New Aerial testing

[yottie]

I think I might be due for a replacement aerial. Will have this installed professionally. Before the guy leaves the premises is there any way I can visually test if the signal is OK. I can get quite a few Freeview chans now, after he's done the job should I be able to get them all.

 

[Diyisfun]

If they are on in your area, you should be able to get them all.

 

[Sam Gangee]

Before the guy leaves the premises is there any way I can visually test if the signal is OK

Yes, ask him to flick through the channels and demonstrate that every programme is watchable and stable. That's part of his job so he should volunteer to do it anyway. It's not as if there are hundreds of Freeview programmes.

 

[ChrisFrost]

Well surely if he's a pro installer he willl have a decent meter? My Horizon meter shows the strength of each Mux in an easy-to-read bar graph for showing to customers. . It is the simple to go straight to the weaker channels and check quality as well as checking the strongest for overmodulation.

 

[Sam Gangee]

Quite right but I was emphasising the need to show that all programmes are being received reliably because - let's be logical - that's ALL that matters to the customer. Signal meters can mislead and cowboy installers can certainly lie about signal readings. But it's hard to talk yourself out of a picture that's breaking up or missing.

 

[yottie]

Thanks, I'm using Sky at the moment , is it not poss to determine strengths etc from the screen as I can with those signals ?

 

[ChrisFrost]

Freeview tuners usually have some sort of guide to signal strength/quality but you have to take the readings with a pinch of salt. They're usually optimistic because after all, which manufacturer wants their TV tuner to appear weaker than the others? We know that Samsung and LG tuners are a bit weaker than Panasonic and Sony, but the bar graphs from the TV wouldn't give that away.

The simple thing is to first ask the installer if he uses a professional signal meter. That'll weed out many of the cowboys.

When the install is underway the installer will know which is the weakest channel group. This images shows a bar graph with relative signal levels for the MUXes. In this example the stations on the channel 32 MUX are the weakest. If there's enough signal for a successful channel lock then these stations would be the first to break up if the signal is a bit marginal.

 

[yottie]

Many thanks Chris, very useful.