Hi all. I bought a ALBA freeview box that wasn't picking up ITV/ITV2 and ITV3 and probably a few others. I took it back because it had a major fault. I bought a new sagem receiver which displayed a signal strength between 23 - 27 but this doesn't receive the ITV channels either. Im on merseyside so can anyone say if their freeview box has picked up these channels and what the signal strength they are getting.
Anyway, I've decided to call decent aeriel fitter and have the best components/cables to replace the old. However, I would'nt know what a good or bad cable looked like to save my miserable life so I'm going to buy it myself and the monkey man can fit it for me. So what spec of cable should I be looking for? I had a digi aerial fitted last year but I probably need another one because I want it/them to feed 5 rooms in the house.
I agree about the other newsgroup. I had good advice about mast head amplifiers and distribution set-ups. The right cable is key. Also have you checked you are aiming at the right transmitter (some were right for analogue but others are carrying the digital multiplex I believe)
I had a new aerial last year. £130 complete. We are in an area half way between 2 transmitters (the worst, or best position to be in?), and told the aerial man that terrestrial TV was fine from both, but Freeview was sketchy, and worse in inclement weather. He attached a meter to gauge signal strength, and said we were on the wrong transmitter for the best freeview reception.
A new aerial pointing to the best signal cured all the faults, he even attached the old aerial to the new upright so we could still keep the West Mids terrestial TV if we required. The new aerial was a totally different shape to the old one, and, apparently, makes a difference to the signal picked up.
You need good quality cable with 100 percent copper screening - go for CT100, or equivalent. CT100 should be in the back of every reputable aerial installers van as it's used for satellite installations.
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the aerial installer you used last replace the old aerial down-lead? If not what you have may not be of the best quality and it may have deteriorated badly over the years
You can check the 'quality' of the cable by just stripping back an inch or so of the outer sheath and examining the screening braid and the 100% copper foil beneath the braid.
No copper foil = worst quality cable - reject Foil is silver in colour = medium quality cable - reject
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I had a digi aerial fitted last year
Aerials for Digital and Analogue are no different however aerials come with different specifications and a wideband aerial is often advertised as a digital aerial. It may not be the ideal solution for your area.
You are probably better off with a distribution amplifier of some kind for this - either a masthead amplifier or perhaps something installed in the loft.
freeview signal was 45%, I ripped out all the bog standard coax between my aerial and my freeview box and replaced it with FT125. Signal went up to 62%. No more dropouts or artifacts.
You have a choice of two transmitters, Winter Hill or Storeton. Winter Hill is the main one but doesn't cover some areas very well - Storeton is better if you can get it. It needs a vertical aerial and the channels are on the lower end of the band. Winter Hill causes loads of problems as you will find ITV/QVC etc all break up as the output power is quite low and so are the aerials. The BBC channels never break up, it depends on how much people pay as to how high up the aerials go.
Don't get ripped off when having the aerial fitted. Make sure it is a decent one - the coax should connect to the aerial via a small "F" connector. The ones with screw terminals in a box go corroded after a few years and water gets in to the coax. Fitters don't know how to waterproof things. Self amalgamating tape should be used over the F connector, then insulation tape. The coax needs to be "CT100" type, not the cheap copy sold in electrical wholesalers. It's well screened and has a foil layer. If you have the old brown coax then it's best binned, the outer jacket is affected by UV and cracks after turning green!
For distribution get yourself along to B&Q and have a look how much the amplifiers are as a guide. Don't allow them to start fitting masthead preamps, the aerial should be of sufficient size to do the job. Also watch out for interference from TETRA systems nearby, go for an amplifier with a TETRA filter.
There are a few cowboys in the North West area when it comes to aerial fitting. For a single aerial and coax in to the loft to an existing amplifier or cable to one room, I would suggest paying no more than £130. Anyone wanting more should break down the cost and give model numbers of equipment, then you can check on the costs. Ignore recommended firms by Trading Standards, it doesn't recognise a company that subcontracts others to do a poor job!
The final thing is, there is no such thing as a "digital aerial", that's a sales thing. Most aerials will pick up digital and analogue signals. If you had one fitted last year then the corrosion i was on about or water getting in to the coax has degraded your signal. Call the fitter back and get him to sort it as it's unreasonable to last 12 months.
In article , "john" Don't get ripped off when having the aerial fitted. Make sure it is a
Ones with an F connector haven't been around long enough to know how long they will survive. An F connector isn't waterproof on its own - and any method you use to do so afterwards is unlikely to last forever.
The aerials on this house are some 30 years old and still working ok. In London the Freeview channels are in the same group so a different aerial isn't required. I have seen the water in the co-ax thingie but careful positioning of the cable at the aerial when installing should avoid this happening.
But I'm not against using a decent quality aerial - most cheap ones will fall apart long before they should.
CT125 equivalent (FT125) will be marginally better than CT100 equivalent (PF100) but the former is probably only required for exceptionally long runs and at that price differential not worth the money.
Both have the same 100% copper screening. The CT125 cable will be physically larger than the CT100.
At the top end of the TV frequency band the attenuation for 100m of cable is around: CT125 = 19dB CT100 = 20dB
Rubbish cable = 38dB+
I would also go for the cables with the foam dielectric - they are more robust.
They have, but the construction of a satellite dish is rather different to a folded dipole aerial.
They seem to talk about an untreated F connector giving problems after a year or so. I doubt any screw connection aerial would fail in such a short time if correctly installed. The actual contact pressure between any plug and its socket is likely less than with a screw connection.
What it does come down to is how well the connection is protected from the elements and there will be good and bad with both types.
It's nothing to do with the height of the aerials. ITV uses a different modulation method (64qam) which is less resilient than the method(16qam) the BBC uses. More channels can be crammed in with 64qam, but you need a stronger signal to avoid errors and breakup.
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