only a few channels

poshmanposhman Posts: 278
Forum Member
hi all ive just bought a new phillips 22 ins for kitchen
I have connected the sky cable ( from lounge tv ) to it and thats ok.
but i can only pick up 3 freeview channels bbc 3 / bbc news/
cnbc/ the product info says i should be able to watch 50 channels ? do i need to buy another aerial ? thanks P M

Comments

  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    Define "Sky cable". I assume this is a cable from one of the RF outs of the Sky box. if so then what is connected to the RF in?

    Assuming you do have an aerial connected to the RF IN of the sky box take the TV to the living room and plug the aerial directly into the back of the TV bypassing the Sky box completely. Do a channel scan and see what happens.

    If you now get all channels then the aerial is OK. If not then the aerial or cable may be faulty. If the living room TV has Freeview can that receive all the channels? If it does and the new TV does not then it suggests there is a problem with the new TV.

    Does the aerial cable come directly down from the roof or do you have a wall plate and use a short cable from that to the TV?

    If the cable is direct from the roof then take the plug apart and check it is still in good working order. It is not uncommon for it to work loose and stray strands of screen braid can wriggle out of the clamp and short against the inner conductor. So remake the plug if necessary.

    If you use a short lead, especially those cheap and nasty thin white things with plastic moulded on plugs then try a different one.

    Basically you need to do a bit of trial and error substitution of bits to determine where the fault actually lies.
  • poshmanposhman Posts: 278
    Forum Member
    thanks for prompt reply, I am at work but as far as i can remember I have an outside aerial which plugs into sky box so i can receive terestial channels in lounge and used to receive them in kitchen with tv i have just replaced

    i have 2 cables input 1 and 2 to dish and one cable from box RF out ? to new TV

    I am getting a new HD built in freeview TV and HD box on tues so i will try out your idea then and report back thanks again
  • MuzerMuzer Posts: 3,668
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    I'm wondering if the long cable between the Sky box and the Freeview box is dissipating the signal - we had that sort of problem when we had our kitchen redone and they brought the aerial cable from the wrong port, which needed such a long cable it ended up degrading the signal so that analogue was fuzzy and Freeview was unwatchable - we ended up having to get a booster in the loft.
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    poshman wrote: »
    thanks for prompt reply, I am at work but as far as i can remember I have an outside aerial which plugs into sky box so i can receive terestial channels in lounge and used to receive them in kitchen with tv i have just replaced

    i have 2 cables input 1 and 2 to dish and one cable from box RF out ? to new TV

    I am getting a new HD built in freeview TV and HD box on tues so i will try out your idea then and report back thanks again
    One other thing to check.

    Stick your postcode in here

    http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/postcodechecker/

    Tick the "I'm in the aerial installation trade" box which gives you much more detail about what transmitters you should be able to receive.

    It should give you an idea as to where your aerial should be pointing to get digital. There is always a chance you are on a relay that has not yet been converted to digital.
  • poshmanposhman Posts: 278
    Forum Member
    chrisjr wrote: »
    Define "Sky cable". I assume this is a cable from one of the RF outs of the Sky box. if so then what is connected to the RF in?

    Assuming you do have an aerial connected to the RF IN of the sky box take the TV to the living room and plug the aerial directly into the back of the TV bypassing the Sky box completely. Do a channel scan and see what happens.

    If you now get all channels then the aerial is OK. If not then the aerial or cable may be faulty. If the living room TV has Freeview can that receive all the channels? If it does and the new TV does not then it suggests there is a problem with the new TV.

    Does the aerial cable come directly down from the roof or do you have a wall plate and use a short cable from that to the TV?

    If the cable is direct from the roof then take the plug apart and check it is still in good working order. It is not uncommon for it to work loose and stray strands of screen braid can wriggle out of the clamp and short against the inner conductor. So remake the plug if necessary.

    If you use a short lead, especially those cheap and nasty thin white things with plastic moulded on plugs then try a different one.

    Basically you need to do a bit of trial and error substitution of bits to determine where the fault actually lies.

    Chris, the outside aerial come straight down to a wall plate i took tv into room and plugged the short coaxial into the tv ( as you said bypassing box ) but no different i even done an auto search all i got was 6 digital channels BBC1/2/3 BBC news ITV (not a good pic ) kids channel

    shall i just wait for the new TV to arrive and see what happens ?
  • chrisjrchrisjr Posts: 33,282
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    Something is not right. As I posted above stick your postcode into the digitaluk website and see what that says about the transmitter you should be receiving from. There is a possibility your aerial is pointing at a relay and you are just getting a spurious digital signal from the man in trannsmitter.

    Or your aerial is the wrong channel group or is misaligned or faulty. Any of which could be the reason you are getting such poor reception.
  • tvmad-alantvmad-alan Posts: 1,996
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    Most good Digital TV and Boxes come with software that will tell you how good or weak channels are, so I would look to see the BBC channels you are getting are good or weak as this will tell you what you need to do.

    If weak.....
    Look on the Internet to see if Digital services are around your area, BUT do not take all data to be 100% as they are way under that from day one of DTT.

    Look at the cable ends to see if they are loose as this can make you loose muxes " channels " and also make sure cable has not been broken by any nails etc... as this to will stop channels or bent hard.
    Also make sure that the sky box has no troubles by unplug the cable and put it to a digital tv and test channels you can get.

    Freeview has a mix of QAM rates and MPEG 2 for SD & MPEG 4 for HD channels, so make sure your TV has up to date software.

    If you are in a weak area try a plug in booster for the cable as this may help to get more channels.
  • MuzerMuzer Posts: 3,668
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    Or you may just be in a poor signal area and need a booster - only do that as a last resort though.

    How was your analogue signal? Was it completely crisp and clear, or was it a bit fuzzy/noisy/something else wrong with it? If it wasn't too great in the first place, then it's almost certainly a poor or wrong aerial, or a poor signal. If your analogue is fine, it's probably a wrong aerial for the digital signal from your transmitter, or a transmitter that doesn't carry digital.

    Also, some tuners are better than others - I've seen some really poor ones, and some fantastic ones (back when we didn't have as good a booster as we do now, some of our boxes always worked without problems, and others would break up every now and again on the weaker muxes). It may be that your IDTV has none of these problems - so after trying everything that won't cost money, I would wait and see.
  • poshmanposhman Posts: 278
    Forum Member
    ok results from digitaluk..err ;) my postcode is pe7 1hx
    dont understand all the tech stuff :o

    in the meantime i will check cable from aerial to wall plate if i remember the last time i went in the loft there wasnt any connectors/splitters to the wall plate in the bedroom the installer just wrapped wires together ! thanks again and H N Y
  • GarethHarrisonGarethHarrison Posts: 2,114
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    You're best not posting your postcode on an open forum where anyone in the world could find out where you live...
  • poshmanposhman Posts: 278
    Forum Member
    oh never thought of that, they will know what footie team i support UP THE POSH
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,109
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    poshman wrote: »
    ok results from digitaluk..err ;) my postcode is pe7 1hx
    dont understand all the tech stuff :o

    Justed looked at Wolfbane:

    For DVB-T

    http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe?DX=L&HT=10&OS=pe7+1hx

    For Analogue:

    http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tva.exe?DX=L&HT=10&OS=pe7+1hx

    I am wondering if your existing aerial is Wideband ?
  • Peter RheaPeter Rhea Posts: 303
    Forum Member
    poshman wrote: »
    . . .in the meantime i will check cable from aerial to wall plate if i remember the last time i went in the loft there wasnt any connectors/splitters to the wall plate in the bedroom the installer just wrapped wires together !

    If it's still like that, I'd imagine that's where the problem lies, get a proper splitter or distribution amp.
  • Dr.OliverTwichDr.OliverTwich Posts: 1,580
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    Which BBC local news do you get / ITV region?? You could be receiving one of 3 main transmitters and the answers will differ depending.....

    BBC Cambs news from Sandy Heath (15 min opts from Norwich). BBC Hull news from Belmont full half-hour. BBC Nottingham news from Waltham.

    Or look at where your aerial points. The bearings are given on the digitaluk site. NB Wolfbane's estimates are not accurate calculations, in my experience; 'amplified high gain' being suggested far, far too often.

    Sorting out the aerial distribution wiring may well solve everything though!
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