Freeview Reception – Help and Advice

If you can see the Freeview box output, but there are no channels, check the following:

• Check your coverage – Are you in an area likely to receive Freeview? – See our “Freeview coverage” page.
• Look for channels – Use the on-screen menu to scan for channels – See “scanning for channels“
• Connections – Double-check your aerial cabling. Is there a chance that your TV aerial (or any splitter /booster) is unplugged? Could you have a damaged aerial fly lead? Try connecting straight from the main incoming aerial fly-lead directly into the Freeview box. By bypassing any possibly faulty splitters, video recorder leads, etc, you’re keeping it simple and giving the Freeview box the best chance of getting a signal. See our cabling section for more help
• Aerial suitable? – For best results, you need a good quality rooftop aerial that’s pointing at a digital TV transmitter. For aerial advice, see our aerial section.
• Transmitter work – Check to see if there’s transmitter work being done that might affect you.
• Bush, Daewoo, Labgear, Portland or Triax box? It could be that updates to transmitters in July 2008 have “broken” your box. Freeview Landfill

Failing that, it could be that you’re just in a no-signal area. See our section on Freeview coverage.

More help? See our No Freeview Channels section

• Check your coverage – Are all of the Freeview channels available in your area? – See our “Freeview coverage” page.
• Scan for channels – First off, try performing a full re-scan for channels – Sometimes channels get re-organised and you need to rescan to get the full lineup, and sometimes a rescan is needed if your aerial, cabling or signal reception has changed. Use your Freeview receiver’s on-screen menu to scan for channels – See “scanning for channels” for more.
• Transmitter work – Double-check whether there’s any transmitter work being done that might affect you. (Which transmitter serves you?)
• Is your aerial suitable? – For best results, you need a good quality rooftop aerial, pointing at the appropriate digital TV transmitter. For aerial advice, see our aerial section.
• Wrong band of aerial? – It could be that your aerial isn’t capable of tuning in some of the Freeview signals. Freeview signals are transmitted on six clusters of channels, called multiplexes.
  If you find you’re missing a few channels, or you can’t receive some of the Freeview channels you’re after, it could be that you’re not able to receive one or more of these multiplexes because of the type of aerial you have. Check in our Freeview channel list to see which Multiplex you can’t get. Then, check the ‘band’ that the multiplex is in (using Wolfbane), and verify whether your aerial is designed to work with that frequency ‘band’. It could be that the Freeview channels are outside that band – For more on this, see our Aerial Group section.
• Interference? – There are several factors that can affect your signal and cause interference, including cabling, weather, electrical appliances, etc. All of these things can affect your ability to receive channels – Go through the steps on our “Freeview Interference” page.
• Check your cabling – Having lots of aerial extension leads, splitters and adapters can affect your signal quality, as can looping your TV aerial feed through video/DVD recorders. Give your receiver the best chance at getting a quality signal – See our cabling advice to eliminate any weak links in your cabling.
• Weak signal? – Most Freeview receivers allow you to view an on-screen display of your signal strength. Check your signal on the UHF channel that relates to the group of channels you’re struggling with. Making improvements to your aerial is most likely to make a difference to your signal, and addressing cabling issues also helps. In many cases a signal booster can also help to improve a poor signal.
• Too much signal? In some cases, if you’re fairly close to your TV transmitter, you may be getting too much signal, and could be overloading your Freeview receiver. If this is the case, you need an Aerial attenuator from Maplin. This plugs into the aerial socket and reduces the signal.
• Channel clash? Some equipment, particularly video recorders and Sky digiboxes use something called a modulator to ‘broadcast’ a signal that equipment like a TV set can tune into. In some cases, the channel number used to modulate on (a number from 21-68) can be the same as one of the Freeview multiplex channel numbers. To test if there’s a chance of this, try cutting out other equipment. Connect TV aerial to Freeview box, then a SCART to the TV (cutting out other boxes and video recorders). If the missing channels appear, then it could be a channel clash and you may need to retune the modulator to a new channel. More

There are a number of other reasons why certain channels may not be available, such as:

• Lineup change – If a new channel is added to the Freeview line-up, or a change is made to the way that a channel is broadcast, you may need to perform a scan to get the channel you’re missing.
• Moved house / moved the box? – The channels stored on your box relate to the channels that were last stored. If you’ve moved house, or moved the box to a different aerial, you’ll need to scan for new channels, to see what the new aerial can receive.
• Ex- OnDigital / itvDigital customer? – If you are using an old set-top box and find you can’t get all your channels, this is because the line-up changed many years ago. You need to re-update your channel listings. To do this, look for the ‘Store channels’ option in your set top box menu (Note that an ‘Add channels’ may not be sufficient to get all of the channels, you may need to perform a full rescan for all channels.).

Suddenly vanished? – If some of your channels have suddenly vanished, it could be that your box has done an automatic scan for new channels and when scanning, couldn’t find some of the channels – maybe because the transmitter is on reduced power, or you experienced some interference. Other reasons for sudden loss of channels include: aerial damage, adverse weather conditions, cabling problems, local interference, or channel changes/renumbering. Sometimes trying another Freeview receiver in the house, or checking a neighbour’s reception can help to identify a problem. In general, the best advice is to ensure your box is getting a decent signal (using the advice on this page), then rescanning for channels.

Need more help on missing channels? Ask in our Freeview Problems forum – include the make/model of your Freeview receiver, plus your postcode.

• Firstly, perform a scan from your Freeview receiver – sometimes channels get reorganised or replaced, and your box may not pick up changes automatically.
• Next, you need to check whether you can get other channels on the same multiplex as the channel you’re looking for. See our Freeview Channel List, find the channel you want, and look in the Mux channel column. If you can’t get any of the channels on that Mux, then see the Missing Channels question.
• If you can get other channels on the Mux, and all you’re missing is the new channel, then it’s likely to be a problem with your box:
  • Double-check that the channel you want isn’t on a different channel number to the one you were expecting. The channel numbering changes now and then, and channels sometimes move around.
  • If your lineup is out-of-date, you need to rescan to get the correct lineup. Try performing a full rescan of your channels (don’t just do an “add channels”).
  • If that doesn’t work, try a reset of your Freeview set-top box. Unplug the box for 30 seconds, plug it in, then perform a full rescan. More

We have a page, plus a step-by-step guide, on how to deal with the various causes of interference to Freeview. See our: Dealing With Freeview Interference section for loads of tips and suggestions.

Your mission is to get the feed from your aerial into your Freeview box with the minimum of joins, and connecting via the minimum number of other boxes / adapters, to keep down ‘loss’. You also need good quality, undamaged cabling and connectors. Poor cabling, connectors and cheap/damaged ‘flyleads’ is one of the more common problems.

If you have TV aerial extension cabling feeding other rooms, or you’re looping your aerial through other TV sets, video/DVD recorders or PC TV cards, then you’re adding potential problems. Connecting to extra TVs, long cable runs, or looping through video recorders can all reduce the signal that’s getting to your Freeview box. Try making the most direct connection possible – connect your Freeview box to the main aerial feed, disconnecting any extensions or video recorders to see if that makes a difference – give the Freeview receiver the best chance of getting a good quality signal. If you need to feed lots of rooms or equipment, you’ll find that an amplified signal booster can help maintain signal when the source is split.

If you’re having problems, you may also want to consider replacing any dodgy-looking aerial cable, splitters or connectors, to help eliminate anything that can cause interference. Just replacing your flylead from the aerial socket on your wall to the Freeview box can make a difference. Use a high-quality co-ax aerial cable with gold-plated co-ax connectors (from Maplin), don’t run your aerial cable anywhere near your mains cables, and don’t use longer cables than you actually need. It’s also important to make sure any connectors are a tight fit in their aerial sockets, as loose connectors can cause intermittent signal loss.

If your TV aerial feed comes from a wall socket (not just a floating aerial lead coming in through the wall, there’s also a chance that there may be damage to the aerial wiring behind the wall plate (such as the centre core of the aerial cable having snapped).

You’ll find Maplin Electronics can provide high-quality aerial parts and RF connectors, including cable with gold-plated connectors.

Unless you’re in a very strong signal area, you’ll need a good quality external (roof) aerial to get good Freeview reception.

For best results, you should get a good quality aerial of the correct Group, possibly with a masthead amplifier, mounted on your roof and pointed directly at the appropriate digital TV transmitter – this gives you the best chance of getting a good solid signal.

Aerial height can make a difference, and the aim is to get “line of sight”, with no buildings / powerlines or other obstructions in the way.

You could consider fitting a good aerial yourself (Try Maplin for the parts), or check Yellow Pages for the name and number of some reputable aerial installers and get some comparative quotes. If in doubt, seek professional advice and get the best that you can afford.

Some other aerial issues:

• Getting the right Group
• Indoor / set-top aerials
• Cable TV company aerial wiring

For a wide range of aerials, connectors and amplifiers, go to www.maplin.co.uk

• Group A – Channels 21-37
• Group B – Channels 35-53
• Group C/D – Channels 48-68
• Group E – Channels 35-68
• Group K – Channels 21-48
• Group W – Channels 21-68 (wideband)

If in doubt, a wideband aerial (Group W) may be the best option – these are optimised to receive TV channels anywhere in the UK TV band. In areas of weak signal, a wideband aerial may not be quite as effective as a high-gain aerial designed for the specific band you’re trying to receive (a mast-head amplifier may be needed to help boost the signal), but in most cases, they’re a good compromise. If you’re looking to upgrade aerial, getting a good quality wideband aerial is usually the thing to do, so that if additional services (such as Freeview) appear elsewhere in the band, you’ll be able to get them.

High gain aerials can be used to reduce certain types of problem – including weak signal, interference and ghosting. They do this by getting the most out of the signal. For the best results in weak signal areas, look for a high-gain aerial optimised for the band you want, and ensure that it’s pointed directly at the target transmitter, with sufficient height to clear any obvious obstructions blocking line-of-site to the transmitter.

For a wide range of aerials, connectors and amplifiers, go to www.maplin.co.uk

A proper external aerial, or a even a loft aerial, is your best bet for good reception, but if your only option is an internal portable aerial, go for a good quality indoor aerial. Look for a powered one , and aim it at the appropriate transmitter. Try to keep it close to a window, with as few walls and as little metal as possible between the aerial and the transmitter – keeping the aerial high, away from other electrical equipment, and close to a window, can all help too.

If you’re looking to get an indoor aerial, there are some test results on Ricability‘s site. One of the indoor aerials to come out top in consumer tests is the Telecam TCE2001 – this is available from Argos, priced under £20 (Cat: 534/4008).

As well as Argos, it’s worth looking at the range of indoor aerials at Maplin Electronics – We’ve had recommendations that Maplin’s High Gain Indoor Digital Aerial with Amplifier (Cat: A95GT) performs well.

If you have a roof aerial, but not in the required room, consider running a cabled extension. Aerial extension kits are easy to do, and are available for a low price at Maplin Electronics.

Where boosters can be of help, is situations where you’re feeding your Freeview signal to multiple TV sets around the house, or to lots of bits of equipment. They can ensure that there’s minimal “loss” as the signal passes through other bits of equipment or indoor cabling, and many boosters have multiple amplified outputs to support feeding other equipment and rooms.

For more on signal boosters and amplifiers, see our Freeview Boosters page

How you do a channel re-scan varies from box to box, but if you look through your Freeview receiver’s onscreen menu, you should find an option called something like “store channels”, “channel search”, “new channels”, “scan for channels”, or something similar. If you’re not sure of how to scan, refer to your Freeview receiver’s manual.

More help: See our How to Retune Freeview section

If you want help on using Wolfbane, and understanding the results, see our Coverage page

You’ll find Wolfbane’s site at www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe

If you’re not getting the region you want, it’ll be a case of making sure that your TV aerial is pointing at the appropriate digital TV transmitter, and that you have a suitable aerial group to receive that transmitter’s channels. An aerial installer can help with ensuring that your aerial receives the required regional channels. More on aerials.

Most commonly, it’s down to your aerial cabling – the signal goes in to your first Freeview box, then through your TV, video recorder, and then down 20 metres of aerial cable to a second Set-top box elsewhere in the house. By the time it’s done that trip, loss through cable has reduced the signal. This of course is a lot worse if there are a lot of joins in the cable, or it’s cheap aerial cabling. The advice under Cabling applies. An amplified booster is often worth looking at too – as these can split and amplify signals to service multiple boxes, and should be your first focus.

Something else to consider: Not all Freeview boxes are the same – some are better made than others, and are better at handling a weaker signal. Perhaps try swapping the boxes around to see if that helps.

See our TopUp TV page for more information, or our Freeview Coverage advice page for help on getting Multiplex A.

Each ordinary TV signal (BBC1, BBC2, etc) is on a dedicated channel (a number between 21 and 68), and you need to tune your TV preset buttons into each channel. Many set-top boxes and video recorders have an aerial output with a ‘modulator’ – this means that it’s capable of generating its own channel (between 21 and 68), which you have to tune a TV preset into.

If you are experiencing interference because of a clash like this, you’ll need to change the channel that the box or video broadcasts on. You’ll find details of how to do this in the box/video’s manual (look for RF modulated output channel, or UHF channel – something like that).

Note that this is only a problem if you’re trying to watch via standard TV channels, as opposed to a SCART feed from your set-top box or video (as SCART connections don’t use a TV channel). If your TV / video has a SCART socket, using this may be a much better bet than a modulated feed via an aerial lead, especially in quality terms, and to remove the chance of interference or clashes, you may wish to disable the set-top box’s RF modulator altogether. See our Connection section for help on setting up your set-top box, video and TV using SCART leads.

Properties in a postcode that have decent aerials, correctly aligned, perhaps with an amplifier, may be able to get a decent signal when the predictor says that Freeview reception shouldn’t be possible.