Have you heard of this Freeview problem?

[Pianorak]

Just looked on Amazon - drew a blank on Fly Lead with Gain Control. However, plenty of Fly Leads of various kinds. Hmmm. (What have I started?)

[Dave2002]

Fly lead is just a cable to connect your TV or digibox aerial connection to something else. You might need one if you get an aerial amplifier, as the normal aerial wire goes into that, and then you need to link back to the TV or box. You'll probably need a male-male lead, but Sod's law means that one end will be wrong. Some of these leads come with male-female adapters or female-male, depending which cable you get. You can get gold plated ones but I think Tesco still do the value range which are good enough for this application and shouldn't cost much.

You should find a picture of a cable here - though a bit pricey with the postage as well -

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aerial-Shielded-Cable-CABLES-ALL/dp/B002FB0RNW/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1308499795&sr=1-1

The gain control I mentioned is on the aerial amplifier, which might also be called a booster, or even a splitter.

I'll see if I can find a picture of one.

Note also, one other thing. How bad is your problem? If it's only a few seconds once in a while it could be due to electrical devices nearby turning on or off. In that case the amplifier solution might have less effect, and better cabling suitably screened would do more good. My assumption is that thhe signal going into the set isn't quite strong enough, which is quite often the case, but it also depends on the TV or digibox. Some are excellent and can cope with weak signals. As I said though, it's cheap enough to be worth a try.

[Dave2002]

Here is a booster for less then ten pounds. Not sure whether it has the gain control, but if you have a big Tescos near they might have just the thing. Really not worth spending much more I'd say - http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.209-0685.aspx

[Pianorak]

Dave - thanks again, I think I've got the picture now. Anyway, time for Cardiff final!

[salymap]

As I started all this........Just before Freeview started I bought my Pace box that was probably not at fault, fitted it to my TV and enjoyed Freeview and terrestrial TVfor, what is it, seven years.

Now two boxes go awol, extra bits are needed, Someone says their new 32" TV fades, Is this progress?

[Serial_Apologist]

Progress ceased in 1979, and as far as is known, has not resumed since

[Pianorak]

. . . Really not worth spending much more I'd say - http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.209-0685.aspx

Oddly enough I've got one of those from a previous TV set where the Freeview pictures froze. An aerial fitter suggested removing the booster. Thankfully I didn't throw it away so let's see if it's the answer to my prayers. Watch this space.

[Dave2002]

Pianorak

Interesting. If the fitter did a good job, then he was probably right as the signal strength should have been good enough, though it does make a difference if the signals are digital rather than analogue. Older wiring designed for analogue might not give very good results because of the much wider range of frequencies to transmit. Your posting does suggest digital though, so you should be able to try for very litle cost. The booster unit should be a wide bandwidth one - most of the new ones are. You should be able to tell if your unit makes any significant improvement. You should expect to see a less noisy picture on analogue channels, and with luck problems on digital channels will be much reduced. If this fails the problem could be with the aerial, the cabling or the TV or the digibox (if you have one). Some TVs which are otherwise good have weak input gain, so this is usually a cheap way to see if improvements can be made. The same may also apply to digiboxes..

[MickyD]

I've got a brand new Humax Freeview box and am more than happy with the picture quality. But even this new box has the odd hiccup moment and I would agree with the other posters that the best solution is to unplug from the mains for a few minutes. It works every time!

[rauschwerk]

As I started all this........Just before Freeview started I bought my Pace box that was probably not at fault, fitted it to my TV and enjoyed Freeview and terrestrial TVfor, what is it, seven years.

Now two boxes go awol, extra bits are needed, Someone says their new 32" TV fades, Is this progress?

Someone I used to work with, and who was of your generation, Salymap, was wont to say, "Everything improves for the worse." Sometimes I think he was right, which probably shows my age.

[Dave2002]

MickyD

Humax boxes usually have very good input gain. That was how I discovered some of this with our now relatively expensive Sharp TV. The reviews at the time said it was very good, but not so good on Freeview, which I thought odd. Indeed, fed with inputs from Humax boxes, or good high definition sources the picture is very good, but the Freeview "as it comes" isn't. Putting one of the cheap aerial amps in brings the picture quality to a comparable level.

There are possibly still TVs which don't do well enough in this area, and don't forget also that there are also many very cheap Freeview set top boxes, which perhaps don't compare well with Humax models. There shouldn't be any need for an amp if the TV is very good, the Freeview box is very good, the cabling is good and the aerial is good, but unfortunately that's not always the case.

One last thing, having two outputs can sometimes be useful, as one can be fed into a PVR box for recording, and one to the TV. This can be useful when one wants to record two programmes and watch another which is not on the same multiplex.

[salymap]

I am superstitious so everything crossed but it is working at the moment. There is little or no wind so far today and I think the chimney aerial blows about too much when it iswindy. We shall see.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

my box is a humax, 3 years or so old; terrestrial aerial freeview which worked fine until about a month ago .... kept getting bad interference on all bbc channels and went to local store who told me that the digital switchover, which will not be complete until end august here in middle kingdom, required a reduction of 60% in the digital signal strength and all would be well if i could wait ... this seemed a much better idea than a satellite dish and a new box so i am waiting .... just after this conversation all the bbc channels were perfect and all the itv etc channels had the same weak signal interference pattern as the bbc had had a week before

i had emailed the bbc techies who had assured me there were no technical problems or work in progress at our local transmitter but failed to mention the large cut in signal strength ... worth checking what is going on locally salymap may well be the transmitter and not your kit at all ....

[salymap]

I think you may be right aka Calum. I am gradually learning how to access Freeview at the moment. If I am on Freeview I can go to Terrestrial but to go back again I have to switch off at the wall mains and on again. Quite weird. Also there were very short notices about certain changes in Freeview but no time to read them.

[mangerton]

I think you may be right aka Calum. I am gradually learning how to access Freeview at the moment. If I am on Freeview I can go to Terrestrial but to go back again I have to switch off at the wall mains and on again. Quite weird. Also there were very short notices about certain changes in Freeview but no time to read them.

I've been following this with interest. Dundee had DSO last Aug, and after it happened I was able to get a watchable picture from my roof aerial. I never could before; you may well find the same, as the digital signal is more robust than analogue.

Remember that there is no such thing as a "digital aerial". Useful info here: www.paras.org.uk


I'm rather confused, though. Freeview IS Terrestrial, so how can you switch between them?