Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Biggles on December 16, 2013 at 16:46

Are you sure you have a UHF antenna? If you were receiving all analogue channels OK and Prime was fuzzy then it sounds like you are in a dead spot or have an antenna problem. All the analogue channels except Prime and Maori were VHF and a UHF antenna would not receive then very well.

P.S. Enter your address here to check coverage and what you need.

http://www.freeviewnz.tv/coverage.aspx

Permalink Reply by Tony on December 16, 2013 at 17:00

Thanks for the quick response. It looks to me an UHF aerial - i shall take a photo of the aerial and upload it.

Cheers.

Permalink Reply by Biggles on December 16, 2013 at 17:42

OK

Should look like one of these

http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/information/technical/aerial-guide-i-...

Permalink Reply by Tony on December 16, 2013 at 18:24

thanks so much. I have uploaded the photo of the type of aerial.

Cheers.

Attachments:

• type of Aerial .jpg, 351 KB

Permalink Reply by Biggles on December 16, 2013 at 18:54

OK

You've got a UHF and a Low band VHF (pointing the same way and presumably to Te Aroha), and another High Band VHF pointing in a totally different direction, all joined by two diplexers to a single co-ax.

Start by getting rid of the two VHF aerials and the diplexer boxes leaving the UHF connected direct to the TV with good co-ax. Should work then although you may need new co-ax. You have two diplexers inline combining the UHF with the other two which is a recipe for disaster with Freeview. Can't get a good view of the two boxes there but looks like one may even be a masthead amp which will lose all your signal if it doesn't have power supplied. Might be a good idea to get a pro installer to fix it all  if you're not very DIY. A quick look at Hillcrest on Goole Maps and Freeview coverage sites indicates you should have good signal strength. However if you couldn't receive Prime before then there's no way you'll receive Freeview without some investigation into your antenna system. I'm surprised you didn't know something was wrong when you bought and connected the TV. It should have been obvious there was  a problem then when it wouldn't tune in Freeview.

And an indoor signal booster won't be much use beacause it amplifies all the noise as well as the signal. Masthead amplifiers are much better as the amplify at the input end of the co-ax before noise gets in the line. However you shouldn't need amplification.

Permalink Reply by Tony on December 16, 2013 at 19:08

Thanks so much.. for the very detailed explanation and advice.... 

yes, the kids had been hounding me about not getting Prime but never got around to do anything about it until it was totally no TV ..LOL

Much appreciated..cheers

Biggles said:

OK

You've got a UHF and a Low band VHF (pointing the same way and presumably to Te Aroha), and another High Band VHF pointing in a totally different direction, all joined by two diplexers to a single co-ax.

Start by getting rid of the two VHF aerials and the diplexer boxes leaving the UHF connected direct to the TV with good co-ax. Should work then although you may need new co-ax. You have two diplexers inline combining the UHF with the other two which is a recipe for disaster with Freeview. Can't get a good view of the two boxes there but looks like one may even be a masthead amp which will lose all your signal if it doesn't have power supplied. Might be a good idea to get a pro installer to fix it all  if you're not very DIY. A quick look at Hillcrest on Goole Maps and Freeview coverage sites indicates you should have good signal strength. However if you couldn't receive Prime before then there's no way you'll receive Freeview without some investigation into your antenna system. I'm surprised you didn't know something was wrong when you bought and connected the TV. It should have been obvious there was  a problem then when it wouldn't tune in Freeview.

And an indoor signal booster won't be much use beacause it amplifies all the noise as well as the signal. Masthead amplifiers are much better as the amplify at the input end of the co-ax before noise gets in the line. However you shouldn't need amplification.

Permalink Reply by Bill McMurray on December 16, 2013 at 23:36

Hi Tony,

I'm pretty sure that you'll find the top box on the mast will be a diplexer (or triplexer) combining the TV1/2 aerial (the long one aiming at Te Aroha) and the TV3/4 aerial(the smaller one aiming at Te Miro).

So the second one will be a masthead amplifier/ Diplexer (Probably an MHU24G or MHU23D) which you must leave there!!! - that is what amplifies the UHF signal!

It sounds like your only problem is that you don't have a power supply plugged into the power behind your lounge TV, to power up the amplifier, to boost up your UHF signal strength!!!

Having a masthead amp on a Hillcrest installation tells me that you're not in a really good signal area, but there's only one real black spot in Hillcrest - Kakanui Ave and Edinburgh Road where they are tucked down behind St Johns College and the University.

I lived in Hillcrest up until a year ago - In fact, I probably installed your aerials! So give me a call if you like; Bill at Rainbow Connections, 8566846.

 

Permalink Reply by Tony on December 16, 2013 at 23:57

Hi Bill..

Thanks very much.. previous owner had it installed , so didnt know much about the history.

Yes, we got TV1,2,3,4 but not Prime or any other channels while on analogue in the built in Freeview TV (before the digital changeover date). So I added an indoor signal booster , then Prime was scanned, but fuzzy.

Once it changeover to digital.. it was totally zero signals ..

great information. Thanks for your number, Bill

Bill McMurray said:

Hi Tony,

I'm pretty sure that you'll find the top box on the mast will be a diplexer (or triplexer) combining the TV1/2 aerial (the long one aiming at Te Aroha) and the TV3/4 aerial(the smaller one aiming at Te Miro).

So the second one will be a masthead amplifier/ Diplexer (Probably an MHU24G or MHU23D) which you must leave there!!! - that is what amplifies the UHF signal!

It sounds like your only problem is that you don't have a power supply plugged into the power behind your lounge TV, to power up the amplifier, to boost up your UHF signal strength!!!

Having a masthead amp on a Hillcrest installation tells me that you're not in a really good signal area, but there's only one real black spot in Hillcrest - Kakanui Ave and Edinburgh Road where they are tucked down behind St Johns College and the University.

I used to live in Hillcrest - In fact, I probably installed your aerials! So give me a call if you like; Bill at Rainbow Connections, 8566846.

 

Permalink Reply by Tony on December 17, 2013 at 22:34

Hi Bill,

it was nice talking to you on the phone this morning. You are awesome... yes, it  was the T joint /power injector that I found which was left by the previous house owner , and I tried to plug into one of the main splitter points..to power up the amplifier and then tried the auto tune... and got it !  the signals were crystal clear.. all digital channels were scanned /tuned.

Thank you very much , Bill .. great information.. great technical advice..Much appreciated.

Cheers..

Merry Christmas 

Bill McMurray said:

Hi Tony,

I'm pretty sure that you'll find the top box on the mast will be a diplexer (or triplexer) combining the TV1/2 aerial (the long one aiming at Te Aroha) and the TV3/4 aerial(the smaller one aiming at Te Miro).

So the second one will be a masthead amplifier/ Diplexer (Probably an MHU24G or MHU23D) which you must leave there!!! - that is what amplifies the UHF signal!

It sounds like your only problem is that you don't have a power supply plugged into the power behind your lounge TV, to power up the amplifier, to boost up your UHF signal strength!!!

Having a masthead amp on a Hillcrest installation tells me that you're not in a really good signal area, but there's only one real black spot in Hillcrest - Kakanui Ave and Edinburgh Road where they are tucked down behind St Johns College and the University.

I lived in Hillcrest up until a year ago - In fact, I probably installed your aerials! So give me a call if you like; Bill at Rainbow Connections, 8566846.

 

Permalink Reply by Bill McMurray on December 18, 2013 at 0:29

Hi Tony,

That's awesome news! I'm glad you're all up and going, and pleased that I could help.

Sometimes the solution is so simple, but not quite so obvious!

Cheers, and you have a Merry Christmas too.

Tony said:

Hi Bill,

it was nice talking to you on the phone this morning. You are awesome... yes, it  was the T joint /power injector that I found which was left by the previous house owner , and I tried to plug into one of the main splitter points..to power up the amplifier and then tried the auto tune... and got it !  the signals were crystal clear.. all digital channels were scanned /tuned.

Thank you very much , Bill .. great information.. great technical advice..Much appreciated.

Cheers..

Merry Christmas