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130 posts

Master Geek


Topic # 105053 26-Jun-2012 12:04 Send private message

Argh - got all this typed up and lost it. Second time lucky! 

I have MySky in the living room, with an RF cable running to a second TV in the bedroom. My daughter has a TV in her room, connected to a cheap indoor aerial that gets very poor reception. With all the digital switch-over talk, I'm thinking of getting Freeview for my daughter's room.

There is an old aerial on the roof at the back of the house that I've never used. I read somewhere that if I can get Prime on that aerial then it's probably OK for Freeview, so I'm going to test that next week.

Let's say I can get Prime. In theory, all I need is a set top box, right? Are they easy enough to set up myself, or will I need a qualified installer? Will the quality of signal I get now (e.g. if it's like watching Prime through a snow storm) have any bearing on the quality I can expect from Freeview?

I'm not looking at a box that can record, but are there any particular features or spec.s I should look out for? Are there brands to get, or to avoid?

If I can't get Prime now, I'm going to need a new aerial. Are those little indoor UHF ones any good or will it need to be outside, on the roof? Does it need to be pointed in a particular direction?

Where are the transmitters in Wellington? I'm in Lower Hutt, up on the Western Hills. A Line drawn straight down the hill from my place would cut through Pal n'Save. I saw a Freeview map a couple of months ago and most of the hillside where I live was green ("very likely") with the odd purple ("uncertain") spot here and there.

And any other info a novice like me might need would be greatly appreciated…

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1249 posts

Uber Geek


  Reply # 646340 26-Jun-2012 12:16 Send private message

If you can get Prime now, so long as it is viewable, you 'should' be able to get Freeview terrestrial.
Most set-top boxes are very easy to set up, just make sure that if your daughter's TV is a bit older (and has no HDMI inputs) that the STB you get has composite outputs (Yellow, Red, White).

I am not sure about FV reception in the Wellington area, but someone here will know.

709 posts

Ultimate Geek


  Reply # 646389 26-Jun-2012 14:15 Send private message

You may not even need a STB if the TV to be used is fairly new. It may have a digital tuner built in.

499 posts

Ultimate Geek

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  Reply # 646412 26-Jun-2012 14:51 Send private message

andrew027: 

Where are the transmitters in Wellington? I'm in Lower Hutt, up on the Western Hills. A Line drawn straight down the hill from my place would cut through Pal n'Save. I saw a Freeview map a couple of months ago and most of the hillside where I live was green ("very likely") with the odd purple ("uncertain") spot here and there.

And any other info a novice like me might need would be greatly appreciated…


Hi,

there are 5 transmitters in the greater Wellington region. Likely Fitzherbert & Kaukau are the 2 best for you. Have a look at the indervidual coverage maps on the Freeview website to see which transmitter covers your place. Haviing a look at to where the neighbours are pointing to as well should give you a guide.

In terms of aerials, a properly installed external UHF aerial works best. There are some Wellington based GZer's who will help you out on this if you like. Otherwise your currently installed aerial might be worth a go if you want to just test it out (make sure its UHF and not one of the big VHF types). Most Freeview certified devices have a basic signal stenght meter to offer some guidelines. Indoor aerials work best when you are close and have line of sight, if you have a set around, you might want to experiment depending on your patience and how far away you are from one of the transmitters.

Good luck

Knoydart

5677 posts

Uber Geek

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  Reply # 646441 26-Jun-2012 15:33 Send private message

Hi, if your on the western hills then the most likely transmitter you will see is Fitzherbert that is on the eastern hills more or less above naenae (or slightly south of that) the tower is quite distinct in that it looks like a ballerina with a wide toutou in the middle.

If you can see Fitz then you should have no problems with reception at all.

Your antenna for Fitzherbert needs to be vertically aligned rather than horizontal as used by Mt KauKau.

Cyril



130 posts

Master Geek


  Reply # 647713 28-Jun-2012 16:30 Send private message

Thanks for the info, everyone.

I'm going away this weekend but plan to check out my existing aerial next week. At least STBs and aerials don't seem to be too expensive.

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