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Post by Mrsdp on Jun 6, 2007 3:51:59 GMT -5
We live up the top of the hill next to Plumstead Common but we cant get a signal on our TV. We have Virgin in one of the rooms but we have a tv in the basement and one in the bedroom and these wont work. I have tried a large indoor booster aerial and also a freeview box and neither seem to work. I am reluctant because of all the problems we have had with Virgin to pay them more money to get additional boxes for the other rooms but what do other people do?
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Post by Down the Dip on Jun 6, 2007 8:58:15 GMT -5
Do you have an aerial on the roof already?
If it is pointing towards the river then you should be able to pick up BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and C4. No Freeview until 2012 though.
If it's facing the other way it's pointing to Crystal Palace. You should get the analogue channels including five with a bit of ghosting, but give up on Freeview until they boost the signal in 2012. You might get lucky with a big pole, but you're looking at around £350 from the last quotes I had.
Buy a sat-dish and box from eBay and put it up yourself. You will get all of the main channels and a few extras like BBC3, BBC4, ITV2-4 with no subscription. You may get lucky and get a card with the box and you will be able to see Sky3 too.
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smith
Junior Member
Posts: 58
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Post by smith on Jun 6, 2007 9:58:18 GMT -5
Good advice re the satellite dish. We have Virgin because the analogue reception is so bad around here - itv is the best picture but even that has ghosting, and forget about channels 4 or 5.  Freeview has got a bit better, but is still patchy. Check out www.freeview.co.uk/availability |
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Post by sibonetic on Jun 6, 2007 10:19:28 GMT -5
I had the old roof Ariel pointing to the booster transmitter off Nathan Way, but as already been said, this is only BBC 1&2 ITV and Channel 4, so I put my own ariel up inside the loft, towards Crystal Palace and hooked up a couple of boosters (about £10 each, at the most in Argos/Wilkinsons etc. and while analogue is not brilliant especially 5 which is on lower power. Freeview is perfect, and with Freeview boxes from around £20 this is not an expensive option, obviously you have to take the co-axial cable round the house.
Alternatively, you can get a video sender to send your virgin box signal to another TV in the house, you can also use your remote control with these, but you are stuck on the same channel at any one time.
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Post by sibonetic on Jun 6, 2007 10:20:23 GMT -5
forgot to say I also live up the hill, near the common
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t
New Member
Posts: 46
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Post by t on Jun 7, 2007 3:29:52 GMT -5
TV and radio reception in plumstead is abysmal, something to do with the second highest hill in London between us and Crystal Palace!
I had NTL for a while, they were crap so I cancelled - but they left a socket inside my house, so I linked it up to the aerial port on my telly and got the 5 standard channels plus itv2 and sky news, all crystal clear.
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Post by Mrsdp on Jun 7, 2007 3:41:45 GMT -5
Thanks for these am pleased it is not just us. Our original box from Virgin (we are on the 4th now as they keep freezing/breaking) meant we had these small boxes attached to the other tvs so we could watch virgin thru them albeit the same channel but at least we could change channels now i have to run upstairs to do that...but the box they have given us as a replacement now doesn't allow this (and all the old remotes we had don't work either). Freeview and indoor aerials seem to be a no-no so I am guessing we need to get an outdoor aerial or pay for another virgin box or just have the one TV and argue like last night as to whether Match of the Day or Boston Legal wins on the box.
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Post by strawb on Jun 7, 2007 9:35:40 GMT -5
Our reception is terrible too. We are basically in a valley between higher roads on either side. For a while a booster box upstairs worked quite well (though we've never been able to see Channel 5 - a blessing some might say) but recently BBC2 is almost unwatchable too. We didn't want to rehook up the NTL cable service the previous owners had gone for - on the Virgin site in looks as though I have to take out both tv and phone options for a monthly subscription and don't want to be tied to either. The alternative I'm exploring is FreeSat from Sky. It's a one off payment of £150 for the dish (it can go on the chimney and not the back of the house so it's out of sight) and is cheaper than a new improved aerial. You get all the usually channels, freeview and some others. The initally cost is a bit daunting though. Not sure how this would work if you wanted tv in different rooms but might be worth looking into especially if Virgin are getting on your nerves. More details at www.freesatfromsky.com/?pID=1 |
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dimps
New Member
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Post by dimps on Jun 12, 2007 19:46:44 GMT -5
Reception has always been difficult in my house because, although I live on the "plateau" of Plumstead Common, the houses opposite are slightly higher and block the signel from Crystal Palace via Shooters Hill. I switched my ariel some years ago to point towards Thamesmead. Since then I have had a good picture, but limited to four channels (not that I missed Ch. 5!)
My road only recently fell within the scope of Freeview. My living room telly is now linked up to two ariels and the one in the kitchen to one (Thamesmead). The Freeview pictures are much clearer, and I have access to those channels I wanted - so long as I put up with occasional interruptions of sound for a couple of seconds (caused sometimes by passing motorbikes and sometimes by reasons unknown). All the work was done for one reasonable price by a shop in Welling - including repeat visits (to replace the new ariel - there was a bit of trial and error involved).
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