TV reception

Author
Discussion

NiceCupOfTea

Original Poster:

25,313 posts

258 months

Saturday 7th February 2009
quotequote all
Over the last week or two our TV reception has become atrocious - nothing's changed - we have an analogue aerial in the roof with a splitter to two digital tuners/TVs (not ideal I know, but it's worked fine).

Reception has got worse and worse and we now can't even get a picture on ITV1 at times!

Would the recent weather have had an impact? There's no "weather" going on at the moment though, but still problems.

Reckon I'll have to buy a digital aerial for the loft.

Is it true that you shouldn't "split" the signal going to a digital tuner? If so, why?

SS2.

14,519 posts

245 months

Saturday 7th February 2009
quotequote all
No chance that the aerial or any of the connections have been dislodged or moved ?

NiceCupOfTea said:
Is it true that you shouldn't "split" the signal going to a digital tuner? If so, why?
You should be OK with a proper digital aerial splitter (fairly cheap).

Simply splicing cables together could result in reflection issues.

NiceCupOfTea

Original Poster:

25,313 posts

258 months

Saturday 7th February 2009
quotequote all
Hmm, just used a normal co-ax splitter.

Havden't checked the cables but I would have thought there would either be a signal or nothing.

SS2.

14,519 posts

245 months

Saturday 7th February 2009
quotequote all
NiceCupOfTea said:
Hmm, just used a normal co-ax splitter.
I must admit, that's all I have here and digital TV is crystal - but then I am failry close (and almost uninterrupted line of sight) to the transmitter.

NiceCupOfTea said:
Haven't checked the cables but I would have thought there would either be a signal or nothing.
Unless the quality of one of the connections has started to break down / deteriorate ?

NiceCupOfTea

Original Poster:

25,313 posts

258 months

Saturday 7th February 2009
quotequote all
We are about 5 miles from Crystal Palace and can see the transmitter if I stand in the road smile

Racefan_uk

2,935 posts

263 months

Saturday 7th February 2009
quotequote all
I have the exact same problem, but only with the ITV and Channel Four transmission. Starts to degrade then goes comepletely for a day or so (with all of the other digital channels absolutely fine) before suddenly coming back again! It's very weird. I thought it was the TV at first but ruled that out when I found all the other channels working.

I still have no idea what it is, unless it's an interupted signal from the transmitter for that digital section. But not yet found a proper reason.

It got even more confusing when I bought a new TV for downstairs which works on the same ariel, but it never loses the ITV or Channel Four signal... I think it's aliens!

cjs

10,934 posts

258 months

Sunday 8th February 2009
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If your 5 miles from Crystal Palace then your existing aerial will be adequate. You could have some water in the cable or one of the connections. Maybe try changing the splitter, is it inside or outside? Any good splitter will work with both analogue or digital, if it's a Y splitter make sure it is fitted the correct way round, bottom of the Y is the input from the aerial.

GreenDog

2,261 posts

199 months

Monday 9th February 2009
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Is it possible that the coaxial coming from your aerial is damaged and as mentioned above could have got water in ? I recently had a 4-way powered splitter installed in the loft and my mate who did the work noticed that because the coax wasn't secured as it came over the edge of the roof it'd rubbed the outer sheath away and the copper shielding inside was exposed.

E31Shrew

5,944 posts

199 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
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Dont forget that until the analogue transmissions are switched off, the BBC stations are 4 times stronger than commercial. I expect your BBC stations are perfect. Lost Film 4 last night! Just vansished

NiceCupOfTea

Original Poster:

25,313 posts

258 months

Wednesday 11th February 2009
quotequote all
All the wiring is inside, so I would have thought it would be OK. Will have a closer look when I'm next in the loft.