Aerial Issues

Max Vere-Hodge

Hello, my aerial has a thread connection and doesn't fit into my New YouView box. Do I need to get an aerial upgrade or buy some kind of adaptor?

gomez

Are you sure it is a terrestrial aerial? A thread connector aka an F connector is more usually used with an satellite or cable feed.

Keith

Whilst I'm not sure what the answer would be, I would have hoped you could change the end of your aerial cable or use an adapter. Perhaps one of the items at

http://www.maplin.co.uk/cables-and-co...

http://www.maplin.co.uk/cables-and-co...

may be what you need?

As gomez says above though it would be worth checking it is the right cable first

Wil Prytherch

Having the same issue. I had a Virgin Media Tivo box and the aerial worked fine plugging into the back of the box.

However, since purchasing You View, the aerial doesn't fit into the designated aerial hole. There is a silver piece of the end of the aerial which is too big. I tried taking it off but it cannot be done.

Any help please?!

Madcotto

if its rooftop aerial then just cut it off and add a Coax Plug found for like 99p im sure there some video guides in best way to do it but its almost cut and shove it on, not quite but just that simple i just carnt think of any way explaining

gomez

But you are wasting your time if it is not a terrestrial aerial. Which it won't be if you were using it with a Virgin Tivo box.

Madcotto

gomez said:

But you are wasting your time if it is not a terrestrial aerial. Which it won't be if you were using it with a Virgin Tivo box.

had to star this to point the fact out ty gomez

Mar

I have just had a BT Youview box delivered. However,
I have just realised that I do not have an aerial socket in the house.

What I do have is a twin Sky cable (with two f-type connectors).
It is my understanding that I should be able to connect this into the back of my YouView box by fitting a coaxial adapter.
Can anyone confirm or correct?

Piers

Hi Mar. If the cable is connected to a satellite dish (which it almost certainly is) then you can't use it with a YouView box. You'll need to either buy an indoor terrestrial TV aerial or have a loft or roof aerial fitted. At home I'm very close to a transmitter and an indoor log-periodic type without an amplifier that cost 5 pounds gets me all 113 channels when it's positioned correctly. Might be worth a try first.

Mar

Thanks for the reply Piers.

AD

Mar said:

I have just had a BT Youview box delivered. However,
I have just realised that I do not have an aerial socket in the house.

What I do have is a twin Sky cable (with two f-type connectors).
It is my understanding that I should be able to connect this into the back of my YouView box by fitting a coaxial adapter.
Can anyone confirm or correct?

Hi Mar

I am currently having the same issue with my BT Youview box and twin sky cable. What did you end up doing to fix your aerial issue? Thanks

TomW

Mar said:

I have just had a BT Youview box delivered. However,
I have just realised that I do not have an aerial socket in the house.

What I do have is a twin Sky cable (with two f-type connectors).
It is my understanding that I should be able to connect this into the back of my YouView box by fitting a coaxial adapter.
Can anyone confirm or correct?

Hi AD,

See Piers' comment below for a summary of your options.

If the Sky cable is connected to a satellite dish - which it almost certainly is - you can't use it with YouView. You need a terrestrial TV aerial.

Lbear1

Important addendum to Piers' advice.

If you are going to try to use a portable aerial, as opposed to a rooftop/loft mounted one; try to tune your YouView box in first using a friend or neighbour's good aerial. Do not attempt to retune until and unless you find the right position for the aerial.

Whether you can get away with a portable aerial depends on many factors. The main ones are the power of the transmitter and the distance from it. In many cases the COM muxes can be on lower power, especially COM7 and, in future COM8. These are the new temporary HD muxes only available from main sites and includes BBC Four HD. The LoCOM muxes, for the local TV services like London Live are both lower power and may be directional so the signal is directed away from you. These will be the most difficult to get the aerial in the right position for. Building construction can also vary signal strength - solid stone (my problem) or metal framing can reduce the signal significantly. The ideal location for an indoor aerial is on a windowsill pointing out rather than on top of the TV.

IF you are near a main transmitter, especially Crystal Palace, and have a windowsill with "line of sight" to it, you should have no problems with a log periodic type indoor aerial. If my main communal aerial goes down, I have to rely on the signal reflected off the high buildings at Canary Wharf. The UK digital systems, DVB-T and DVB-T2, are very resilient to "multipath" signals like these whereas analogue would be unwatchable because of the multiple pictures and ghosting. Perversely directional aerials like log periodics do not work well in these circumstances and a small "stick" type aerial of the sort you get with a USB TV dongle for your computer works very well (as do the omnidirectional ones from stores selling goods for around a pound). Directional aerials tend to pick up different frequencies reflected along different paths so not all muxes will be picked up at the same time.

On no account get an "amplified" aerial; they are a waste of power and money. My rule of thumb is that having "Digital" and "HD" printed on the box adds about £5 each. (Also in my experience, the "One for All" brand aerials are pretty but useless.)