Problem with TV signal for getting Freeview, Sky TV and analogue TV

[Trev]

They were just jumping to conclusions about you getting the signal from the sat dish. No it won't work from the dish only from the aerial. I have Freeview terrestial which is connected to a UHF aerial. As already mentioned get a pro to check it out if you can't do it yourself.

[CliveM]

Ok. You should definitely be getting the signal from the aerial not the dish.

1. Is the aerial correctly aligned with the transmitter?
2. Is the cable in good condition?
3. Are all connections clean and well made?
4. Do you actually receive a good signal in your location? No trees etc blocking it.

As already suggested getting a tech in to check it out is probably the quickest way to sort it all out unless you feel competent to go through it all yourself. Do not fall of the roof it would not be a good way to start the year.

[barryk]

(Quote by Trev) They were just jumping to conclusions about you getting the signal from the sat dish. No it won't work from the dish only from the aerial. I have Freeview terrestial which is connected to a UHF aerial. As already mentioned get a pro to check it out if you can't do it yourself.

Ok. You should definitely be getting the signal from the aerial not the dish.

1. Is the aerial correctly aligned with the transmitter?
2. Is the cable in good condition?
3. Are all connections clean and well made?
4. Do you actually receive a good signal in your location? No trees etc blocking it.

As already suggested getting a tech in to check it out is probably the quickest way to sort it all out unless you feel competent to go through it all yourself. Do not fall of the roof it would not be a good way to start the year.

Ha ha, I'm going to have to be careful not to fall off the roof!! I agree that a tech would be a good way to sort out the setup. However I want to investigate this further so that I find the best option for fixing the reception problem.

I checked outside and found that the reception cord runs down from the aerial, not the sat dish. I have seen where the sat dish's cord runs to and it runs to nowhere i.e. the other end of the sat dish cord is not connected to anything. I still do not know where the wall socket cord runs from - pretty hard to look inside the walls to see where the cord runs from...

To answer CliveM's questions:

1. Is the aerial correctly aligned with the transmitter?

I do not know as I do not know where the transmitter is. Perhaps the transmitter is the one on top of Sky Tower in central Auckland?

The aerial is pointing a little right of north - the bearing is 5 or 10 degrees east of north. But Sky Tower is to the southeast of here. I do not know of another transmitter northeast of here - if there is, it would have to be in Albany or a line 5 to 10 degrees to the north of here.

Would getting a Freeview satellite receiver and connecting it to the sat dish cord fix the problem and also enable Sky TV to be received here? That may be another option for fixing the reception problem. The sat dish would have to be correctly aligned with where the transmitting satellite is.

2. Is the cable in good condition?

No, it does not look like it. The cable looks old and worn.

3. Are all connections clean and well made?

No, it doesn't look like it. The metal bits look old and worn.

4. Do you actually receive a good signal in your location? No trees etc blocking it.

Well if the weather is dry, yes I get a good signal, the TV picture and Teletext picture show up clear. I do not think there are tall objects blocking the signal from getting to the aerial.

[Trev]

If you go to Freeview satellite it is not broadcast in HD.

[Winston001]

Don't know if this helps but I was initially puzzled about Freeview and hadn't tried it (have Sky). Reading google searches suggests that the terrestrial signal is much better than satellite. Also that aerials, connections, and cables corrode so the problems you are experiencing are common - it isn't just you.

So - I now have a plasma with built-in Freeview and decided to try it out a couple of weeks ago. Coax from aerial into TV and bless my soul - there it was, beautiful clear signal without any tuning or fuss. But only TV3... A bit more google, then up my trusty ladder to a precarious perch on the edge of the roof. Sandpapered the contacts on the aerial, noticed the neighbours house was in the way, thought about asking them to move...., but instead turned the aerial a few degrees - yep most channels showing some interest now. Then I hauled on the main aerial strut tilting it 20 degrees or more up from horizontal. Bingo. Clear signals on all 300 Freeview channels including some extraordinary Macau pron stuff which the kids mustn't find....

So that in a nutshell is what you could experiment with. Thrilling stuff and you probably won't fall at all.

[Peter H]

300 freeview channels?? You are dreaming for sure.

[barryk]

Don't know if this helps but I was initially puzzled about Freeview and hadn't tried it (have Sky). Reading google searches suggests that the terrestrial signal is much better than satellite. Also that aerials, connections, and cables corrode so the problems you are experiencing are common - it isn't just you.

Yeah, my thinking is that the reception problem is caused by:
1. Misaligned and old aerial with too few elements.
2. Corroded, old cable and connectors.

I was getting "no signal" messages again with today's heavy rain (when will it stop raining??! Weather forecasters' answer: March).

Winston001, are you still getting a clear Freeview TV signal even in heavy rain? (I see that Invercargill isn't getting as much heavy rain as us Aucklanders?)

Can't go up on the roof till it stops raining anyway

[barryk]

How come you're getting 300 Freeview channels? I thought Freeview advertised only about 10 channels available through Freeview (such as Maori TV, Parliament TV)?

[CliveM]

Rain should not affect your terrestrial freeview signal there must be a bad connection somewhere. I would replace the anntena, the cable and connectors and also make sure it is all pointing the right way. Have a look at any others nearby yours should be pointing the same as the majority of them.

[gary67]

To see where the cable from the wall socket goes you could go up in the roof space of your house above where the box is in the wall below, and carefully look right under the eaves to see if you can spot the cable coming out the top of the wall plate