Terrestial FreeView in West Sussex ?

[nheather]

I would be interested in hearing about your experiences of receiving Terrestial Freeview in the West Sussex, particularly in the Horsham area.

The official website syas not at all - http://www.freeview.co.uk

A more detailed site says partially - http://www.dtg.org.uk/retailer/coverage.html

I have tried a freeview box and find that typically channels that are ITV related (ITV, ITV2, Channel 4) are weak and break up on anything but a nice clear day. The other channels seem to be okay.

Now this is of a normal high gain analogue TV aerial through a distribution amplifier.

I got a quote from a local aerial installer and he suggested mounting a special high gain digital aerial on a 10 foot pole might help. Trouble is he wants a hell of a lot of money (around £350) but is totally non-commital about whether it will work or not. I asked him, whether with his local experience, he had seen it working successfully in the area and I just got the non-commital "every house is different" response.

Any views would be most welcome.

Cheers,

Nigel

[MartinImber]

Treat the aerial as you would a DVD player p it is a source !

Every house is different - you could probably get a signal with less hardware but then if that didn't work you would need it anyway.

Just get it over and done with

[nheather]

It's not so much the money it's just that he is offering no guarantee or indication as to whether it would improve things at all, and I would have no recourse for a refund.

I'm not quite sure what you are saying. Is it that you would be happy to replace a £40 DVD player with a £350 one without any indication that it would be an improvement and if it turned out to be no better you would be happy that you gambled £350 and lost.

Cheers,

Nigel

[MartinImber]

There is never a guarantee with TV reception - however my set up cost nearly £200 but had free after visits to change transmitter when I got my new TV

[BobD]

I live in north horsham near Holbrook Club and have a freeview Toshiba 17wlt46 LCD tv.
First tried this on my old tv aerial and only worked on bbc channels.
Then tried it on a friends new high gain aerial just off Lambs Farm Rd and picked up all channels with reception on BBC at max and ITV just over half.
So then erected a Televe DAT45 high gain aerial with MRD, amplifier in the aerial, and this works even better receiving BBC channels at max and ITV at 75% signal strength.
The aerial cost around £60 from www.scantec.org and the bits to erect it cost £12 for the stand-off, £12 for the mast and £6 for the cable.
It is not as high as the roof top as it is over the garage but works fine and the analogue signal is now perfect on all channels.
The aerials were all aimed at Midhurst.
I have noticed a few other Televe DAT45 aerials on other properties pointing at Midhurst so it looks a safe bet.

[graystreet]

I live in Littlehampton, a little nearer the channel then you in but still in West Sussex.

All the internet sites say that I can't receive Freeview, I got a Pioneer f/view box just to see and lo and behold I can receive all channels fine. My loft aerial is pointed at Rowridge Tx btw.

Seems to me there's no guarantee the nearer you get to the channel, it's just a case of suck it and see...

[Paul Cooksley]

Nigel

Hi there

Re: Your question about Freeview in the Horsham area...

My parents live in the Littlehaven area of Horsham and find that they can pick up all the channels - this is via a standard terrestrial aerial. However, the signal strength is not that strong when compared to my signal in Mid Sussex..

My grandparents who live out towards Mannings Heath can pick up all channels but again the signal is very weak (especially ITV related channels) and often breaks up on channel 5 etc.. Their signal is weaker here than my parents in the opposite direction of Horsham....

So, although the official Freeview website says "no" to Horsham it can just vary - as you have probably discovered. The Freeview website tells me that my address cannot recevie it at all. When I tried it, I get a 90% signal strength !!!!!!!

Where abouts in the Horsham area are u trying for a signal? The price you have been quoted for the new aerial seems a tad expensive. My neighbour had a high gain digital aerial put up within the last few months for £250.00.

Paul