Live Tv And Aerials

[dollymay]

Dp you need to have an aerial to access live TV? We have SKY for our main TV but have a small TV in another room, which has an indoor aerial which gives erratic reception. We have been told we can either access an existing loft aerial,(cheapest option) or connect to our SKY dish, both needing cabling. Also of course buy a smart TV, but this will also need cabling. I do want live TV, not just access to iplayer etc. Any suggestions?

[Buenchico]

Freeview transmissions, from terrestrial transmitters, are broadcast on the assumption that viewers will have an external TV aerial (usually roof-mounted). People who live near to TV masts can sometimes get away with using an indoor aerial (possibly with an integrated amplifier) but the system isn't actually designed for that means of reception.

The vast majority of TV sets sold are intended to be used with Freeview (with just a small number being designed for Freesat) OR with a signal provided from an external source (such as a Sky box or internet-connected device).

To use your TV set with a picture sourced from the tuner built into it you'll need to improve the signal that goes into it via the aerial socket. You could try an indoor aerial with a built-in signal amplifier (if your existing indoor aerial hasn't got one) but, as I explained above, the transmitter companies don't aim to provide sufficient signal strength for indoor aerials. However if you know that the existing loft aerial can provide a good signal then running a cable from it to your TV should do the job.

Satellite TV signal are on different frequencies (and use different broadcasting techniques) to terrestrial ones. So you can't simply connect your satellite dish's output to your TV's aerial socket. As well as a cable, you'd need to get an additional satellite box.

If your TV set has got an HDMI socket though (and you've got a decent wifi signal, with no data limits on your broadband connection), the simplest solution for you would be to make it 'smart' by plugging an Amazon Fire TV stick into it:
http://tinyurl.com/mcf6v45
Then download the TVPlayer app for it:
http://tinyurl.com/y6u9rx52
You'll then be able to get the main TV channels free of charge or (optionally) pay £5.99 to get a selection subscription channels thrown in.

[diddlydo]

We've had "normal" live TV just via an aerial in the loft for 40 years - when our area went digital we had to tweak the position of the aerial but then it was fine and continues to be so.

[Baldric]

We've got two quite big aerials in the loft space with cables going to 6 TVs including two 50" and a 40" works perfectly. We went down this route because after living on the Coast for years we've lost an aerial or two in storms

[dollymay]

Many thanks to you all, especially Buenchico, for your advice and suggestions, made things much clearer.