Lost Freeview signal
Discussion
Over the last couple of weeks the TV signal in the house has been poor on Freeview. on all the TVs / receivers.
My other half had done a rescan for channels and both the TV and a Freeview recorder in the front lounge had lost a load of channels inc BBC1,2,ITV,C4,C5 the first channel listed was no12 I yesterday I did a retune and only found 33 channels.
I looked in the loft where we have a Wolsey 8 way TV signal Amplifier see below which I turned off and on in the hope it could be rebooted.
I also looked over the outdoor aerial (from the ground) which looks in good condition and doesn't appear to have moved, although I think it may be a common place for birds to hang out.
In overcast and rainy weather this morning I did a rescan on the front lounge TV and Freeview box) and got over 100 inc channels inc BBC1,2,ITV,C4,C5 checked signal quality for BBC and was 10 quality 10 strength. At same time I did a rescan in back lounge and got 0 channels.
In order to help diagnose where the issue is is it worth buying a signal tester like this. I'm thinking if I unplug the cable from the amp where it's labelled Full and connect this to a tester this will establish if the Ariel is at fault or if the issue further down the line ie the amp. However I see the amplifier also has a UHF connector connected, reading some instructions for a similar amplifier that this can be used to power a mast head amplifier so if that's not working could it still be the amp even if I get a poor signal before it?
We're in the Trafford area SW of Manchester and I believe we're using the Winter Hill transmitter. Any advice on trouble shooting or should I just go and buy a replacement amp
My other half had done a rescan for channels and both the TV and a Freeview recorder in the front lounge had lost a load of channels inc BBC1,2,ITV,C4,C5 the first channel listed was no12 I yesterday I did a retune and only found 33 channels.
I looked in the loft where we have a Wolsey 8 way TV signal Amplifier see below which I turned off and on in the hope it could be rebooted.
I also looked over the outdoor aerial (from the ground) which looks in good condition and doesn't appear to have moved, although I think it may be a common place for birds to hang out.
In overcast and rainy weather this morning I did a rescan on the front lounge TV and Freeview box) and got over 100 inc channels inc BBC1,2,ITV,C4,C5 checked signal quality for BBC and was 10 quality 10 strength. At same time I did a rescan in back lounge and got 0 channels.
In order to help diagnose where the issue is is it worth buying a signal tester like this. I'm thinking if I unplug the cable from the amp where it's labelled Full and connect this to a tester this will establish if the Ariel is at fault or if the issue further down the line ie the amp. However I see the amplifier also has a UHF connector connected, reading some instructions for a similar amplifier that this can be used to power a mast head amplifier so if that's not working could it still be the amp even if I get a poor signal before it?
We're in the Trafford area SW of Manchester and I believe we're using the Winter Hill transmitter. Any advice on trouble shooting or should I just go and buy a replacement amp
Funny you should say that. Ive had similar issues recently despite not touching an identical setup.
Try a 4g filter - you can get them for free from https://restoretv.uk/at800-landing-page/ if you answer the questions correctly (i.e., ive tried everything, it must be 4g!). I was advised that new masts in my area could be causing the issue.
The filter has improved it slightly but there are still glitchy channels. Im going to try and reposition the aerial when I can be bothered to climb up there.
Try a 4g filter - you can get them for free from https://restoretv.uk/at800-landing-page/ if you answer the questions correctly (i.e., ive tried everything, it must be 4g!). I was advised that new masts in my area could be causing the issue.
The filter has improved it slightly but there are still glitchy channels. Im going to try and reposition the aerial when I can be bothered to climb up there.
indigochim said:
In overcast and rainy weather this morning I did a rescan on the front lounge TV and Freeview box) and got over 100 inc channels inc BBC1,2,ITV,C4,C5 checked signal quality for BBC and was 10 quality 10 strength. At same time I did a rescan in back lounge and got 0 channels.
In order to help diagnose where the issue is is it worth buying a signal tester like this. I'm thinking if I unplug the cable from the amp where it's labelled Full and connect this to a tester this will establish if the Ariel is at fault or if the issue further down the line ie the amp. However I see the amplifier also has a UHF connector connected, reading some instructions for a similar amplifier that this can be used to power a mast head amplifier so if that's not working could it still be the amp even if I get a poor signal before it?
We're in the Trafford area SW of Manchester and I believe we're using the Winter Hill transmitter. Any advice on trouble shooting or should I just go and buy a replacement amp
Do you know which cable is connected where? The aerial should be on the UHF port not the Full port, which is a higher power output than the other 8 ports. If the front lounge is on the Full port & gets signal while the back lounge is on a normal output port & doesn't then either you have poor incoming level or the amplifier may be faulty. Connect the incoming aerial cable to the back lounge cable & see if you get channels. If you do then the amp is suspect, if you don't then it may the the arieal or the downlead.In order to help diagnose where the issue is is it worth buying a signal tester like this. I'm thinking if I unplug the cable from the amp where it's labelled Full and connect this to a tester this will establish if the Ariel is at fault or if the issue further down the line ie the amp. However I see the amplifier also has a UHF connector connected, reading some instructions for a similar amplifier that this can be used to power a mast head amplifier so if that's not working could it still be the amp even if I get a poor signal before it?
We're in the Trafford area SW of Manchester and I believe we're using the Winter Hill transmitter. Any advice on trouble shooting or should I just go and buy a replacement amp
Akayfortyseven said:
Try a 4g filter - you can get them for free from https://restoretv.uk/at800-landing-page/ if you answer the questions correctly (i.e., ive tried everything, it must be 4g!).
Thanks for that. A new mast has gone up nearby, Google says 600m away. I presume you had to call them after the questions. Most the lines of answers I give end up with that conclusion. Mr Pointy said:
Do you know which cable is connected where?
I don't but it looks like I'll be finding out.Mr Pointy said:
The aerial should be on the UHF port not the Full port
That's great info thanks I had no idea and assumed the UHF was for a radio and then as I've clearly misread that it might be to supply power to a mast head I was wondering why I could only see one cable at the aerial and now I count where we have TV sockets there's 9. Looks like I'll be spending some time in the loft while the better half shouts what's going on/off.indigochim said:
That's great info thanks I had no idea and assumed the UHF was for a radio and then as I've clearly misread that it might be to supply power to a mast head I was wondering why I could only see one cable at the aerial and now I count where we have TV sockets there's 9. Looks like I'll be spending some time in the loft while the better half shouts what's going on/off.
The amp can combine a UHF TV antenna (plugged into the UHF port) & an FM radio antenna (plugged into the VHF port) so both appear on the 8 normal & the Full outputs. Then down in the lounge you have a splitting faceplate to separate them out again: it's not used so much these days as DAB & streaming have taken over.The Full output is usually used for a particularly long run or if you want to split again, but if you have poor incoming signal it may actually be the only one that is giving enough signal at the TV.
As said the UHF port can also have a voltage present (it's low so not dangerous) to power a mast head amplifier but your aerial is pretty small so you must be in quite a good signal area, or someone has fitted the wrong one. How does it compare to others nearby?
New amplifiers/splitters aren't very expensive so if yours is toast it's not a huge cost for a new one. Of course it may be due to he new mast as well so a free filter can't hurt. There's a section on this page about 4G/5G issues:
https://www.aerialsandtv.com/knowledge/digital-fre...
oldagepensioner said:
When i had this problem my local curry's suggest i have a look at the rest of the houses down my street and sure enough every one has dish.
Even in the pre digital age this was a very poor reception area and having a dish was the answer but i don't know if you can split the signal.
You can but it's a little more complicated as you need an LNB (that's the bit on the end of the arm on the dish) with more outputs & then a splitter or multiswitch.Even in the pre digital age this was a very poor reception area and having a dish was the answer but i don't know if you can split the signal.
I bought a booster from B&Q back in 2011 and it worked well until a year or so ago.
The Humax box was older, so I just figured maybe one or both elements were on their way out.
Other than there being no obvious way to pick up the car programmes I want to watch on Quest, we seem to be doing just fine with a Now TV stick instead.
The Mendip transmitter is over an hour's drive away, so I can imagine reception has always been a struggle. About time I considered taking the bloomin' great aerial down now, tbf.
The Humax box was older, so I just figured maybe one or both elements were on their way out.
Other than there being no obvious way to pick up the car programmes I want to watch on Quest, we seem to be doing just fine with a Now TV stick instead.
The Mendip transmitter is over an hour's drive away, so I can imagine reception has always been a struggle. About time I considered taking the bloomin' great aerial down now, tbf.
Mr Pointy said:
Lots of useful stuff.
Thanks for that. I've no issue buying a new amp if that's what it is and like you say they're not outrageous and I've found a labgear LDA2081LR that states it has a built in 4G filter, Does that also do any 5G?I'll try getting a filter from restoretv.uk as I can see some of the postcodes 100m away state they would have had postcards to say to get in touch.
indigochim said:
Mr Pointy said:
Lots of useful stuff.
Thanks for that. I've no issue buying a new amp if that's what it is and like you say they're not outrageous and I've found a labgear LDA2081LR that states it has a built in 4G filter, Does that also do any 5G?I'll try getting a filter from restoretv.uk as I can see some of the postcodes 100m away state they would have had postcards to say to get in touch.
https://www.smartaerials.co.uk/blog/what-does-5g-i...
Gassing Station | TV, Film, Streaming & Radio | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff