In previous blogs, I have mentioned that an aerial upgrade isn’t always necessary to receive Freeview and that existing aerials can also be used when looking to go digital.  But what of Freeview HD?, would you need an aerial upgrade then?.
Extensive tests of Freeview HD kit have been carried out by various people – including the Humax HD-Fox T2 set-top box and Panasonic Viera TX-P46G20B 46in TV – and these have shown that some people that get perfect Freeview reception may need to upgrade their aerial in order to get Freeview HD.
Testing in labs found recently that, although perfect Freeview reception was found,  Freeview HD reception was poor. Due to the higher bandwidth requirements of the new HD channels,  weaker signals, which caused no problems with regular Freeview, caused the high definition channels to break up and become unwatchable.
Realigning the roof-top aerial is sometimes all that is needed to fix the signal strength and get perfect Freeview HD channels, but other people may not be so lucky and could require an aerial upgrade or other measures to receive HD channels.
With Freeview HD starting to be rolled out more aggressively – 4.5m homes currently have access to the HD channels – poor HD reception is a problem that could potentially affect a lot of people.
So, what can you do? First, make sure that your aerial is pointing in the same direction as your neighbours’.  If it’s not, you’ll need to get it adjusted. It’s best to use a roof-mounted aerial, as those in lofts are more easily blocked.
If your aerial is pointing in the right direction, you can try an aerial booster.  For this to work you need to place the booster as close to the aerial as possible: boosting the signal once it’s travelled a long way will do nothing to improve your reception.

If you are receiving problems with reception of HD or even just Freeview service, then please don't hesitate to contact us for info. www.ethomecinema.co.uk

Thanks for reading,
Regards
Jason Norris
ET Satellite & Home Cinema
Mexborough, S.Yorkshire