....I've got quite a compllicated home set-up going into 42 inch Toshiba - SKY HD (HDMI). , Sony Video Recorder (HDMI) , Computer via HDMI and 2tb Hard disk with a media player (via HDMI)

All working OK with no trouble BUT for some reason my TV is 'greyed out' when I switch to Digital FreeView TV. I don't use it much (because of my SKY box) but i'm just wondering why its not picking up a signal from my arial. The arial is working Ok and connected properly.. My Sony video recorder picks up a signal Ok...Is there any work going on that might affect the signal..I'm in Watford,,Herts. OR could there be something else or even a fault with the TV tuner ? When I try to tune in it runs through setup but picks up nothing....Why is it greyed out - thats what I need to know???
Last edited by advid : 25-11-2014 at 14:32

Have you actually tuned any Freeview channels on the TV from the setup menus ?

NO...scans through..picks up nothing.....

Have you another TV with Freeview you can connect to the same aerial ?

Are you sure you are scanning for digital sources ?

First things first.

How exactly is the aerial connected up? You say it goes to a recorder, presumably therefore there is a link lead from the recorder to the aerial connector on the TV?

So first thing to do is to unplug the aerial from the recorder (or wherever it goes to first) and plug it directly into the back of the telly so there is no other bit of kit between aerial and TV to influence things.

Now retune the TV and see if you can receive anything. If you do now get any channels DO NOT RETUNE! That is vitally important, even if changing the connections causes the TV to lose channels do not go any where near the tuning section of the menu, leave it alone.

OK once you have found the channels reconnect the aerial has you had it before. Presumably that was like this

Aerial --> Recorder RF IN
Recorder RF OUT --> TV aerial IN

If you have now lost the channels that means either the recorder is faulty or the link lead from recorder to TV is faulty. It should be possible to unplug both leads at the recorder and connect them together, ie

Aerial --> Link lead
Link lead --> TV aerial IN

If the channels come back then the recorder is faulty. If they are still missing then the link lead is faulty. Confirm this by plugging the aerial direct to the TV to check the channels are still there.

If the link lead is faulty just chuck it away and get a new one. If the recorder is faulty there may be a solution available using the Sky box. If the Sky box is one of the older models with RF in and out sockets on the back you could use it as a splitter.

So go...

Aerial ---> Sky RF IN
Sky RF 1 OUT --> Recorder RF IN
Sky RF 2 OUT --> TV aerial IN

See if that works.

..thanks for help guys... problem solved..... a lodger in my house had pressed a button on the TV remote because they wanted to switch to SKY. That switched the TV tuner from Digital to Analogue and she just kept pressing any and all buttons until it finally went over to SKY....
I hardly use the TV remote and never even knew that D/A button was on the remote...
I DO NOW.....