Indoor TV aerials (for digital freeview)

Van Hellseek · 13 Jun 2012 at 18:16

Can anyone recommend any that are actually good enough to pick up a decent digital signal? I've tried a couple of £30-40-ish ones from argos, and they got the old signal great but failed completely when it came to digital.

So now that analogue has been switched off, are we basically just doomed unless we have proper TV points, or are there any decent ones that actually work well available?

Efour · 13 Jun 2012 at 18:23

I know its no help but i use exactly the same one.

Can you get signal levels on your free-view box/tuner? When they turned the old stuff off they must have boosted the digital cos it went from 25% upto 80% on mine.

i know thats no use

were the new ones amplified in some way ?

TheLegendOfMart · 13 Jun 2012 at 18:25

They did, once Analogue was switched off they boosted the digital signal all over the country.

RomanNose · 13 Jun 2012 at 18:26

Just get a directional one then use trial and error to find the best position.

dcsarge · 13 Jun 2012 at 18:48

My brother has just moved house and needed an aeriel to keep him going until Sky was installed so he bought one from Argos for £18 (One4all Wave). I thought he would end up returning it the same day but it works very well when placed near a window facing the strongest signal.

Mr_White · 13 Jun 2012 at 18:54

Eeeeeethan said:
They did, once Analogue was switched off they boosted the digital signal all over the country.

It's still not as strong as the old analogue signals were though.

Soundood · 13 Jun 2012 at 18:59

dont get one at all, they are all ****, even with a booster fitted.

go to argos and get a £60 ariel with good reviews, and and go up the loft and bolt it onto a joist,

and dont worry, it picks up signal through the tiles !!!

drop the cable down into the room, and hey presto digi TV

jaket · 13 Jun 2012 at 19:02

ATV2 with TVCatchup

Cosimo · 13 Jun 2012 at 19:31

simulatorman said:
Philex SLX Gold Digitop Amplified Set Top Aerial:

Arrived yesterday. It’s good and has gone into an upstairs bedroom close to the window, pointing in the general direction of Crystal Palace sitting behind an HD TV.

Picked up all the normal Freeview channels with excellent signal strength/quality. It has achieved its aim of getting the Freeview HD channels. Signal strength is excellent and quality is around 25% which is ok for reception. It’s also managed to get 2 more sets of the HD channels.

Bear in mind we are in a good area for reception and it will do for now. I will be getting a roof top connection at some point in time. I got it from Aerial Shack for £22.98, which includes postage.

With the new London signal strength it works very well and I will not go for a rooftop one.

neodude · 13 Jun 2012 at 19:49

Indoor aerials are entirely reliant on your signal strength.

Check out this site...

http://www.ukfree.tv/starthere.php

Type your post code in on the right. It gives you loads of tools showing you where your nearest transmitter is and if it is line of sight or not.

If it is line of sight then you should get a good reception with an indoor aerial. It will also tell you if your transmitter has had or is due a power boost since analog got turned off.

lucid · 14 Jun 2012 at 08:10

neodude said:
Indoor aerials are entirely reliant on your signal strength.

^^^ This

An acquaintance of mine has two of the same model indoor aerial for the TVs in his and his son's bedroom. His works fine, but the one in his son's room doesn't. The reason is simply location.

His aerial is on the side of the house facing the Winter Hill transmitter which is the N.West's equivalent of a Crystal Palace in strength. His son's bedroom is on the opposite side of the house. The signal from Winter Hill has to pass through the house. This weakens it sufficiently that the local relay transmitters are then of equal strength to the main transmitter. Those signals interfere with each other.

In a couple of weeks I shall be visiting to fit the outdoor aerial with a signal splitter to feed the two rooms directly.

Indoor aerials are a lottery. Even the best of them are way behind the capabilities of a loft or roof aerial. Fortunately digital TV is an all or nothing system. If you have enough signal then the picture will be okay. Boosting does very little to help. If the signal quality is not there in the first place then a booster won't help. Think of a car radio. If it is not tuned in then does turning the volume up make things any better? That's all a booster is - a "volume control" for the signal. It doesn't change the tuning which is the equivalent of signal quality.

ic1male · 14 Jun 2012 at 10:13

I use a cheapo one from Argos but as others have said, it's fussy about the placement. It works in only a few places but I'm on a hill with nothing in the way.