Page 1 of Freeview reception/aerial problem.

I have tried two freeview boxes and now realise that its not my freeview box but a reception problem! I had the aerial in the loft but then thought it may be better if i moved it back onto the roof.

So, i went up on the roof and jiggled the aerial about (cheap 10 year old analogue type aerial) to differing positions and that seemed to help as, in one position, i then got ALL the channels and most of them with a reasonable picture quality, apart from BBC1, BBC2 and The hits which just kept freezing and giving that `blocky` effect.

The thing is, even though i can get most of the channels, they are all at a very low signal strength and very low signal quality, in fact BBC1 and BBC2 are virtually non existant and regularly lose signal altogether, esp when its raining/cloudy. I know this is most likely because i have one of the old fashioned tv aerials that, at the time, were not made with freeview in mind.

I have been on the Wolfbane website and that tells me that i need an "extra high gain" aerial. I have looked at these and they are a little pricey, yet "high gain" aerials, i can get for as low as £20 including all fixing brackets etc..

My question is, can i get away with just a "high gain" aerial as opposed to an "extra high gain" aerial and is there really all that much difference that i have to spend the extra?

Thanks, if you can even understand any of the above, let alone answer any of it !


Richie.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 20th November 2007, 10:26

OK, well first thing you haven`t mentioned is whether you`ve checked your postcode to see if you can get freeview. As an example my postcode says yes but my mum who lives 2/3 miles away says no. If the answers yes and you get decent quality analogue reception then there shouldn`t be a problem. Those freeview aerials on ebay for around £25(incl p+p) should be fine to upgrade to(I`m actually waiting for one to arrive). I only got my freeview box few weeks ago and the pic quality of BBC1 on that is much better than that from the analogue signal.
Pete :)

My Nan has the same problem. She only gets a few channels. I keep telling her to get the Sky package for £75 and be done with it, but she wont listen. Would rather spend £100 on a new aerial. :/



The Jackal

Update: I found out through another site that the Oxford transmitter requires a "Wideband" aerial so i bought one of these and now im all sorted, simple as that. Thanks for the replies tho guys.

Richie.