Freeview/Aerial Problem

[mbeamethyst]

I have just connected TV in bedroom to loft aerial to get better Freeview reception (on a passive splitter), but as a result have lost channels athough reception better on channels that are received.

We have the same aerial connected to the TV in the living room and are getting full range of TV channels but in the bedroom only 19.

We have tried various times auto retune, plus manual tuning following auto retuning, done full TV reset and switched TV off at mains for a while but nothing's made any difference. It seems to be missing TV channels that are on UHF 42 and 45.

We tried swapping the connectors over from living room to bedroom but they still pick up the same number of channels. Also tried swapping Living Room and Bedroom TVs round and disconnected living room connection completely but that didn't make any difference either.

The aerial (its in the loft) isn't wideband but not sure what group its coded for - have still to check that (if it could make a difference?).

Would appreciate any advice.

 

[Diyisfun]

If you have tried both tv's on the same spur, then there must be either a fault with the tv that cant tune or the tv that does tune has a better tuner circuit.
It cant be the aerial/splitter or wiring as you say you tried all combinations.
It can only leave a difference between the 2 tv's

 

[briancbb]

Also tried swapping Living Room and Bedroom TVs round and disconnected living room connection completely but that didn't make any difference either.

Is this saying, irrespective of which tv was used in the bedroom, the bedroom signal wa still missing ch 42 and 45. The statement is not clear.

 

[Diyisfun]

Also tried swapping Living Room and Bedroom TVs round and disconnected living room connection completely but that didn't make any difference either.

Is this saying, irrespective of which tv was used in the bedroom, the bedroom signal wa still missing ch 42 and 45. The statement is not clear.

must be the tv

 

[big-all]

i have several tvs and freeveiw boxes
non off them get all channels and its unusual for 2 to get the same channels
different rooms can give different results on the same tuner and they all come off the same ariel [4 videos 7 tuners and 6 tvs

the channels are broadcast in groups at different strengths

 

[ChrisFrost]

The simple answer is Tuner Sensitivity. The bedroom set needs a stronger signal to pick up all the channels.

You say you tried disconnecting the living room connection completely. It's not clear though if you mean at the TV end. If that is what you meant then the aerial signal is still driving the cable, and now with no TV on the end the cable it isn't terminated with a proper load. That won't help matters.

Finally, your loft mounted aerial is giving a less signal than a roof one, and with a passive splitter you are further dividing the strength of that signal.

Loft aerials can work fine in a strong signal area as long as they are aligned correctly. A professional aerial installer will use a signal meter to get the best reception in the bands that are important for your TV region. This is not only about the direction the aerial is pointing but also where it is mounted in the loft. They'll also use decent cable that loses very little of that precious signal. DIY kits and DIY installs don't quite match up.

Do check your aerial alignment with a compass and the correct bearing from www.Wolfbane.com. Replace the passive splitter with something active. Make sure there are no kinks in the cable. They act as a notch filter that can kill certain frequencies. If all else fails get the aerial mounted outside.

 

[mbeamethyst]

Thanks for all the replies. One thing I'm not sure I made clear is that before the bedroom TV was connected to the loft aerial all it had was a signal booster attached and with that we could get all channels, albeit with pretty patchy and weather dependent reception with some channels dropping out when it rained.

 

[mbeamethyst]

Also tried swapping Living Room and Bedroom TVs round and disconnected living room connection completely but that didn't make any difference either.

Is this saying, irrespective of which tv was used in the bedroom, the bedroom signal wa still missing ch 42 and 45. The statement is not clear.

Sorry its saying that we moved the bedroom TV into the living room to try it on that connection and it was still missing channels.

 

[mbeamethyst]

In the area we live we aren't allowed to mount aerials on the roof, any other suggestion for boosting the signal of the loft one? Thanks

 

[ChrisFrost]

Was it a DIY or professional installation?

 

[shonky]

Where I live we arent allowed external aerials either!

I just bought the biggest ariel I could fit in my loft and get fantastic reception on all channels.

I have 3 TVs connected to the one aerial but I found it better to run one cable from the aerial into a 3 way splitter then down to the sets.

In my experience with digital....If the signal on a particular channel then rather than receive a bad picture (like the old analogue) it just doesnt show....its either there or isnt!

Id try a bigger aerial in your loft.

 

[ChrisFrost]

mbeamethyst,
correct me if I got this wrong, but you said your loft aerial isn't wideband - it's a group one - and that you've had it connected on a single cable to the poorer TV, and this was via a booster, and the signal gets worse if it rains.

If the above is correct then a grouped aerial will give more signal than a wideband. A group one has to be the right type for your area of course (check end cap colour). Any aerial has to be of reasonable quality, and in a decent spot in the loft and aligned correctly.

Crappy RF cable (cheap or poor quality) can throw away much of the signal strength. Also check for poorly fitted RF plugs. make sure there are no strands of shielding touching the inner core.

Rain will reduce signal strength. If the aerial setup is a bit marginal already then this will push it over the edge.

 

[mbeamethyst]

mbeamethyst,
correct me if I got this wrong, but you said your loft aerial isn't wideband - it's a group one - and that you've had it connected on a single cable to the poorer TV, and this was via a booster, and the signal gets worse if it rains.

If the above is correct then a grouped aerial will give more signal than a wideband. A group one has to be the right type for your area of course (check end cap colour). Any aerial has to be of reasonable quality, and in a decent spot in the loft and aligned correctly.

Crappy RF cable (cheap or poor quality) can throw away much of the signal strength. Also check for poorly fitted RF plugs. make sure there are no strands of shielding touching the inner core.

Rain will reduce signal strength. If the aerial setup is a bit marginal already then this will push it over the edge.

You're right, the loft aerial not wideband but it was previously connected via a single cable to the lounge TV only - no issues with reception, all channels received and no issues during bad weather. So working on the assumption that until we connected the second TV, we had the right aerial in the right place with acceptable cabling and connectors.

Problem TV was previously connected to its own plug in aerial booster. It was just a little device that sat beside the TV in place of the plug-in loop aerial that came with the TV originally and it was this one that gave us issues with reception and weather problems - hence the reason for connecting it to the loft aerial - we optimistically thought it would solve our problems!

Will check the cable/connections for this second troublesome connection - we just got the bogstandard stuff from B&Q so quality could be suspect/2nd rate.

Gut feeling however is that with everything we've been discovering and all the options we've been trying is that it is the TV tuner that's the problem.

Will keep updating if we make any further new and exciting discoveries about the rogue TV!

Thanks again for the assistance.

 

[ChrisFrost]

A loft install will knock a good 6-10dB off the signal strength compared to an outdoor aerial. It doesn't sound like much, but it is significant. A 3dB is a halving of the signal. Another 3dB means halving what's left. You now have just 25%. That's for only a 6dB loss.

If the TV's tuner is really poor have a think about trying a freeview box instead.

 

[Sam Gangee]

How are the TV sets connected to the loft aerial? Full details, please.