TV Signal Interference

[Bobs]

Hi guys,

I think I should start by saying that I'm not an electrician, but was hoping to get some friendly advice =) You might have to bear with me if I make some rookie errors...

Just moved into a new house and set up the TV's. As far as I can tell, the previous tenants have had Sky and so the main TV aerial on the roof has been disconnected, meaning the only aerial lead in the house is connected to the Sky dish. So both TV's are on indoor aerials which are working well... until a car drives past

Everytime this happens, both TV's become pixelated and lose signal for about 4-5seconds. We've tried re-positioning the aerials etc but it makes no difference. Is there anything simple that we can try, or is it just that we need the main aerial re-connecting?

I wouldn't have thought a signal booster would help much as the signal is fine the rest of the time.

Thanks in advance!

Bobs

 

[Doc Hudson]

Welcome to the forum. The first thing I would do is go onto this website UK digital TV reception predictor and insert your postcode to get an idea of the sort of aerial that is recommended for your area and the compass bearings for your local transmitters. If the reception predictor website is suggesting, high-gain, amplified aerials then you are probably wasting your time with an indoor aerial, If it does suggest a set top aerial then at least you know you should be able to get a good signal. In which case I suspect it is going to be more trial and error testing as house structure, types of walls etc can make a significant difference to signal quality.

Doc H.

 

[Apache]

The cheapest option would be a couple of road closed and diversion signs off ebay...........



(hello and welcome)

Why not watch through the sky dish?

 

[Badfish]

^^+1 what pache says just go and get yourself a chepo free sat box or go the whole hog and get an hdd free sat box.

 

[sellers]

Main things to check are:

Is the aerial pointing the right way? Have a look at all you neighbours if you don't know the correct direction

Are the coax connections good?

Are you running too many tv's off the 1 aerial? You should really have 1 aerial for 1 tv. It will do 2 at a push, it can do more if you have a really strong signal. If this is the case use a booster box

Is your aerial big enough? If your in an area of low signal or have a lot of buildings and trees nearby it may be best to get a bigger better aerial. Or better still mounting it on the chimney.

 

[batty]

We are on freeview and if you go into the menu of the box there is a part that tells you how good the signal is. To me it sounds like you are not getting a good enough signal.

 

[Doc Hudson]

We are on freeview and if you go into the menu of the box there is a part that tells you how good the signal is. To me it sounds like you are not getting a good enough signal.

As batty says the set-up on the boxes often shows the signal strength / signal quality as a percentage bar. It could be worth doing a reset & re-tune of the freeview receiver and look at the signal strength for the channels as it re loads them.

Doc H.

 

[Andy™]

you need to re-use the aerial on the roof

 

[brummydave]

I presume this is in aid of getting free tv rather than paying the money grabbers at sky? I'd try reconnecting the aerial for sure. Unless you want to go the freesat route and get a box like has been said previously.

It seems odd that Sky didn't install their own cables from dish to box. Is it a DIY install? That'd make sense if a short lead went from satellite dish to aerial downlead. Either which way, modifying coax cables is not that disimilar to electrical ones. You need to make sure they're up to the job, not damaged, and able to supply the 'load' you're after!

Digital signals are a lot more fussy than analogue ones were, and as such need much better quality cable. It may be that you'll effectively need to start from scratch as a lot of rubbish cable is out there. (The links below have great info on types of cable )

A further point, there can be over 20dB increase in signal between indoors and on a chimney so again there's been great advice already on checking levels etc.

Lastly, I see you're in Sheffield. There's all sorts of fun with different transmitters in that region!

These guys A.T.V (Aerials And Television) TV Aerial, DAB Aerial, FM Aerial. are local and have lots of great advice.

This guy Wright's Aerials is also local and really knows his installation stuff!

Hope that's helpful.

 

[pauldavies9983]

Interference is generally occurring when a TV signal is distorted by other signals before it reaches at your TV set top box. It can be origin by any electrical apparatus, radio transportation or the weather.

 

[Doc Hudson]

Interference is generally occurring when a TV signal is distorted by other signals before it reaches at your TV set top box. It can be origin by any electrical apparatus, radio transportation or the weather.

Welcome to the forum, if you wish to advertise your TV warranty scheme, please see our terms and conditions about sponsorship. I have removed the unauthorised link from your post.

Doc H.

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

Somehow i recon the OP has fixed his problem by now.

 

[SLIPSHOD & SLAPDASH]

3000 posts Doc :Applaud :Applaud :Applaud Your round

 

[ProDave]

3000 posts Doc :Applaud :Applaud :Applaud Your round

Doesn't that mean at another place he could now go to the pub?

 

[steptoe]

Doesn't that mean at another place he could now go to the pub?

:Applaud

on the ball tonight Dave,

isnt it Club Med or something its called.? :innocent

 

[jamestaylor84]

I didn't get one point which has been discussed here. Does the size of a TV aerial matters in signal interface? Or does the quality and capability of an antenna matters the most? Please share your thoughts.

 

[OnOff]

I didn't get one point which has been discussed here. Does the size of a TV aerial matters in signal interface? Or does the quality and capability of an antenna matters the most? Please share your thoughts.

Many, many factors to consider. In my personal experience at fringe areas then a band specific aerial may help rather than a wideband one. Thus a band specific would have a better signal to noise ratio than a wideband jobbie - the wideband one will be picking up signals and interference that you're not interested in. What sort of interference is it? It might be "cross channel" in that you are receiving from two transmitters etc. A bit of a black art but a good start is here:

http://www.aerialsandtv.com/aerials.html#2ndCoChannelInterference

 

[Bruspark]

The length of an aerial decides how directional it is.. And longer aerials have more signal capturing ability in one main direction than shorter ones. Wide band aerials are mostly useful to shops who don't know what to stock, if you can determine the correct aerial group to buy you will get better performance in that frequency range and less interference from signals out of it.

All of this can be complicated as can be, or as easy as pointing the same sort as aerial as all the neighbours in the same direction..

Quality mostly affects the time the aerial would last before it corrodes or bits fall off although truly rubbish aerials will be rubbish from the start.

 

[ProDave]

Another thing to consider now is 4G phones that are now taking over the top end of what was until last year the tv broadcast band.

So wideband aerials are not necessarily a smart choice now.  On one hand they will protect you from channel moves to accommodate a re organised band plan, but on the other hand may give you 4G interference issues.

you can now buy "Group K" aerials which cover channel 21 to channel 47 so that might be a better bet?

The 800 MHZ band (tv channels 62 to 68) have already been sold off for 4G phones.

The 700MHz band  (tv channels 49 to 61) is being cleared to be "sold off" but nobody is entirely sure what it will be sold for. One possibility is it may well be sold for more tv capacity.

About the only thing that is certain, is that things are going to change over the next few years.