Maybe not the best group but I'll have a go. The reception on BBC1 on a small tv in an office in the box room is really crap. It is marginally better if I watch tuned through the video. It is ok on all the other tvs in the house but this one is furthest from the aerial and the cable is split a number of times. There is an amp on the aerial. I can't retune this tv to get the reception better. It has never been brilliant but is rubbish at the moment so wonder if it could be weather related. Is there any reason why BBC1 is bad but BBC2, ITV and Channel 4 are OK.
You don't say whether you are receiving analogue of digital tv but either way the manner in which the aerial feeder is split to feed several tvs is critically important!
It is essential that you use a proper distribution amplifier and that the coaxial cables to and from the amplifier are of good quality and properly fitted. Use CT100 or similar cable if possible.
"Kev" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@p79g2000cwp.googlegroups.com:
Yup - all the channels are on different frequencies, and will behave differently due to all sorts of things between the transmitter mast, and your TV input. Weather is one of these.
The area I live in, I've got aerials pointed at two transmitters, and in certain coditions a station may be unusable form Crystal Palace but OK from Sudbury. DTT is very flaky but may improve in 2012!
Your aerial system seems to be on the bleeding edge, and BBC1 the first one to drop right off.
Depending where you are, you might find a cable straight up to a decnt loft aerial would be a good fix.
I guessed as much, a pity that all the other tvs are ok, this must be one split too far although it has got worse recently. It never used to be this bad. On the question of station selection, the tv only finds one relatively strong signal. It is analogue and not digital. I am in Watford and the signal comes from Hemel Hempstead, about 5 miles away. Having said that I can't get Channel 5 at all. There is a guy who lives near buy who installs aerial, he fitted the amp and new aerial several years ago so maybe I just get him to fit a second aerial direct to this tv.
NO! If you get good reception of all the channels you need on the TV which is nearest to the aerial then the aerial is OK.
What you need is a distribution amplifier (DA) - as I said before! You can get an adequate 4 or 6 way DA from your local DIY store (e.g. B&Q) for about £20 - £40. Connect the main downlead from the aerial to the input of the DA and to nothing else. Connect each output of the DA a TV, ONE output to ONE TV. You MUST use good quality coax and make sure the coaxial connectors are correctly fitted with no whiskers of copper braid making short circuits etc.
You will then get exactly the same channels and reception quality on all the TVs.
Try replacing its local cable. Between it and the wall IYSWIM
I was getting terrible artefacts on ALL stations..then I noticed that when I muted the hifi, they stopped..then I remembered that SHE had vacuumed the room the day before and moved the telly..a couple of inches too far and had half yanked the cable out of the plug...and it was vibrating in time with the music making intermittent connections.
You SHOULD have a distribution amp..the great thing about those is that they isolate all the feeds from each other. The classic 'why can I only get ONE station (or NOT one)' is nearly always a cracked earth lead that sets the cable resonating and sticks a null in the frequency response.
The other reason is that the power level of Channel 5 analogue transmitters is very often lower than the other four main channels in the group for a transmitter or that the transmitter is not carrying C5. This was originally done to allow them to be squeezed into channels
35 and 37 and not to interfere with one another or with old analogue modulators in VCRs that were set at around channel 36. There are now some on other channels where they can be fitted. However, by no means all analogue transmitters are carrying channel 5 analogue and I can't find any reference to say that Hemel Hempstead is.
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channel 5 is transmitted on channel 37 from Croydon with the same power level as that for the other four analogue transmitters at nearby Crystal Palace. It is possible, though, that the coverage patterns are not the same on all channels because of the use of directional antennas at the transmitting sites and the need to avoid interfence with other transmitters on channel 37 which can be much closer than they would be with the other 4 channels where there is a better channel plan.
For the OP, I think there are four options for channel 5:
- Replace/reposition the antenna to see whether reception from Crystal Palace/Croydon is realistic
- Get a freeview box and use Hemel Hempstead, which is broadcasting DTT. All DTT stations carry C5.
- Cable
- Astra 2 satellite (Sky) with free viewing card if not wishing to contribute to Rupert's coffers.
How many elements has the aerial got? the more elements its got the better fringe reception. Ever thought of buying a freeview box? a guy i know bought one and it improved his CH5 reception twofold he bought it for the extra channels mind but was amazed at the CH5 reception.
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