Loss of signal

Jason_Arch

Here's the problem.

I've got a TV with Saorview/Freeview built in plugged into the standard aerial socket in the wall and I receive the Irish Saorview channels and the BBCs and thats it. Previously I was able to receive 100+ digital channels i.e. all Irish channels and all UK channels (BBCs, ITVs, Dave, Film4 etc.) but I can no longer receive them.

The aerial is located in the attic and is connected to an amplified splitter which diverts the signal to all the rooms in the house. This is the same setup that allowed me to receive the channels previously.

I took the TV up to the attic at the weekend and connected it to the splitter with a short coaxial cable to test the signal and I was able to receive the 100+ channels again so the problem isn't the splitter as far as I can tell. I then tested the TV in a few of the rooms in the house and it went back to Irish channels only. Even at that, one of the rooms had a poor RTE and was sketchy at best.

What is my best course of action now in regards further testing to track down the problem? Or can anyone shed any light on this?

Thanks in advance.

doney84

Had something similar happen to me the other week. Turned out to be the diplexer which combines the freeview and saorview aerials into one cable. The bad weather had blown the cover off it and water had got in and destroyed the electronics.

Not sure if this is what your problem is as you say your aerial is in the attic and when you connected the tv up in the attic your english channels returned but maybe its worth checking?

Jason_Arch

doney84 wrote: »

Had something similar happen to me the other week. Turned out to be the diplexer which combines the freeview and saorview aerials into one cable. The bad weather had blown the cover off it and water had got in and destroyed the electronics.

Not sure if this is what your problem is as you say your aerial is in the attic and when you connected the tv up in the attic your english channels returned but maybe its worth checking?

Thanks for your reply.

I can't see it being a hardware problem, at least not with the aerial as it is 100% protected where it is now and the channels where working perfectly when I lugged the TV up to the attic.

Is there anything I can do to test the signal strength of the plugs in each room?

Digifriendly

Jason_Arch wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.

I can't see it being a hardware problem, at least not with the aerial as it is 100% protected where it is now and the channels where working perfectly when I lugged the TV up to the attic.

Is there anything I can do to test the signal strength of the plugs in each room?

You could surely purchase a signal strength meter (they are available quite cheap on Amazon) and connect it up via coaxial aerial cable to each plug in turn and this should tell you whether the problem lies between the splitter and the plugs.

doney84

Also most tvs/set top boxes have a menu which will show you signal strength and quality depending on the frequency you tune it to. Not sure how accurate this method is tough.

Find out what transmitter you are getting Freeview from and then check the frequencies for that transmitter...

Jason_Arch

An update on this. Checked the signal quality in the rooms using the TV menu and the quality and strength were both really poor. Took out the multimeter and checked the resistance of each cable in the attic. Refit some of the connectors in the attic as they didn't look to be very well connected to the cable and this seems to have solved the problem, I can now receive all the digital channels throughout the house. I need to test the USB record function on the main TV in the sitting room to see if recording from Saorview/Freeview is a suitable alternative to Sky+ and if that's a success, I will probably cancel my Sky subscription. I hate paying nearly €40 a month to channel surf through repeats.

Thanks again for the replies as it helped me methodically go through possible problems.