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I've just had this installed but can't get all the channels as when the TV aerial was upgraded it made my analogue reception worse. I can't understand why this would happen and wondered whether this had happened to anyone else with Freeview?
This means I am left with the 'shadows' on my analogue pictures which I had hoped to get rid of with a new aerial. :(
Also, my TV is has Nicam Stereo but the Freeview Box is in Mono. Is it possible to get Freeview Boxes which have Nicam Stereo.
Any advice much appreciated.
A few things come to mind - when I got freeview I had to reposition my aerial as the transmitter I was on originally didn't support freeview. You can get a list from the website. Is the aerial the correct type for the transmitter you are on? You should certainly expect to see a vast improvement in the picture quality with the freeview box. I went from an average analogue pic to a perfect freeview.
If your upgrade was done by a decent installer he should be able to give you advice on all this.
Don't know about the stereo issue.
Not quite following you. I thought Freeview had all the analogue terrestrial channels so why would you need to watch the old analogue picture? I've probably just misunderstood. :-)
Not sure about the Nicam/Mono issue but there is possibly a setting in the freeview box menu where it can be set. Also it could be a cable issue. Is the box onnected to the TV via a scart cable or the older RF type cable? Not sure if the latter can do stereo.
I need to watch analogue for two reasons. If I am recording a programme on Freeview and also if there is a programme with music where it sounds better with Nicam Stereo. There doesn't seem much point in having a TV with this and then not use it!
I have an RGB Scart Lead ( I take it this is what causes a black line around the edge of the picture?)
Freeview shows that with the aerial I have just now that the quality of the signal is 100% but the strength is only 40% which is why I can't get quite a few of the Freeview Channels.
However, if I upgrade the aerial so I get these channels I sacrifice the quality of the analogue which I can't do. :roll:
Naefearjustbeer
03-Apr-05, 22:35
The arial for freeview is designed to recieve the free view signal. It is not designed for the old analogue signals that is why your picture is poorer on your analogue channels. If your freeview box is connected to your tv with scart you can still have your old arial going into the back of your tv. You will need to have both arials connected to do what you are asking
I need to watch analogue for two reasons. If I am recording a programme on Freeview and also if there is a programme with music where it sounds better with Nicam Stereo. There doesn't seem much point in having a TV with this and then not use it!
I have an RGB Scart Lead ( I take it this is what causes a black line around the edge of the picture?)
Freeview shows that with the aerial I have just now that the quality of the signal is 100% but the strength is only 40% which is why I can't get quite a few of the Freeview Channels.
However, if I upgrade the aerial so I get these channels I sacrifice the quality of the analogue which I can't do. :roll:
You could try buying a signal booster from argos or index prob be about £12-16
That should sort any problems you have .
The nicam bit i would of thought all freeview were didgital sound ready 5.1 i would of thought .I would read your manual and if not have a look for another didgibox.
What is the make and model of your freeview box ?
Thanks both!
Apart from the shadows my analogue picture is good. It improved a lot with the RGB Scart.
The Freeview Box (Humax F2-1001T) does have Dolby Sound but not Nicam Stereo.
I have decided to watch things like soaps etc, where it doesn't matter about stereo, through Freeview and anything with music through analogue terrestrial.
Does anyone else with Freeview not get all the channels?
captain chaos
04-Apr-05, 20:55
The model you have will give out a stereo audio channel when used with the scart lead or
using the two outputs on the rear into your hifi if it has an aux input
Nicam is purely a european gizmo, your sound through the tv speakers with the scart lead used is a true stereo signal. You must set this up in the freeview box as you can choose mono or stereo .
The model you have can recognise dolby digital but cannot decode it,you would need to connect to a Dolby digital amp to get DD.
Dali wrote The nicam bit i would of thought all freeview were didgital sound ready 5.1 i would of thought
Not many freeview boxes will be Dolby Digital and even fewer programs will be in DD. Most are just stereo or dolby pro logic
Nicam is purely a european gizmo, your sound through the tv speakers with the scart lead used is a true stereo signal. You must set this up in the freeview box as you can choose mono or stereo .
The model you have can recognise dolby digital but cannot decode it,you would need to connect to a Dolby digital amp to get DD.
How do I change it to stereo as it is mono at the moment? :roll:
Oops! I've just checked and it is stereo! It's just the TV that says it's Mono obviously because it's not Nicam Stereo which I have to say I really like the sound of!
I've been checking the signal strength and it is only 36% for Grampian. What does this mean in view of picture quality and would a signal booster, as suggested by Dali, help without making my analogue picture worse as the Freeview aerial did?
I have to say the picture is really good.
luskentyre
04-Apr-05, 23:14
Hi Liz,
I just got a freeview box the other week, and the signal reception was pretty bad. I assumed I'd have to get a new aerial, but it turns out it was the connection between the wall socket and the freeview receiver.
Having an uninterrupted connection between the aerial and the freeview box improved the reception greatly (and I can now get pretty much all the channels).
Hope this helps.
Thanks! Excuse my ignorance but how did you improve the connection between the aerial and the Freeview box? :roll:
luskentyre
05-Apr-05, 00:26
Well, I was lucky, in that I had enough spare cable between the aerial and the wall socket to pull it through and connect it directly to the freeview box.
I can't take any credit for this either - it was a helpful Graham Begg engineer - who said that in a lot of cases the connection between the wall socket and the receiver is to blame. Basically the fewer joins the better.
What direction does the aerial have to point for Freeview in Caithness? In particular the Watten area.
I bought a freeview box, and could hardly get a signal so i went down to graham beggs and bought an arial booster. It fixed it and now i have a very clear picture :D
I bought a freeview box, and could hardly get a signal so i went down to graham beggs and bought an arial booster. It fixed it and now i have a very clear picture :D
I'll try that. :D
What should the signal strength be as the average on my Freeview is about 40% whilst Grampian is only about 33%?
Not sure what this means in terms of picture quality though the sound went off Grampian yesterday for quite a while and there have been a few 'pauses' in picture.
The aerial should point towards Rumster forest transmitter.I have had freeview/itv digital/on digital since 1999 & have had no problems at all.The analogue signal should go through a freeview box via the RF lead.
I know that the digital signal is 'weaker' and this is why my analogue picture was affected by the Freeview aerial.
Is there any aerial which would give me all the Freeview channels without affecting the quality of my analogue reception and get rid of the shadows? :roll:
Analogue is prone to having shadows.The aerial u have should NOT affect the analogue signal in any way.That was how the system was designed as an electonics engineer i think i should know.
From Rumster the digital signals are either 1 or 2 kW compared to the analogue which is 100kW.
Analogue is prone to having shadows.The aerial u have should NOT affect the analogue signal in any way.That was how the system was designed as an electonics engineer i think i should know.
From Rumster the digital signals are either 1 or 2 kW compared to the analogue which is 100kW.
Thankfully the shadows aren't too bad and I can watch most of the programmes through Freeview anyway.
It was a qualified electrician who installed the Freeview but I did think there should be a way around the aerial for digital affecting my analogue reception. :roll:
It's not too bad for now as I do have a good analogue picture (apart from some shadows) and get the most worthwhile digital channels though it is annoying not getting the ones I should as I paid for them!!!! :(
It's ok for now but not sure what I'll do when analogue is switched off. :roll:
Liz u say u paid for some channels do u mean topup tv?
Is u're aerial a wideband one u need that for Rumster.
The aerial cannot affect the digital signal as it also gets the analogue signal.
If u are on Keelylang hill in Orkney?That might affect the analogue signal!Depends where in Caithness u are? :confused
What I meant was that I had paid for the Freeview box but can't get all the channels.
I'm not too bothered about that now as I don't think the missing channels are up to much.
I haven't a clue what type of aerial I have! :roll: It's well over ten years old.
I'm near Wick so the transmitter is Rumster.
Apart from some shadows the analogue picture is good as is the Freeview.
If the aerial is that old u need 2 get an upgrade I'm surprised whoever sold u the box didn't tell u that.As Rumster is a band A analogue transmitter but a band W digital transmitter.
Try switching the digibox off when you are watching analogue.
If your wiring is similar to ours, the antenna cable goes from the wall first to the digibox from which another analogue antenna cable goes to the TV, the signal deteriorates considerably when the digibox is on. Won't help you if you want to record digital while watching analogue, of course.
Thanks Elena but that doesn't make any difference to mine. :(
[/quote]the TV aerial was upgraded it made my analogue reception worse.
What was upgraded if the aerial is 10 years old?
I suggest you contact an aerial freeview installer who has a digital signal strength meter for setting a new wideband aerial and sat cable going directly to the freeview box (without wall sockets and tight cable bends). Alacam has this equipment.
The aerial required will usually be a hi gain wideband -colour coded with a black end or with a group "w" label on it and should be mounted outdoors on the roof.
A hi gain is usually used to compensate for analogue signal loss and improve signal gain on digital i.e if you are on Rumster transmitter using a standard group "A" aerial which is tuned to accept channels 21 to 37 and reject others outside this band.
A wideband aerial is tuned to cover all channels from 21 to 68.
Analogue on Rumster uses 21, 24, 27 and 31 but digital has various channels allocated through out the whole band hence if you are using an incorrect aerial you will not pick up all channels or even have problems with ones that are currently working.
With analogue if the signal is poor you get snow but with digital you get a broken, still or nothing.
I would also recommend using a good quality scart lead from the box to the t.v (not gold plated) in composite video mode rather than RGB.
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Sorry I omitted to say that I had my old aerial put back in. :roll:
I'm just thoroughly confused now! Why shouldn't an RGB Scart lead be used? This is what came with the Freeview box.
It cost me £98 to get the box and have it fitted so I can't afford to get someone else re the aerial.
My analogue picture is clear, apart from slight shadows, and the Freeview picture is very clear although the picture has been prone to 'freezing' these last few days.
Maybe this happens anyway? :roll:
Sorry my intention wasn't to cause confusion.
RGB will work alright but definition will be better with composite video.
I would leave things as they are in the meantime until an upgrade can be done and the aerial installer will alter this if it is needed.
That's ok Sparky. I'm very easily confused! :D It's good of you to offer advice.
I thought RGB was supposed to give a 'sharper' picture so what difference would composite video make and how would I change to this?
I'm having a problem with a bit of flickering and 'graininess' on pictures recorded from TV.
This happened with my last VCR as well.
Could a composite video help with this problem? :roll:
I thought composite was poorer than RGB scart...
It may already be in composite video mode and I doubt it would solve current problems as it is only a means of connecting the freeview to the t.v and would make no difference to the vcr.
If the vcr is in standbye does the flickering/graininess still appear on normal analogue t.v channels?
Geo
If you have a satellite box connected with a scart lead and push "services" followed by "picture settings" and change to RGB then save settings and back again you should see the difference with the clarity of the picture and writting on the screen.
Yeah that's the way I have it set.
Which setting did you prefer?
I think the picture is flat and lacks clarity in RGB.
On my TV in RGB the picture is noticebly better, text sharper etc.
o.k difference of opinion here.
It may already be in composite video mode and I doubt it would solve current problems as it is only a means of connecting the freeview to the t.v and would make no difference to the vcr.
If the vcr is in standbye does the flickering/graininess still appear on normal analogue t.v channels?
The flickering and graininess only appears on recording. I'm going to try a different tape to see if that helps.
So you suspect a tape problem. The most common type of fault with any vcr apart from bad tapes is dirty heads. Some may say tracking is another but a vcr should always produce optimum tracking with it's own recordings. If the tracking is off it normally requires adjustment with prerecorded tapes as the reason for having the tracking adjustment is simply every vcr is slightly different and tracking is required to compensate. The majority now do this automatically.
Dirty or worn heads can also playback previous recordings or prerecorded tapes o.k but record poor.
Although these are most common other faults produce similar symptoms.
What make and model of vcr?
Well I tried a different make of tape tonight and it was worse! :(
I don't think it can be caused by dirty heads as it is only a couple of months old and has been like this sense I had it. The Sony I had before had the same problem!
Also, the tracking is automatic and has the B.E.S.T picure system.
It's a JVC XVS30 (Which recommended best buy!) VCR/DVD combi.
Don't know what to do it and it does get annoying after watching for quite a while.
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