned. I replaced the original LNB, which may have been faulty, with a new one, and that brought the satellite into operation very easily. Since the house is a bungalow I didn't even have to climb on the roof!

[dave2010]

Lost 3 HD channels here in nth London that we used to receive without a problem, no idea why ?. Get some wonderful Radio 3, 2, FM broadcast though through a modest Rotel tuner despite not having a dedicated FM aerial (just ordinary tv rooftop one), so well pleased with that.

Did you do a rescan after you lost the channels? Sometimes the broadcasters shift things around, and a reinstall fixes the issue.

Are you using a splitter for the signal, if you are using the TV aerial for the FM? We used to have a house in the Chilterns, and we ended up with two aerials - one for TV, one for FM. The fitter used a diplexer to feed the signals down one cable, and I assume a corresponding device at the bottom of the cable. Perhaps however, all that is required at the down end is a splitter - as maybe the individual devices (TVs, radios etc.) will sort out the signals they need - not sure about this. It was worth having the FM aerial, as without it the radio was pretty poor. With it the reception was pretty good, though not outstanding. A good FM aerial can push the hiss level down to almost inaudible levels - though that's probably irrelevant for most people now with DAB or internet services.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-Port-Co.../dp/B00L4D25B4 Diplexer example.

[spm]

In my last house freeview signal was poor, but a signal amplifier worked very well. I found also that putting the amplifier in the loft (I had power in the loft) close to the aerial was better than simply having it next to the tv but in both instances there was a marked improvement in being able to receive stations.

[Pieoftheday]

I use an indoor digital Arial for the bedroom tv,it works but takes 10 to 15 seconds to change channels .ZZzzź...

[dave2010]

Yep, I put one of these loft jobbies in the rafters of our (single storey) garage, works a treat for £16.99 .. but no HD:



https://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-y...d-aerial/33455

I have now bought one of these sicnal detectors -
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fringe-frin...ords=Fringe+TV
and it has just managed to sniff out a signal - right at the bottom of the scale. I noticed the aerials in Screwfix, and also Wickes at a very similar price. The Wickes one includes a 4G filter. Both seem to be log aerials, though the Wickes one has fancy shaped elements - similar to the one I had previously - and that one was pretty good IIRC.

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Ross-48-Ele...ilter/p/164573

I don't think either come with fittings. Screwfix do have clamps and a mast for fitting available fairly cheaply.

Screwfix also do a Triboom aerial which has better gain, though I think Amazon has a very similar (same?) model at a lower price.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-t...l-aerial/60215

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb...abgear+triboom

Looking at the specs of the aerials, it looks as though the gain for the cheapest is claimed to be around 13 dBi, whereas the more expensive Triboom models are at 16.5dBi. So I suppose the next question is "is it worth paying a lot more for an extra 3.5dB?". I'm guessing I might need to put a booster amp in anyway - or indeed I may already have one in the loft from a previous owner.

Doing a neat job would really require proper fixing, but I guess I could check things out very quickly without the fixings. My gut feeling is that I should be able to find out quite quickly whether this is going to work at all using either the Screwfix or the Wickes offerings.

With our now old (but still very usable) Sharp 42 inch TV we still get a very good picture when viewed from the front. However, when used directly connected to an aerial (usually we go via a PVR or nowadays an internet box) the picture quality is significantly higher with an extra amplifier booster put in the input line. That was indeed something mentioned in the original review of our 42 inch set - that it could have done a better job with the input signals. Different TVs seem to have different sensitivity - and that one is relatively poor.

I notice though that you didn't manage to get HD with the cheap aerial [maybe you should try an amp to boost the signal - might pull those in], so perhaps it is worth paying for the extra 3.5 dB!

Are there any other aerials which are good for loft mounting? I had one from Wickes before - may still have it somewhere perhaps in the garage - it was pretty good, but ultimately the signal available is a limiting factor. If signal strength is a problem, then cable runs can also affect the outcome at the TV end, though previously I found that using better cable didn't really make much difference. Given the current wiring in this house, I think the approach is to see if I can detect any signal in the loft, then think about cabling later. There is already cable installed, but perhaps not the best.

PS: How did you get the image of the aerial into your posting? Did you link directly to a vendor site, or did you copy and put it up on a photo site, such as imgur?