crob Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 We are having problems receiving all the popular TV stations in UK. We have an oldish TV BUT a quite new Avtec digibox that has a Scart connection into the back of the TV. Our aerial is a Status triangular type, about 5 years old, connecting to a box in the wardrobe with the coaxial lead from that to the TV. I am being advised to fit a new Status digital aerial to resolve our problem. But when I read about these, and after having talked to a very helpful man at Towsure, I believe that this advice is a bit of a "con". We arrive on site and go through the tuning procedure, turning the aerial as appropriate to get a signal. We often get "No signal" which presumably means that we are in a bad pickup area. But recently in Henley we got "No stations found". Parked up at home, where we get full TV in our house on Freeview, in our van we get only ITV, Channel 4 and a few others, but no BBC. Do I have a problem with some of my equipment, or is it that our Status aerial can't find a signal because of some reception problem "in the ether"? I have to admit that it is driving me nuts, as the other half is a keen Eastender! Any views please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocro Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Get a TV signal strength meter from E-Bay, Maplins or accessory store. The digital signal is directional so it is crucial to aim the aerial in the direction of the strongest signal, in areas with hills it is often needed to rotate the aerial vertical. Nearly all digital aerials come with a signal booster, you can also check that this is working with the meter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxli Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Hi You are talking about a digital terestial antenna right? DVB-T. My experience has been that the 'palette' of programs can vary greatly depending on the coverage footprint. The weather can also play a role. A unidirectional (circular) aerial with amplifier may help. You can also get a DVB-T alignment meter to hep position the aerial before tuning. Try Maplin.co.uk I used to live on the west coast of the Isle of Man. If the weather was good, we'd get the full range of freeview from northern Ireland but in bad weather nearly all channles had problems or would even disappear completely. Now I'm retired, I'm considering buying an automatic Selfsat Snipe Satellite flat dish for our Chausson Flash 02 at around £600. They seem to get OK reviews, are switch on and go within 60 secs and are a lot cheaper than all the competition in automatic dishes. Regards Alan PS Here's the link to Maplin's Meter mentioned by gocro (Sorry I posted simultaneously) http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maxview-hq-digital-tv-signal-finder-a72jx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 I agree with gocro about getting a signal strength meter. You can use it to test your setup. The co-ax that comes from the aerial itself should be plugged into the meter and the strongest signal found. Note the strength of it. Plug the aerial co-ax back into the booster box. Using a convenient co-ax cable, plug it into the outlet of the booster and connect the meter. You should see an increase in signal strength. if not, the booster is faulty. Connect the co-ax lead from the TV back into the booster and fit the meter at the TV end. Check the signal strength again. This could give you an indication that you have a problem and in which part of the system it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 First question, is the booster in the wardrobe powered up? I think it should have a red light on if it is. Second, use this website UK Free . TV and enter your current location. This will then tell you which direction the nearest transmitter is and whether it is Vertical or Horizontal polarised. I use a Silva orienteering compass to get a rough alignment before using a Vision Plus signal finder Link to VP to fine tune. This system has never let me down and also I've rescued a few other campers who have been struggling otherwise. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 What a sad day when missing a TV programme becomes stressful ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 It's an even sadder day when nice, ordinary people can't enjoy their legitimate pastimes in private and in a way that affects no one else without someone trying to denigrate them. It is conceivable that some of the things that you, Will85, find interesting or desirable would not appeal to a great many of us, but that does not give us the right to make disparaging remarks about you. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crob Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 Thank you for your advice - and support. Where am I up to now? I have had my signal finder checked, and it is working correctly. My Avtec digibox is working as I do get some stations. I am advised that I do not need to buy a new "digital" aerial. This seems to be a con. The box in the wardrobe is working as I have turned it off and on to see the difference it makes. The TV is working. So I am left with only one conclusion, as Sherlock Holmes would say, so this must be the truth! I am in a bad pickup area, confirmed by the TV aerial shop I visited today. When we are out and about and having trouble, it must be a combination of poor signal quality, combined with our 15 years old TV set. Maybe a trip to a caravan accessory shop for a new TV is in the offing! Cheers all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocro Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Aaah a 'TV SET' there you go, the tubes don't like being rattled about on the roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 From what you have posted you are not feeding a strong enough signal to the digibox, no new tv will solve that, what will ( or might) is a high gain Ariel and not some compact mobile one, bht a proper job that doesn't rely on an amplifier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelmaker Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 i sorry to here you are having trouble with your tv had same. so went and got sat_box and a mobile sat dish from maplin box was £39 sat $119 54cm . gets good signel all the time evan in the welsh moutians all so easy to set up about 2mins or less hope you get it sorted john. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 for what its worth, we have a Cello slimline TV plus a Manhatten HD digbox. we also have just had a new aerial installed as the old one had water coming down the wiring, and replacing was the cheapest option. The new aerial is the latest 'digital' Maxview 530, which has a colour colded signal strength indicator and we get exc pictures with this set up. Currently we are down by the Med, and watching French HD digital TV, and quite a few if these programmes seem to have an English soundstrack! In Uk, we also found that once setting the aerial more or less correctly then fine-tuning, we got good pictures.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manxli Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Hi again The best setup maybe, is to have BOTH satellite and DVB-T terrestial options. I'm considering an automatic dish, but currently also use a cheapy camping dish on a stand. Setting up with a signal meter and finder app on my iPhone normally takes a few minutes. If trees or mountains block sat reception, then I have a magnetic stub aerial (omni directional) which has an amplifier built into the lead and I just pop it on the roof with cable through cab door rubber seal. I've not tried it much in the UK, but it works brilliantly in Germany and Switzerland. BTW I remember 'tubes' in 'TV sets' very well, also 'Gramophones'. In fact my first car radio (in an Austin A40) had robust mini 12v tubes!!! Can you believe that? Regards Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.