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Will an aerial booster improve my freeview reception?

Will an aerial booster improve my freeview reception?

Will an aerial booster improve my freeview reception?
published on UK Free TV

No, an amplifier won't normally help with a Freeview signal. Can I suggest the following:

1. If you can raise the aerial up by an extra metre or so;

2. Check the direction of the aerial and that the it is either "vertical" or "horizontal" as required.

3. Check that all the connectors and cables are in good condition, look especially for stray wires from the outer shielding on the cable being loose;



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Comments
Tuesday, 19 August 2014
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:36 AM

Phil: Although, if you look on the terrain link, you have something in the signal path about 2km away, DigitalUk reckons your fine on Rowridge VP. You say its deteriorated, so your not in a position where you've always had problems.

Assuming nothing else has changed (and Rowridge uses low RF channel's, which are unlikely to be affected by 4G), the only thing left is your aerial system. Your TV is telling you its a problem, hence the 'no signal' . Start from the TV and work backwards to the aerial. Could be a loose or fallen out aerial lead, but if not follow the path back. Its likely to be a frayed wire, loose connection, corrosion, moisture in a cable, etc.

If the aerial is in the loft, you can check back yourself if poss. If not, its a ladder or calling someone out. 4 years and there is already a problem...not great.

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Saturday, 1 November 2014
S
sandy
3:35 PM

I have a portable dvd player / tv and radio. our other tv signal is fine but the portable has deteriorated in the last couple of weeks. reception of both radio and freeview is often poor with garbled sound. can anyone help.

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sandy's 1 post GB flag
Tuesday, 18 November 2014
B
belshaw
1:59 PM

hi have just purchased a sagem rt190 hd freeview box , the picture is blocky and hd channels are impossible to watch, phoned sagem and was told i have poor signal strength, yet my old humax works fine, can anyone help

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belshaw's 1 post GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:40 PM

belshaw: Postcode?

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 19 November 2014
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:45 PM

belshaw: In addition to that said by MikeB. Sagemcom RT190's have a facility for powering such as mast head amplifiers, this achieved by 5 volts being injected into the aerial down lead, if your aerial system does not incorporate any form of amplification then its advisable to check that this facility is disabled on the box, done by pressing "M" on the remote control and selecting "Information" / "Antenna signal information", ensuring that "Power supply by DTR" is set to OFF.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Saturday, 31 October 2015
A
Adrian
9:39 PM
Stoke-on-trent

Hi
My TV Aerial is giving a reading of "poor" on a signal meter direct from the Aerial. I have a NIkkai Tri fold aerial and have directed it to Winter hill my postcode is ST72EF. Any ideas of how to improve the signal strength ?

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Adrian's 1 post GB flag
Adrian's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 1 November 2015
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:03 AM
Macclesfield

Adrian: Unfortunately, I can't access DigitalUK's website with your location, but your about the same distance from Winter Hill that I am from my transmitter, with a clear line of site, so you should be getting a pretty decent signal. I know nothing about aerials, so I'll leave that to the reception guru's.

First thing to check is whether the aerial lead is OK. Even swaping it out for a really cheap one might make a difference - fly leads get damaged, come loose, etc.

Is the TV actually tuned to Winter Hill? Worth checking that it is.

Check the signal path. A dodgy connection, etc can really degrade a signal, as can water getting into the system somewhere, frayed wires, etc.

Are you getting a poor signal when reading directly from the aerial? Looking at that aerial, it doesn't look like its going to pull in a little bit of signal, so is it poor signal strength or poor quality?

link to this comment
MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
MikeB's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:54 AM

MikeB: Re: DUK's reception prediction site, purely for information purposes, I am also experiencing problems with this site.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 9 December 2015
A
Alexandra Dunlea
9:46 PM

We have moved into a new house, which we are renting. When we first came we got some TV channels (through YouView box) but then when we had bad weather we lost channels & our reception is very poor. We now have hardly any Freeview channels- no BBC channels, ITV etc. Also we seem to have lost ITV player on the YouView box.
I have had a technician out & he said I need to upgrade our outside aerial and all the wires.
We don't really want to spend too much money as the property is a rental & the landlord won't pay!
Any ideas on what can do?

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Alexandra Dunlea's 2 posts GB flag
Thursday, 10 December 2015
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:51 PM

Alexandra Dunlea:

Firstly, give a full postcode so we contributors can determine which transmitter would be preferred and what the reception conditions are like. Without that information we would only be guessing and possibly wrong.

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
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