[secretprincess]

I was happily watching TV this afternoon when suddenly the signal went. I tried retuning and all it keeps saying is check for ariel problems. I have checked my internal ariel but I can't check outside as I live in a 4 storey block of flats.

I can get a fuzzy couple of channels but none of my digital ones?

[Starburst]

Welcome to the forums

How about your neighbours who may use the same external aerial or even their own indoor and is your region under going digital switchover?

[secretprincess]

Thanks ................ my TV has been showing me a message saying I need to retune on the 30th September.

I asked my neighbours if they were having similar problems but they have SKY.

There is a lot of work going on aroung here and this problem happened a few months back but the TV came back on later on that night?

Would it be best I call Sony?

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by secretprincess

Thanks ................ my TV has been showing me a message saying I need to retune on the 30th September.

I asked my neighbours if they were having similar problems but they have SKY.

There is a lot of work going on aroung here and this problem happened a few months back but the TV came back on later on that night?

That's the national retune, everyone has to do that as Five is being moved to a frequency that covers the whole country.

It's difficult to diagnose a reception issue, yes the tuner in the TV could be faulty or it's a simple problem with poor connection or loose cabling and an indoor aerial can literally lose signal if it's moved a fraction of an inch.

Worth checking these two sites to see if there are any local issues,BBC website of checking transmitter work, Digital website for checking DSO status.

Also check the Freeview forum on this website, other threads about losing channels seem to crop up on a regular basis.

Would it be best I call Sony?

If it's under warranty but I expect they will believe it's a broadcast issue first and foremost, don't you know anyone in the building with an aerial or another Freeview box to see if they lose signal at the same time?

[secretprincess]

I have checked those two sites you recommended and everything seems fine (?)

What I could do is pop a note in the reception area and see if anyone else in the building is getting a similar problem.

I have checked my ariel and plugs and everything appears in order.

I have gone on similar forums to this and people seem to be saying similar comments as you.

If I have tried to retune it and all I get is fuzzy channels and no digital, then are you questioning a fault in the TV?

[Geofbob]

Hi secretprincess - In your first post I was a bit puzzled when you referred to checking outside, though it seems you also have an indoor aerial. Which one were you using when you were getting satisfactory reception? If it was the outside aerial (& especially if it's a communal aerial), then it could be that repair work is going on or it has developed a fault. The poor reception with your indoor aerial could just be that such aerials are rarely very effective.

It is more likely that the fault lies in the signal, the aerial or the connections to the TV, than in the TV itself - though of course this can't be entirely ruled out.

Trying to find out whether other residents are having the same problem seems very sensible.

[geigercounter12]

my girlfriend and i had a similar problem: on retuning, we got no channels at all, including analogue. the tv told us to attach the aerial (which was attached)

we had a digital signal booster in the aerial's signal path. when we took it out, we picked up the channels

maybe the booster was boosting the wrong frequency and masking the new...? (I've no idea how this stuff works.)

[grahamlthompson]

Originally Posted by geigercounter12

my girlfriend and i had a similar problem: on retuning, we got no channels at all, including analogue. the tv told us to attach the aerial (which was attached)

we had a digital signal booster in the aerial's signal path. when we took it out, we picked up the channels

maybe the booster was boosting the wrong frequency and masking the new...? (I've no idea how this stuff works.)

Boosters simply amplify UHF TV signals they like aerials don't care if the signal is analogue or digital. However it's possible if you have a good signal that you are over amplifying the input making it impossible for a digital tuner to tell it's 0's from 1's. DTT tuners are very sensitive and can easily be overloaded.