Freeview - Cant get ITV or channel 4

[shelley2]

I have just set up my digital set top box - only to find i cant get ITV or channel 4, does this mean everytime i want to watch these channels i will have to take the aerial out of the box and plug it back into the TV?? I tried scanning for new channels etc and still no joy!!

[heathfield]

You don't say where you live, but you can check the coverage of all channels here. Remember that you might need a more effective aerial for digital, and that some channels may have their transmitters in a totally different direction to others. Anything obstructing a direct line of sight between you and the transmitter, (houses,trees, etc.) can block the signal.
I leave my aerial plugged in anyway - I find teletext much easier to glance through on the analogue channels.

[~Wingnut~]

Hi Shelley2 :o)
Also check on your service list under the favourites heading that it says YES, if it says NO then the channel wont show up on your listings. Something I discovered just after I bought a Freeview box and couldn't work out where some of my channels were and why they weren't showing.

I should imagine that it is likely to be what Heathfield has stated and you may need a better aerial.

[shelley2]

Thanks very much both of you - i will check it out when i get home...

[Buenchico]

A couple of extra points:

1. During the set up procedure, the box searches for strong signals and adds these channels to the list of those available. (The signal strength required for the box to 'lock on' to a particular channel is slightly higher than is actually required for day to day viewing). If you happen to tune the box when signal strengths are slightly reduced (e.g. because it's raining heavily), the box won't 'lock on' to the channel, even though there's actually a strong enough signal for reception. Try repeating the tuning procedure; you might well find that the missing channels are added to the list of those available.

2. I assume that your Freeview box is connected to the TV with a Scart lead. Most boxes have 'RF loopthrough'. This means that there's an 'RF out' (or 'Aerial Out') socket on the back of the box. You can connect this, with an aerial fly lead (bought cheaply from Tesco Extra or Asda) to the TV's aerial socket. (i.e. the box is connected to the TV by BOTH the Scart lead AND the fly lead). To watch analogue TV, simply switch off the Freeview box and change channels, as you used to, on the TV.

Chris

[romko]

do as buenchico says - get an extra rf lead and connect the aerial to the freezeview .... ahem, freeview, then the freeview output to the tv, so you don`t have to swap cables.