Is Freeview worth the effort?

[ericmark]

Returning to my own house, moving things around, so need new feeds for TV and LAN etc. At the moment we have two dishes with four outputs from each, with have an active Sky HD box, and two old sky boxes which will work fine on the free to air channels. Also one HD free to air box, and two very old free to air boxes. So 7 outputs required, so one to spare.

We also have a booster/splitter with through for the Sky digieye, connected to main sky box so we can watch what's on main TV in bedrooms, plus swap channels, and we have a 43" TV and a 32" TV which are smart, plus a Bluray player which turns to TV it is connected to into a Smart TV and a desk top TV used to record and watch TV.

There is no aerial set up either in loft or outside, however the pole carrying the front sky dish at side of integral garage about 9 foot high is in direct line of sight to Miss Piggy, i.e. Moel-y-parc. GB3MP hence called Miss Piggy.

So is it really worth erecting a bit of wet string and coax to pick up Freeview, or are there no real advantages? I did have Freeview at mothers house, and the same box receives both Freeview and Free to air but it results in some odd channel numbers. Satellite starts at around 876 so all numbers up the creak.

On the odd time I have used Freeview but it was such a pain forever returning I had given up. I think there are a few odd channels available on Freeview but not free to air, but also have Sky so can always watch or record on Sky.

If I am going to put up an aerial where do you get them now? Have considered a caravan shop, but I need about 3 elements, if this, simple di-pole likely good enough, I talk through Miss Piggy with a 5 watt handy on 2 meters so very likely just a di-pole is required. However to mount on the same pole as dish needs clamps on back of aerial. Looked at Screwfix and their smallest is 8 db gain, really a bit of over kill.

So is there any point in Freeview, and if so, where do I get a di-pole or halo aerial from. Even with 2 meter I only use a HB9CV.

 

[Lucid]

"Is terrestrial worth the hassle?":
Terrestrial has been fairly stable for decades in the old analogue system, and reasonably stable for quite some time in the digital-only era. Yes, there has been the need to retune. That's because successive governments have viewed the precious frequency range with greedy eyes and decided to sell it off. Had that not happened then all the buggering about over the last half dozen years wouldn't have been needed.

Compared to a full subscription TV service (Sky, VM etc) then of course there's far less channel choice, but here's the thing... Every single TV sold in the UK today has to have a Freeview DVB-T2 tuner (SD & HD compatible) if the set is to be referred to as a Freeview TV. Unless you're in an exempt category, then all of us have to pay the TV Licence fee. My view is that if I'm already paying for it then I might as well have the reception capability, even if it's nothing more than as a back-up.


"The channel numbering is messed up on some or other dual system receiver":
So what? That's a receiver-specific issue. It's not Freeview's fault.

Watch via a TV with a Freeview tuner and it'll be fine so long as you've followed a sensible route and narrowed down the tuning to the main local transmitter. Even where TVs have dual tuner systems (Terrestrial + Sat usually, but sometimes cable too) I haven't come across any issues with channel numbering as the two systems are handled as different source signals.


"Here's a good plan; I'll spend a long time messing about trying to make some non-standard aerial work":
Oh dear God, why?

You don't need a lot of gain, fine. Just buy a compact Log Periodic. A Triax TX20L or Optima L20F or something similar from one of the other aerial manufacturers. They're not expensive; £10-£12. They come with brackets suitable for mounting to a 1-1.2" diameter pole too. All you need is is an F connector to fit on the end of the coax cable and you're pretty much in business.

The Triax and Optima are both available from CPC who still (I think) offer free delivery on orders over £5 ex-VAT


Screwfix - pants for their aerial selection. Okay for distribution amps and plugs.

 

[big-all]

well i dont have any pay for or other system i have 3 freeview boxes and they work well iff you can use a pay for system for free then good luck to you i will never subscribe but thats my choice so limited to freeveiw and i understand that
i dont do the "you must have " or you must watch this poo" argument lol
i have never ever paid a subscription ever to watch tv or anything ever
i pay up front for the boxes with no on going fees or not at all

 

[ericmark]

I will have to look for local shop that sells aerials, puts me right off when they say it's a digital aerial, makes me think they have not a clue. But F connector is good, already got shot gun cable from dinning room TV to dish, and no recording on that box so only needs one, so cable and ends already in place, just need an aerial. So channel 32 to 52 so I would guess Group B Yellow is what I need?

 

[ericmark]

well i dont have any pay for or other system i have 3 freeview boxes and they work well iff you can use a pay for system for free then good luck to you i will never subscribe but thats my choice so limited to freeveiw and i understand that
i dont do the "you must have " or you must watch this poo" argument lol
i have never ever paid a subscription ever to watch tv or anything ever
i pay up front for the boxes with no on going fees or not at all

Although we do have Sky HD in the main I only watch free to air programs, only my wife watches the pay for channels, so I have 5 free to air boxes, I don't see any real advantage using terrestrial rather than satellite free channels. I can the other way around, what can I watch with terrestrial which I can't watch with satellite, there are a few I am sure, but not many.

I looked at Freeview in mothers house, it has a program called ITV3+1 same as satellite that also has ITV3+1 however it works with satellite, half the time with Freeview it's off line.

But Lucid has a point, it is a good back-up, however Freeview seems to fail due to weather more than satellite, so not so sure.

 

[Lucid]

well i dont have any pay for or other system i have 3 freeview boxes and they work well iff you can use a pay for system for free then good luck to you i will never subscribe but thats my choice so limited to freeveiw and i understand that
i dont do the "you must have " or you must watch this poo" argument lol
i have never ever paid a subscription ever to watch tv or anything ever
i pay up front for the boxes with no on going fees or not at all

I'm trying to make out what you're saying here. Was drink involved at all?

Anyway, your comment about "no ongoing fees".......... Do you not pay for your TV licence then?

 

[Lucid]

I will have to look for local shop that sells aerials, puts me right off when they say it's a digital aerial, makes me think they have not a clue. But F connector is good, already got shot gun cable from dinning room TV to dish, and no recording on that box so only needs one, so cable and ends already in place, just need an aerial. So channel 32 to 52 so I would guess Group B Yellow is what I need?

I don't know.... You seem hell bent on making life hard work for yourself.

Lots of people get stuff wrong. Hoover/Dyson for vacuum cleaner. Plasma as a generic name for any type of flat screen TV. iPad for any kind of tablet. iPod for any kind of MP3 player. HDMI Switch for HDMI Splitter, and HDMI Splitter for HDMI switch. Christ on a bike, folk can't even get input and output right. Oh, and don't get me started on the number of people who write arial, or ariel.

It cuts both ways as well though. So many would-be purchasers look for the reassurance of "digital aerial" because they're not au fait with the technology. Same goes for "HD aerial" like it makes a difference. So long as you know what you want, and you know that it's not a digital aerial, or a HD aerial, then really.... who gives a flying fart?

As for Group B, if you're absolutely positively 100% sure that Moel-Y-Parc will never ever go below c35 then fine, get a group B. But here are the problems.

1) Group B doesn't cover down to c32 officially. Group B is c35 - c53

2) There are two muxes already below c35, so really you need something wider than a Group B aerial

3) In your OP you've already said you get loads of signal from Moel-y-Parc, so why do you need a high gain Group aerial when all that will do is give you gain suitable for a weak signal area?


Why are you continuing to make hard work for yourself and this board? Get a Group T aerial today. Personally I don't trust the Government not to try to sell off even more of the channel spectrum after the 700MHz band goes. So I certainly wouldn't put an aerial up that wasn't capable of getting down to c21 even if it's not required today.

Get a compact Group T Log Periodic. They're a modest gain aerial with a fairly flat gain curve rather than the far more peaky response of a traditional Group B aerial. Stick it up on the mast and stop wasting time making a mountain out of a mole hill. It's not that hard. Just do it.

 

[pete50]

Good grief what a tome to ask a simple question. If you have Sky you have Freesat. Not a heluva lot of difference between Freeview and Freesat except you already have the kit for Freesat.

 

[bernardgreen]

My question would be is Sky worth the expense.

Freeview Channel 81 has outstandingly good films ( for a nostalgic ancient )

 

[Lucid]

Good grief what a tome to ask a simple question. If you have Sky you have Freesat. Not a heluva lot of difference between Freeview and Freesat except you already have the kit for Freesat.

Except the need for a Freesat receiver attached to every TV display, whereas Freeview is built-in.

 

[big-all]

I'm trying to make out what you're saying here. Was drink involved at all?

Anyway, your comment about "no ongoing fees".......... Do you not pay for your TV licence then?

of course drink was involved you know i am sober my posts are shorter
yes i do have a tv license as that charge is compulsory to my viewing choice and a clear conscience

 

[ericmark]

My question would be is Sky worth the expense.

Freeview Channel 81 has outstandingly good films ( for a nostalgic ancient )

That is always been a problem, Channel 81 on my Freeview Polaroid TV is analogue, from 1 to 99 is reserved of analogue, my other TV's and boxes are not much better, the HD box I have allows one to reorder the programs, I use a logical order ITV1, ITV1+1, ITV2, ITV2+1 etc, but BBC1 for example is on at least 20 channels, with Freeview it has at least 2 one standard and one HD and if you get more then one transmitter likely 4 or more, as to Freesat or Free to Air again loads of BBC1 one for each area and one HD for each area. Sky is the same, however with Sky your post code selects which BBC1 is channel 101.

I am undecided about fixed channel numbers, I like being able to select the order so the +1 is next to standard. And I can group those I watch regular together. And I have Talking Pictures right next to Film 4 +1, I have moved all the film channels together. However the TV also has U-Tube and it seems all the old Black and White are the default options, so before mother passed away it was regular to be watching old films on U-Tube.

The other problem is things keep changing, I liked watching UK History which became UK Yesterday, however although on free to air satellite channels it was on all day, on Freeview it switched off at 6 pm, but this has now changed, the +1 version it seems is only available on Sky not Freesat, but would not be surprised to see that change. I looked for it on a old Sky box and not there, likely need to do a manual re-scan.

That is just one example, so some of the reasons for having both terrestrial and satellite are no longer valid, do a google "channels on freeview but not freesat" and most the information found is out of date. There are some programs like UK Gold which did have a limited time on Freeview, nothing on Freesat, and just past 7 am to just past 3 am on Sky i.e around 3 to 4 hours off air. However look at the program guide nothing tells you which platforms have limited viewing. Ups it seems that is one of the changes, no longer available on Freeview it was it seems removed in 2013 shows how out of date I am.

It does not help with miss advertising, UK Drama says on adverts "There is only one program called Drama" however there is CBS Drama so that is incorrect. As I look at the list of programs on Freeview, non stand out as names not seen on my Free to Air box. So before I bother setting up an aerial simple question, what can I watch for free in terrestrial that I can't watch for free with satellite?

 

[DaveHerns]

How do the rest of us manage? I can find enough to watch to fill in my viewing time.

 

[ericmark]

If I did not already have 6 satellite boxes 2 being HD then yes Freeview is the cheap option. And yes I would fit an aerial and cable rather then buy a satellite box, However I do have 6 satellite boxes, so unless there are some programs which are worth watching on Freeview which are not broadcast for free on satellite then seems little point fitting an aerial.

 

[Lucid]

Seriously? If that was your view all along then why the hell did you waste our time with a long-ass rambling bloody question in the first place. Jesus H Christ, are you that short of attention in your life?

@%#!....... I'm so bloody ticked-off right now, you have no friggin' idea. What a waste of time and space.