Confused about freeview, have uhf antenna and sky dish

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Confused about freeview, have uhf antenna and sky dish

wal88

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#230532 28-Feb-2018 11:19

Hi,

This is my first post.. it seems many people here are knowledgeable about freeview so I thought I'd ask for advice.

Basically recently cancelled Sky and returned box. Since there was sky I'm assuming there's a sky dish (right??). Also I've checked outside and I can't find sky dish but found this exact thing which seems to be UHF: two pronged

In terms of coverage, according to this eye-wrenching coverage map my location (off summerland drive) seems to be light green (not dark green): http://freeviewnz.tv/media/1097/auckland.pdf

I've tried the UHF cable with a panasonic TV (bought 2014) the channels are detected (as digital) but transmission is constantly interrupted. THere's also a newer Sony bravia tv but that can barely detect two channels with extreme fuzziness.

Will buying a freeview receiver for UHF have better results? Or should I ditch HD hopes and get a freeview receiver for satellite?

If you guys suggest going with satellite receiver, will it make a difference if it has HDMI or just avi plugs considering no HD?

Thanks for the help in advance

trig42

5809 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1965675 28-Feb-2018 11:24

How old is the antenna, and, how good is the cable?

It is possible the antenna has moved/corroded, and (more likely if it is old) the cable is not up to the task.

You should have printing on the coax cable telling you what it is (RG58, RG59, RG6). You need RG6 for DVB-T, and the antenna pointing the right way.

Starscream122

568 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1965678 28-Feb-2018 11:26

Make sure you are using RG6 cable from that UHF aerial not the older RG59 and maybe try a amplifier but the trouble with amplifiers is sometimes they can amplify the bad signals..

Spyware

3761 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1965687 28-Feb-2018 11:30

Logical to call an antenna installer and have them resolve the problem. DO NOT install indoor signal amplifiers. Amplifiers should go at headend, i.e., near to antenna.

robjg63

4096 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1965688 28-Feb-2018 11:35

You must have a sky dish somewhere - Sky doesnt work without a dish.

The aerial you indicated is the right sort of thing for Freeview terrestrial. The signal seems to not be quite good enough - which could be because of your location or the aerial or wiring - corrosion, not pointed in the right direction, bad wiring, non optimal aerial.

Freeview satellite would require you to buy a freeview satellite box (unless you have one of the few TVs that also has a built in Freeview satellite tuner included - not many do) - the picture quality on satellite is standard definition and looks very ropey compared to the terrestrial HD versions.

All 'Freeview" TVs have an inbuilt freeview terrestrial tuner included - you dont need to buy a 'Freeview tuner for UHF'.

If you are considering stumping up for a freeview satellite box I would suggest that instead you get a local aerial installer to come out an advise.

On a general level (OP please dont think I am getting at you) - we really need a Peter Reader auto responder for Freeview questions - Even after all these years the split of Freeview Satellite and Freeview Terrestrial seems to confuse many people. Maybe an auotmated Peter Reader page explaining Freeview would be a good idea.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

wal88

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1965717 28-Feb-2018 11:53

Alright, so the cable (plugged into a wall socket) says: 3C-2V Coaxial cable 75Ω

The antenna is most likely very old, it seems to be in reasonable condition. I'm slightly color blind and it's high up but the back grid looks like it has a rusted dark brown color.

No idea what a "Peter Reader" is, but I have done my research for at least 5 intensive hours, there are many variables as you know just thought I'd ask for any thoughts

I need to mention that I'm heavily financially constrained and my budget allows for buying a second hand terrestrial receiver and new cable Or satellite receiver

Thanks for all the replies and info, really appreciate it

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#1965924 28-Feb-2018 14:57

I would say you have an antenna/cabling problem. It may be that your co-ax cable is not even connected to the antenna any more. Checking google maps you can see the Tx Tower on Waitarua from Summeland Dr so you should be getting a thumping great signal and your UHF antenna appears to be overkill. If you don't have good reception on 2 TVs then it's got to be the antenna system.

If I were you I'd get a Pro Installer to check everything out and possibly install a new suitable antenna and new cable. I would think in your location an indoor antenna may work. I'm 11km away on North Shore and can see Waiaturaua out my windows. I can get a signal with just a short piece of wire stuck in the TV socket but I do use a 48 el UHF antenna which is way smaller than yours and it's even overkill in my location.

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#1965936 28-Feb-2018 15:01

wal88:

No idea what a "Peter Reader" is,

Nor do I. Can somebody please enlighten us? Google didn't help.

Equinox IT

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B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#1965949 28-Feb-2018 15:11

wal88:

Alright, so the cable (plugged into a wall socket) says: 3C-2V Coaxial cable 75Ω

From Wiki

3C-2V is commonly marked on low cost coaxial cable used for domestic TV signals.

It is one of the options of the Japanese cable standard JIS C 3501.

The 3 indicates approx diameter of the conductive core (=0.5 mm)
The C indicates a characteristic impedance of 75 ohms
The 2 indicates a solid PE dielectric core
The V indicates a single braided outer conductor (W would be double)

Nominal loss at 100 MHz is 42 dB/km.[1]

With its narrow core it is similar to RG-59 cable; RG-6 coax cable is better shielded and has lower losses.

So that's not good for a start.

RunningMan

8953 posts

Uber Geek

#1965954 28-Feb-2018 15:18

B1GGLZ:

wal88:

No idea what a "Peter Reader" is,

Nor do I. Can somebody please enlighten us? Google didn't help.

@PeterReader, the Geekzone Robot.

Provides helpful info automatically on questions that repeatedly get asked.

Goosey

2829 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#1965968 28-Feb-2018 15:54

No need to go buy a new box just yet.

Get someone to look at the aerial and cabling, we think thats were the fault is.

You could try borrowing someones bunny ears? (indoor antenna).

fe31nz

1228 posts

Uber Geek

#1965984 28-Feb-2018 16:18

You can get some (usually bad) DVB-T reception when plugged into a Sky aerial if you are close enough to the transmitter - the aerial cable can pick up enough UHF signal to make it work. So are you sure you are connecting to the UHF antenna, not the Sky dish? What sort of connector does it have - Sky aerial cables normally are terminated in an F connector (screw on), and UHF ones are often Belling-Lee push connectors, since that is what most TVs have to connect to.

wal88

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1966017 28-Feb-2018 17:11

The UHF cable I'm referring to is plugged into the wall, a panasonic tv (2013) picks up many channels (labelled digital not analogue) and a few work but most of them smudge scenes and it's not 'loading' fast enough (or skipping signals?). The larger Sony bravia is much worse.

I wasn't using the Sky cable which as you described is screw on, I did try putting it into a Humax receiver but that thing is ancient and rarely works usually have to get someone in to tune it (used to use it for arabic channels in the other house).

If anyone is interested in what the antenna looks like:

Can't upload, see: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzFOMoSbnoa-emJBMWtaMkZtVUEzSFdGUzlZSFJDUVlwaWRr

While driving back I saw a tower on some distant hill which matches the direction of Waitarua, and the antenna is pointed towards there.

I'm gonna buy an rg6 cable from trademe and see, also I might grab a second hand receiver since they are rare on trademe/fb and someone is selling a mini (cheaper)

Thanks for all the help, I'll let you guys know of progress

Update: I tried it on sony tv again, I noticed an option 'digital scan range: normal" and changed it to "Full", it took a while but it picked up 7 channels, two of them are glitchy (Maori and Te Reo) but that's fine I'm happy with 5 working channels. Only four of them are 1080i including the 2 glitchy ones which seems strange. I'm still gonna buy the rg6 cable and see if it's better.

Thanks for all the help, I should be ok for now

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#1966169 28-Feb-2018 22:21

wal88:

The UHF cable I'm referring to is plugged into the wall, a panasonic tv (2013) picks up many channels (labelled digital not analogue) and a few work but most of them smudge scenes and it's not 'loading' fast enough (or skipping signals?). The larger Sony bravia is much worse.

You could also try a new cable between the TV and the wall. Some of those short cables are notoriously bad quality and I've had the odd one or two brand new that didn't work at all, even back in the days of analogue only.

P.S. If you are running two TVs that would indicate there is a splitter somewhere. If so make sure its a modern one suitable for UHF Digital and not an old one from the days of analogue.

Brunzy

2016 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1966268 1-Mar-2018 08:01

3C-2V is useless at UHF, if you are on a budget then assuming the dish is in a location where you will get a UHF signal, then remove the dish and replace it with the aerial.

wal88

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1966460 1-Mar-2018 12:58

B1GGLZ:

You could also try a new cable between the TV and the wall. Some of those short cables are notoriously bad quality and I've had the odd one or two brand new that didn't work at all, even back in the days of analogue only.

P.S. If you are running two TVs that would indicate there is a splitter somewhere. If so make sure its a modern one suitable for UHF Digital and not an old one from the days of analogue.

Wow how did you know?? I was cleaning yesterday night and find a long uhf cable into wall in master bedroom, the position is exactly under the antenna. There's no print on it any where, it's just a fancy gold color head.

I plugged this new cable in, nothing. Tried full re-tuning nothing. I put back the other cable and now none of the channels work, they're all smudging, including many new ones Jazeera, Shine, chinese one etc. So I got more channels but none work properly. Retuned, nothing. I sat there ruminating what changed, then thought maybe I plugged it in the other way round, but it really shouldn't matter though. I reversed, and 5 channels working again...... seems like the cable is dodgy that it needs a certain direction

I've ordered an rg6 from trademe now