Freeview HD reception

[Merlin5]

Nothing important just thought I'd post about it. I'll be buying a new TV soon with freeview HD built in which is obviously standard these days. Meanwhile, I still use a freeview HD box with my old Samsung TV. I used to get over a dozen HD channels but in the last few weeks most have disappeared and I only have BBC1 HD, BBC2 HD, ITV HD, C4 HD, C5 HD and CBBC HD. So thinking it might be my old box losing it's functionality, I bought another new HD box yesterday, a Manhattan T1 Zapper. Very nice, only £35, nice interface and absolutely tiny, only slightly bigger than my hand. My previous box is an old Tesco Technika which still works but always rebooting itself or not responding to button presses.

The new box is also only finding the 6 HD channels. So I called freeview helpine and they told me they'd made some changes recently at Crystal Palace where my TV is transmitted from. Fortunately they told me I'm eligible for free home support and they're sending an engineer on Monday to adjust or even replace the roof aerial at no cost to me. So I'll get all my HD channels.

 

[Merlin5]

Great that they are coming round to fix it for free, didn't know they did that.

Absolutely. I didn't know about the freeview home support service before yesterday.

At first they said it wouldn't be free since it's a shared aerial and they don't touch communal aerials. But then I was asked how many flats there are in my house using it, and I said it's just a house split into two flats and I own one of them. I was then told that's fine as it's less than four flats.

 

[Merlin5]

I'm bringing this thread up again because I'm now getting no signal at all. When the freeview engineer came last year, he replaced the roof aerial and installed a booster. He also installed a power supply box next to the tv with the aerial from the roof going into it and a cable from the box to my tv. Reception has been perfect for the last year but today it's completely gone.




The green light is going off, yet when I disconnect the aerial cable on the left that says 'IN' the light comes on. So it's on with no cable and off with the cable. I've no idea what's going on other than thinking something is broken on the roof? Thing is, given that they did this under the free home support, am I entitled to get them back to fix it without having to pay?

I can't bypass the box and connect the aerial direct to my freeview box or tv because there's a screw thread type connector on it rather than a standard push on connector.

 

[Merlin5]

Thanks for the replies guys.
lucid, thanks for the detailed explanation as an aerial professional, much appreciated.

As it happens, I left the box disconnected overnight and just now plugged it in again. The light is staying on now with the cable connected. Picture and sound has returned. At first it was freezing for a few seconds but is solid now.

Doesn't seem to have been extra aerial power being sent as my freeview box menu shows 5V Antenna Power as off.



Also, last night I connected the Wolsey power supply box direct to my tv without going through my freeview box and still had no signal.

It does sound like water might have been the culprit or some (hopefully temporary) fault with the masthead amp.
If it happens again, I'll take your advice and call the freeview help, or in fact, I believe it's a company called SCCI that installed it.

 

[Merlin5]

lucid, I've still been having the same issues. It keeps going off for hours then will randomly work again. It's off again this evening. Last night I fiddled with the aerial connector going into the box and it started working but today I can't get it to work. Kind of hard to know if it's a problem at the power supply end or on the roof.

I called the aerial company who did the work and they said I have to call freeview first. I called freeview who said they have a 90 day warranty so I'm on my own now. And the aerial company is a contractor who don't take jobs directly. Shouldn't a contractor still have some sort of 1 or 2 year warranty for the work they do? It's a bit crap because in some ways I'm worse off now than before the work was done. I was missing 4 HD channels before the work, but at least I never lost complete tv signal.

I'll have to go to a local aerial shop tomorrow. Any idea how much they're likely to charge?

 

[Merlin5]

Thanks for the help jpaul, mmj, steampunk and lucid and sorry for the late reply.
It came back on again yesterday evening after several hours of 'no signal'. I checked it again this morning and it was still working and have just turned the tv on again now and still working. But it'll undoubtedly go down again at some point.

When it's working, system info shows me signal strength and signal quality are always a solid 100%. It also says region is Greater London. I'm not absolutely sure if it's rain that affects it or not, I'll have to monitor that.

The connector at the aerial, i.e, the screw thread going into the Wolsey power supply box is screwed in properly, seems solid enough. When I get no signal and the light is off, the light always comes on and stays on when I disconnect the aerial connector from the Wolsey box.

When the signal came back yesterday, I did a factory reset and retuned. I'm not convinced though that the retuning will stop the signal from disappearing again but we'll see.

If the signal goes again, I'll have a go at rewiring the screw thread connector and I'll take some photos to show you of the inner conductor and the hole on the wolsey box so you can see if you think there's anything that looks bad.

 

[Merlin5]

Retuning won't do anything. That's like trying to fix a slow puncture in a car tyre by tuning the radio.

Lol, good analogy.


Well as expected, it went off again. Was still working this morning, and was on this afternoon briefly. I left the room for a while, came back in and the light had gone off. Also, no rain here today that I'm aware off, so doesn't seem to be that affecting it.

I've done a short video, don't know if it will help pinpoint anything.

 

[Merlin5]

What's the brown liquid? if it's shorting the core with the braid then you'll have problems. I know sometimes installers use grease for water protection but this is an indoor connector right?

Looking at the dielectric it's air filled so it would be easy for water to run down the inside of the cable.

Good observation as I hadn't noticed a liquid. Yes the connector I show the inside of is the indoor connector on the cable that runs to the roof. Is that actually a liquid inside it then? I must admit I haven't touched inside it yet to see if it's wet. Do you think I should get some tissue and run it around the inside of the connector?

 

[Merlin5]

Thanks for the info guys. There's no way I'd personally be going up on the roof, but I don't think they changed the cable, I think this is the same cable I've had for years. I never had signal loss before they came and did the work last year, so I'm not sure it's the cable. I'm thinking it's whatever they've attached to it on the roof, or, the power supply box.

 

[Merlin5]

Thanks for the advice guys. Been raining today but hasn't affected the aerial. Signal came back again last night and is still on at the moment.

Ok so, ballpark figure, what sort of amount should I expect to pay for an engineer to come out, go up on the roof, check it all out and replace the cable to WF100 / TX100 / PF100?

 

[Merlin5]

Thanks lucid. Can't you just move to finchley and come and do the job for me. I'll have the kettle on and I make great cakes

 

[Merlin5]

How long is a piece of string?

You should ring some local installation companies. Don't make a big job out of getting a couple of quotes though. The price will be around what your local market conditions dictates. It also depends on the type of property (working on a bungalow is cheaper than a 3-storey) and there may be unique factors such as shared occupation or parking restrictions or issues about access such as part of a road needs to be blocked off. All these things means that anyone quoting blind is wasting their time and yours.

Stick with small local suppliers. Avoid the big national firms, particularly Aerialfarce ( ). They give a low-ball quote then bump the price up when on-site.

Maybe have a look at some of the sites such as Checkatrade and similar to see going rates in your neck of the woods? Then, give a couple a ring. If what you're hearing is "We're the cheapest. We can do it next day" then give them a wide berth. No decent installers are free next day. They're booked up with work with clients who appreciate the quality. The people who are free next day are the ones without repeat business and with a poor reputation.

If someone is asking you lots of questions, then tells you about the quality of the gear and how they'll do the job, then gives you pricing including contingency for say changing a poor quality wall socket or covering the 'what if's' of say needing to replace the mast amp or replacing a broken tile then these are the sort of people that you want.

This company is in my high street and seems to 26 have excellent reviews on Google, overall score 4.7 out of 5. What do you think lucid?
https://g.co/kgs/itRQFj

https://www.wardaerials.co.uk/

 

[Merlin5]

Thanks lucid, I'll do that on Monday. I asked you because one review says "Great service from this company - would highly recommend. Gary came around to visit and provided us with a quote that same day. Installation of a new aerial on a flat roof took place the next day." and you said be wary of installers that can do next day installations. But yeah, with them being long established I think they'll be trustworthy. I'll of course suggest the cable types you listed. Hopefully that will be second nature to them and they'll tell me they always use any of those cables.

 

[Merlin5]

Yay, I popped into Ward Aerials shop and they said all the right things. I asked them what cable they use and was told Webro. Excellent.
I asked them when they can come round and was told they're booked for a week. I said to the woman I'm happy she didn't say tomorrow as I was told to give a wide berth to anyone coming next day!

So they're coming next Tuesday between 10am and 12pm. Call out charge is £80 plus VAT. She said cable Is 50p per metre and reckoned would be about £25. So total cost might be in the region of £150. Of course, that depends on if there's any problem with the masthead amp or power supply.

I also mentioned the aerial going to my front room. She said let them fix the bedroom connection first (which is the main issue here) and then they can check the connection in my front room to see if it's ok or not. Basically, ever since my front room was decorated quite a while ago, I've not used the room yet and not used the aerial in my front room for ages, since well before last year's aerial installation. It's got the old push connector on it. I'm guessing they'll need to run a second new Webro cable to that and run it from the same masthead amp. Perhaps they'll need to add another power supply too for the front room?

 

[Merlin5]

I would get all of the cable replaced regardless if it's the same stuff as pictured earlier, you may as well do it now rather than to potentially have to pay for another call out charge later.

Indeed, I'll get it all done in one go to save a second call out.

 

[Merlin5]

TV aerial people came this morning and all fixed now!

First thing he did was pull the screw connector off the aerial cable going to the Wolsey power supply in the bedroom and said it was wet but not overly so. He immediately got the tv working and then went up the ladder and checked the aerial and post and fittings on the roof at the front of the house.

He said the roof was covered in moss, and he couldn't get all the way up to the aerial as it was too slippery. At first he said it might be something has fallen over and that he would get it working, but that next year I might need to get a new post and fitting installed as they eventually rust away, which with labour would be around £250.

Anyway, he later told me that it all looks solid and dry there. He also checked the signal on my front room aerial and said it's all working fine ready for a tv.

He suspected the cable at the back of the house going to my bedroom tv would have cracks allowing water in, particularly as it was close to the gutters and downpipes. And to be honest, I've noticed water overflow when there's been heavy rain as the gutters are obviously a bit blocked. So that couldn't have helped the cable stay dry.

He fitted 15 metres of brown Webro cable while his workmate cut off the old cable at my bedroom wall and drilled a new hole next to it to feed the new cable through. They did a great job. Only small criticism is the plaster is a bit cracked where he drilled and I was hoping he'd fill it but I'll do that myself at some point. He sealed the outside of the hole because I told him I don't want any water coming in and causing damp.

Anyway, he said I'll have no more problems now. So very trustworthy company not trying to rip me off. He said it was £98 for the first hour and would be £45 for each hour after that. Well, considering they were there for an hour and a half, he still only charged me for one hour plus cable. Perhaps because I was nice to them and offered tea and coffee, which in fact they didn't want.

So I'm very happy with the price, wasn't expensive at all as I had budgeted for two to three times as much.

 

[Merlin5]

Me too lucid, and thanks very much for all your advice, it really helped me understand things better and at the very least, know what brand of cable to expect.

That's good -
... they changed all the cable then - your comment about not being able to get up to the aerial, confused me - was the living room an internal spur.

(freeviews been breaking up in Cambridge for last 3/4days on some channels - Sandy Heath transmitter
... but I couldn't see any information about atsmospheric effects, or explanation, like mux changes )

He said that it was not possible in this weather to get further up the roof. To be fair, the people last year came in the height of summer, but at the moment, the roof is covered in slippery moss he told me.

He changed the cable running from the aerial to the back of the house to my bedroom. But not the old cable at the front, since he plugged the cable connector in my living room to his machine and said it's spot on. So I'm assuming that if his machine said it's all good that presumably there's no damage to that cable. Perhaps lucid can confirm if that's the case. But should there be any problems with the front cable and they have to come back, it should only cost the same again, which would still be within my original budget. But these guys have been going for years so I trust that his decision to only change the bedroom cable is fine.

Oh and quick name drop, he told me they were once working on some property in central London that Cher was renting and she turned up. I don't know any more than that, just thought I'd mention it.