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The Radio 3 Boards > General Chat > The Coffee Bar > TV reception
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Author Topic: TV reception  (Read 160 times)
Swan_Knight
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« on: 10:24:34, 05-02-2008 »
Apologies for (yet) another cry for help.....

However.....the TV reception in my area (Derbys/Notts border) is truly appalling.  Last week, in the heavy winds, the aerial was blown down, so I called out some engineer types to fix it.  I asked them, while they were at it, to see if they could alter the direction of the aerial, as I'd been getting a terrible, blotchy picture on all the digital channels.  They told me that the aerial I'd been fitted with two years back (I'd specifically ordered a digital one) didn't have a very good masthead or amplifier (these words don't mean much to me) and that, in addition, I was situated in an area between several different transmitters, ensuring that the signal was affected.  The result manifests itself in the form of dreadful drop-outs and poor sound - BBC 1 and 2 seem ok, but ITV channels are bad and most of the digital channels are similarly affected. 

I would've complained before now, but the fact is, I don't watch that much television. However, seeing as I pay the same licence fee as everyone else, I don't see why I should have to put up with inferior service.  Most of my neighbours seem to have got round the problem by signing up to Sky, but I'll be damned before I put money in Rupert Murdoch's pocket. 

Oh, and we are going to be one of the LAST areas to transfer to all-digital reception: in 2011!

Anyone got any ideas as to what I can do?
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Ron Dough
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« Reply #1 on: 10:49:26, 05-02-2008 »
There's a simple(-ish) answer which doesn't put too much money in Murdoch's pockets, but gives you plenty of choice for the future, sk: it's called FreeSat. You arrange a normal Sky installation - box and dish - but then, instead of signing up to a monthly subscription, you pay a one-off fee of £20 for a card which provides all the Beeb stations for your area, plus the four ITVs, channels 4 and 5 and a rag-bag of other stations, of which the Performance channel might be useful for you. Added to which, you'll receive satellite radio, which sits between FM and DAB in quality at the moment (i.e. better than DAB).

Or you could arrange for the dish to be installed off your own bat, and either buy a Sky box through a third-party supplier (you can pick up the latest Pace box for around £100), or wait until Lidl have another week where they sell their own box, (and even a dish and cable) and go for the DIY approach: the Lidl will give you Beeb and ITV, but since it has no slot for a FreeSat card not channels 4 or 5: a cheaper but less flexible option.

Having originally tried a Lidl box myself, I've recently moved up to a Pace box and FreeSat: excellent picture, and even up here, where the angle is more critical, perfect reception. All in all your best answer (unless, of course, you're in a cable area....)
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Morticia
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« Reply #2 on: 12:24:19, 05-02-2008 »
TV reception here is pretty grim - ill-defined images and NICAM throwing hissy fits and switching off. The rental company suggested what Ron has mentioned but when I investigated I discovered that the area I live in is "unsuitable" Angry It rather makes me wonder what the situation is going to be like in 2012 when London finally goes digital.
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...trj...
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« Reply #3 on: 13:12:38, 05-02-2008 »
The daft thing about North London, Mort, is that I can see Ally Pally from my kitchen. And yet my TV comes from 16 miles away in Crystal Palace...

A decent digital aerial on the roof seems to work though.
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Morticia
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« Reply #4 on: 13:35:40, 05-02-2008 »
Daft, isn`t it, trj?  I`ve just checked on the Beeb site re. the digital switchover and got thoroughly teed off and not just because I had to look at the antics of that stupid wide eyed bot! This whole exercise is going to cost consumers money (no change there then). I was aware that there would be costs involved but there seem to be more of them than I had anticipated. I think I`m going to start training now as a television ariel engineer, I suspect they are going to make a tidy profit when the time comes. Grrr.
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...trj...
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« Reply #5 on: 13:43:36, 05-02-2008 »
But what about the heights? All that clambering around on roofs <shudder> Shocked
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Morticia
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« Reply #6 on: 13:52:21, 05-02-2008 »
Damn! My irritation completely blanked out my vertigo for a moment Grin
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