Terrestrial signal booster?

[too_funky]

Hi,

im unfortunate enough to live in part of the UK which cannot yet recieve digital broadcasts. Ontop of this the analogue terrestrial signal where i live is far from perfect. I've recently bought a KDL26T3000 which is brilliant for my PS3 but when watching SD tv on it, it looks awful. Due to the poor signal here, there is just so much noise and the screen is just covered with speckles. Iv heard that signal boosters can help improve the picture quality...

So i have a few questions:

1. Do they actually work, do they filter out the noise or what.
2. Will they have a similar effect to noise reduction when upscaling, ie will i loose detail and shrapness if i use one.
3.Would they improve teletext reception.
4.Could somebody reccomend a decent one.

I know this is pretty dated technology im asking about, but im hoping somebody will still know somthing about them,

Thanks alot

 

[Andy98765]

For your area http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tva.exe?DX=L&HT=10&OS=DE4+3AA you are looking for a amplified extra high gain aerial which would suggest that you require a masthead amplifier. This type of amplifier fits up on the aerial and is powered by a plug in adapter by the TV.
You would need something like this http://www.screwfix.com/prods/51891...tion/Labgear-Screened-Masthead-Amp-4-Way-10dB
and one of these http://www.screwfix.com/search.do;j...EY?_dyncharset=UTF-8&fh_search=85614&x=13&y=9

Amplifiers that plug in by the TV are a total waste of time all they will do is amplifiy the noise.

 

[too_funky]

Thanks for the help but is there anything more simple i could do, i dont think i have permission to tamper with the arial so is it possible to beef up the quality of the signal from a portable tv arial. Iv seen people using a so called signal booster or something where the coaxial from the arial plugs into a little box then another coaxial plugs into the tv from the box. Or am i just going on about what you said were useless.

Thanks again

 

[Andy98765]

Thanks for the help but is there anything more simple i could do, i dont think i have permission to tamper with the arial so is it possible to beef up the quality of the signal from a portable tv arial. Iv seen people using a so called signal booster or something where the coaxial from the arial plugs into a little box then another coaxial plugs into the tv from the box. Or am i just going on about what you said were useless.

Thanks again

Those plug-in amplifer's "the ones that plug down by the TV" are in my opinion a total waste of time. As I stated in most cases all they do is amplify noise.
You really only have a few options.
1. Fit a masthead amp yourself.
2. Get a aerial fitter to do a proper job.
3. Get a dish fitted (octal LNB for upto 4 PVR sat boxes or 8 normal boxes) and buy a freesat box (no rental involved). In your area this is the best solution.

http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/

 

[Orbitalzone]

I'd agree that more often than not, cheapo set back amps can do little to help.... but they can help clean up noisy signals in some cases.

Today (purely coincidence!) I was messing about with my TV and aerial setup.... I live below a TV transmitter and surrounding hills tend to make analogue signals rather ghosty, there's no digital from this site yet.... I connected up a setback amp and it not only improves analogue to some degree but also brought in some digiital multiplexes from another transmitter.... I'm on the fringe of that transmitter and never got any digital mux's when scanned.. but today I got a couple, albeit low to mid strength with occasional breakup.

So I'd suggest trying a setback amplifier if you can borrow one also check/replace coaxial leads, if you have several leads connecting TV/Video/DVD/Sky box, those thin nasty coax leads should be replaced by some decent double screened coax leads.

 

[too_funky]

thanks alot for all the help, ill try some of those solutions, just another quick question, would buying a more expensive portable arial improve the quality or will it still not make a difference. Is an amp the only option, or is it just the best option.

 

[too_funky]

Sos, just a thought,

I think my mate has an old sky dish, i would presume they work with freesat boxes. Is that true? Also can you have more than one cable running from the same dish? Would i be able to plug a cable from a dish directly into my tv and use the inbuilt epg rather than buying a seperate freesat box?

Thanks again

 

[Ben]

I think my mate has an old sky dish, i would presume they work with freesat boxes. Is that true?

Yep

Also can you have more than one cable running from the same dish?

It depends on the LNB. A single LNB only allows you to run one cable, a quad LNB allows you to run up to four cables & an octo LNB allows you to run up to eight. LNBs are relatively cheap & fairly easy to change, if you don't mind heights

Would i be able to plug a cable from a dish directly into my tv and use the inbuilt epg rather than buying a seperate freesat box?

No, your TV has a DVB-Terrestrial (Freeview) tuner, rather than a DVB-Satellite (Freesat) tuner. The technologies aren't cross-compatible.