not receiving ITV

[everyjourney]

Hi I posted re this and followed advice i.e. changed aerial lead etc.
I checked with crytal palace and they said I should have good reception.
In the end I called out an engineer, he adjusted some cables and said that the roof aerial should be fine as both tvs that have the problem show hi signal strength.
the most consistent channel lost is ITV
I have never had a problem with it before
he thought the problem was the booster in the loft so he disconnected that and some channels came back inc ITV
He says he will return next week with a splitter.
He said that the TVs were working fine and that I just have to accept that I can no longer receive ITV channels, 3 4 5 and 6 went after he left.
Can anyone offer advice, does a splitter sound like a solution.
Must I resign myself to a Coronation Street free existence...lol...

[big-all]

channels are broadcast in bands iff you loose one you will loose the others in a similar band [3 4 or5 per band]

[wine~o]

a splitter and a signal booster should sort it...

[warmadmax]

just had a look through your other post - sony-tv-has-problem-t48699.html

I had similar problems in the past, i'm based in the midlands so on different signal bands.

The most effective upgrade i've done was to replace the entire coax cable run, from aerial to fly lead,
the cheap / old copper mesh screened stuff picks up interference pretty easily and can drown out the digital signal,
wasn't a problem on analogue as there was only one station per band and interferance would be snow instead of blocky or no signal.

Replacing the run's of coax with "satelite grade" double screened (RF100 or similar) cuts this out considerably,
look for coax that has the copper mesh and a copper foil around it, preferably a foam spacer if used outdoors to help stop water ingress.

Boosters amplify noise as well as signal, if the TV signal meters are showing full or 80% strength on the other channels,
i dont think a booster will solve your problem, may actually cause you to lose more.

one last thing, if your tv socket is one of the cheap unscreened types, you might be worth changing this to a shielded one,
you can tell if when you take the wall plate off, you can see the aerial core exposed to the air.

I'm under the 100 post limit so not sure if i can post links yet?
if not, i went on "aerials and tv" and under the "planning your install" there is plenty of info.

[dewaltdisney]

What about getting one of these http://www.maplin.co.uk/standard-defini ... -tv-218642

Only £60, much better picture and more channels.

DWD

[kellys_eye]

Homebase were recently selling a similar kit for £25

[big-all]

I'm under the 100 post limit so not sure if i can post links yet?

self promotion is frowned upon out and out spam gets the heavy hand from the mods
but unconnected helpful links are allowed from the first post

[warmadmax]

ok then

isn't my site, there is a shop on there, but the main thing is there is loads of info.

http://www.aerialsandtv.com/planningyourinstall.html
shows you a load of things to consider.

and http://www.aerialsandtv.com/crystalpalacetx.html
has a lot of info regarding crystal palace,
from what i can glean, a fancy aerial will do you no favours,
you need a Band A aerial, wideband would be wasted.


if your aerial guy replaces the cable run,
if your aerial is old, consider replacing it while he's up there??

[everyjourney]

What about getting one of these http://www.maplin.co.uk/standard-defini ... -tv-218642

Only £60, much better picture and more channels.

DWD

Hi..I have an old satelite dish on the roof along with my roof aerial..the cable to it is inside the house by main tv..argos are selling basic bush freesat for 29-99....

do you think this will get my channels 3 4 5 and 6 up and running...

I spoke to the dig switchover people and they suggested it might help.. what do you think.....

not sure if it is relevant but I have 2 digital with freeview in adjoining rooms ...they have both lost those channels.....portable analogue with set top aerial has 3 4 and 5..... thanks...

[dewaltdisney]

In my opinion switching to the dish (assuming it is properly aligned) will get much better pictures. The Freesat box you mention is only SD and you may want to spend a little extra to get the HD box as BBC and ITV are transmitting in HD on Freesat with more coming.

DWD

[warmadmax]

I have freesat on our living room tv and its a fine picture,
using a humax foxsat hdr so we can record and watch at the same time.

[everyjourney]

Hi I posted re this and followed advice i.e. changed aerial lead etc.
I checked with crytal palace and they said I should have good reception.
In the end I called out an engineer, he adjusted some cables and said that the roof aerial should be fine as both tvs that have the problem show hi signal strength.
the most consistent channel lost is ITV
I have never had a problem with it before
he thought the problem was the booster in the loft so he disconnected that and some channels came back inc ITV
He says he will return next week with a splitter.
He said that the TVs were working fine and that I just have to accept that I can no longer receive ITV channels, 3 4 5 and 6 went after he left.
Can anyone offer advice, does a splitter sound like a solution.
Must I resign myself to a Coronation Street free existence...lol...

Update...thanks to all for advice..problem now resolved...disconnected booster..added splitter..all channels back...clear picture..success..

[wine~o]

Now the mrs can watch corrie again then...

[BillyGoat]

Sorry I'm too late to this party....the problem you have is quite common and will affect a lot of people as they decommision the analogue band and increase the output power of the broadcast towers.

If you have top strength/booster/splitter then your signal can be TOO strong!!! I think it's actually somthing like 3dB of gain per booster/sky box etc....

If you think about it, it's like having a conversation with someone using megaphones - it's too loud to understand!

The product that would have helped is an attenuator. If you don't have access to the signal meters (lets face it, who does that would be reading this?) then you can buy yourself a variable attenuator that ranges from 3 - 9dB range.....connect it up and tweak it down to get a reasonable signal, but not overpowered.

A top tip is to look at the diagnostics screens of your TV, the one with the signal meter/strength. If it's a decent enough TV, then look at the errors.....turn it down until they drop off and then re-scan your set. Bobs your grandma.

Either way, glad you got sorted :)

BG

[BillyGoat]

Just to finish that off....couple of products here that I've used:

http://www.satcure.com/accs/page15a.htm

If you have a masthead amp that is feeding multiple drops, make sure you get one with DC bypass, or you'll find yourself with even less channels.



Peas!

BG