TV top aerial booster

[Carlnorwich]

I can get a good picture using a standard TV top aerial in my bedroom at the front of the house, but using the same aerial I can't get a picture on my son's TV which is at the back of the house.

Why is this? I guess it's something to do with the location of a transmitter somewhere?

Can I buy a booster or something that will do the job?

I would like to get around this problem without having to bring a specialist in to route cables etc. We have no loft so it would mean fitting a new aerial on the roof.

Any advise would be very much appreciated.

 

[gblades]

Analogue or digital?

At the back of the house perhaps you have to point the aerial to the transmitter through the house. This will reduce the signal and increase the interferance being picked up.
Or maybe the other TV is just not as good at picking up the signal.

You might get an ok picture if you use a booster and perhaps even put the aerial in the front room and run the cable to the other TV. However when you have to switch over to digital you will find that you need a better reception in order for it to work reliably.

 

[Carlnorwich]

I have an existing aerial on the house and a cable runs from the ground floor, past my sons bedroom at the back of the house. Can I drill a hole through his bedroom wall and some how make a connection into the cable?

Thanks.

 

[GaryB]

This is possible, but without knowing how strong the signal is, it's not possible to say the best way to do it.

If the signal is very good, you might get away with adding a simple passive splitter. If the signal is just average, you will probably have to use a small aerial amplifier/splitter. You can get outdoor amplifiers but it would be best if you could to loop the cable into your son's bedroom, add the amplifier/splitter there and then run the signal back out and down to the main set.

 

[Carlnorwich]

I will give that a try, thanks very much for your help.

 

[GRC]

What result do you get if you move the aerial and TV from the front of the house to the back?

If that gets you a good result, then that implicates the son's TV at the back as not doing a good job with the signal it's getting. You've already tried it with the same aerial as the front partnered with the rear TV

 

[JohnD]

you can now get a set-top box for Freeview for £20 or so. I got a Phillips one at Tescos that gives me good pictures on all programmes including 1,2,3,4 and 5 (reception in my area is poor due to hills)

If I were you I would try one of these before messing about with an analogue booster which will soon be out of date anyway. You do need a Scart connector though.

BTW if you have no loft you might be able to put an aerial on the eaves or under the gutters, provided it is on the right side of the house.

 

[ChrisFrost]

you can now get a set-top box for Freeview for £20 or so. ...
If I were you I would try one of these before messing about with an analogue booster which will soon be out of date anyway.

I'm still chuckling after reading that.

Most aerial boosters work just as well for digital as they do for analogue. The digital switch-over won't make boosters "out of date".

 

[JohnD]

well, if it's an old telly he'll soon need a dig box anyway so why not just get one?

it works for me.

 

[ChrisFrost]

...because his main problem is a lack of signal strength. A digibox isn't going to fix that. In fact, with digital it's more important to have sufficient signal than with analog. An analog TV will give a snowy picture with poor signal level, but a digital TV (or digibox) just won't work.

You're right that he will need a digibox sooner rather than later. His priority though is to get some decent signal level so that whatever TV or box he chooses to use can work properly.