Only getting few BBC channels on Freeview

[Im a BusyBee]

just bought a dvd recorder with built in freeview - only went out to get a freeview box but this seemed a bargain so bought it! however now we have it installed it will only pickup a few BBC channels and nothing else???Can anyone explain how we can get all the channels please? BTW it is automatic set up. Thank you

[Buenchico]

Hi Busy Bee!

Sorry you couldn't find a parking spot in Cambridge. Happy New Year anyway!

Different makes (and models) of TV reception devices (e.g. TV sets, digiboxes, dvd recorders, etc) have varying 'sensitivities'. This is their ability to 'pull in' and 'lock onto' weaker signals. If you've been getting good Freeview reception with a previous device, but not so with your new recorder, it almost certainly means that the sensitivity of the recorder isn't good enough to handle the signal it's receiving from your aerial. (Each channel is transmitted on a different frequency. Theoretically you should have a different aerial for every channel you watch, so that the aerial is always precisely 'matched' to the relevant frequency. That's obviously not practical, so all aerials will be slightly better at receiving some channels than others. Your aerial is obviously poorly matched to the BBC group of channels).

To receive the missing channels you need to increase the signal strength that the recorder is receiving. If you were previously getting a good enough signal (for a different device with slightly better sensitivity) it's quite likely that a simple signal booster will do the job. (They're fairly cheap. Try Tesco Extra, Asda or Maplin Electronics). Otherwise you'll have to upgrade your aerial system. (That means a new aerial and new cabling).

Chris

[Im a BusyBee]

Hi Chris thanks for your help once again! We have not used any type of freeview device with the ariel it is attached to(we have a separate ariel for upstairs and one for downstairs. We did get the 'free' channels that came through sky (downstairs and obviously through sky dish) but that has not worked recently for some reason. This new box i put in my bedroom, i did wonder if we moved the ariel around (like in days gone by!) it would possibly find more channels. This ariel goes into a booster in the loft and then an ariel socket in each bedroom so replacing all the cable would be quite a task! Not sure if youve read my posts over christmas but it has not been good for us as my mother in law passed away on christmas day morning. Hope you had a good christmas and Happy New Year to you too.

[Buenchico]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm sorry to hear about your sad loss.

I'm in a 'fringe' Freeview area. The postcode checker says that I can't get Freeview until 2011 but I actually get good reception by using two signal boosters. (One in the loft and one immediately before my digibox). So it's quite likely that the same method will work for you.

Freeview transmitters in the Anglia area are currently operating at reduced power, to avoid causing interference to analogue transmissions. They won't use full power until the analogue transmitters are switched off in 2011, so you currently need a 'better than average' aerial system (or multiple boosters) to get a decent signal.

Chris

(PS: I've just checked the various cables around my house. Make that 3 boosters in my system! There's one in the loft, one where the cable comes into the living room and another one, immediately before the digibox, on the far side of the room!)