Sky and Freeview

[texol]

I dont think im on my own by saying how unimpressed i am by the so called digital revolution. All it takes is a bit of rain and no matter which digital you are using it either breaks up or dissapears completely. Also has anyone having trouble with the digital BBC channels breaking up just recently no matter what the weather is like. This technology needs to be fool proof soon, before the switch off or a lot of people are going to be dissapointed, myself included. At the end of the day i am still getting better service through my old antenna (that work regardless of conditions) god knows we are paying through the nose for this digital wonder so surely it should be right. does anyone else feel the same (cant vouch for cable viewing as i dont have it, but after looking at a few post on here thet are just as disssatisfied)

[Dollie]

My Sky goes wonky when it rains heavily, and also when its too hot and sunny ??? Whats all that about?

[kitty1950]

I so agree with you, I only have freeview but I have stopped recording programmes through freeview because when you come to watch them they keep scrambling, It's time it was sorted out.

[Ethel]

Freeview is fine through cable tv - records well too.

[Postdog]

I have two freeview recievers. One for the telly, one in my PC, and both are fine.

[kitty1950]

I don't have cable, I only have an aerial which is situated in the loft and not outside on the roof so is not open to the elements.

[Mattk]

...but freeview comes thru your antenna and my sky rarely breaks up,only in extremely heavy rain.

[Catso]

Freeview shouldn't be affected by day-to-day weather, its transmission system is basically just like ordinery TV. Reception of it is more difficult because the transmission power isn't as high as the other normal channels. Things should improve when the 'local' sub-transmitters are able to transmit it (AFAIK, none are at present).

Cable should be very reliable.

The worst problems are on the satellite systems. Bear in mind you are receiving a tiny signal from 35,000 kilometers away. As pointed out, rain affects the reception, but on a decent system, only heavy rain should have any effect. If your system is affected by showers, then either its faulty or not set up correctly. It should be affected by hot weather, again, there is a fault or setup problem if you are.

It has to be said that a lot of systems have just been thrown together. If the installers are on piecework, there isn't much of an incentive to tweak it for the absolute best performance. Moving the dish just a millimeter (eg a crow lands on it) can upset the reception enough to cause picture breakup.

[Catso]

Oops "should not be affected by hot weather".

[Whickerman]

You should call your provider about those problems, particularly if you're paying a fee to sky. What you're experiencing is unacceptable, and should not be happening. The weather rarely affects my sky system (however trees waving in front of the dish do).

Recently i paid for a sky technician to come out as i had the problems you're having with picture breaking on certain channels. My box needed replacing, and this was included in the price of the visit - no extra charge.

[n00dles]

When we moved here 2 yrs ago we switched from Sky to NTL (to get the phone deal). Never had any problems relating to digital - great reception. But on non-digital the picture looks like your viewing through linoleum, lousy! That is because we have some kind of "screen" or something and it is like that along the coast till you get to Selsey Bill. When we lived 9 miles away from here we toyed with having Freeview, but it was going to cost �150 + to get a special aerial fitted because of the poor reception, thats when we opted for Sky - it was a better deal.

I record all TV progs now on DVD and the picture quality is A1.

[beejaybee]

I sometimes get probs with channel 5 on freeview

[texol]

whickerman may i ask how much you payed?

[Whickerman]

Hi Texol - The entire call out, new box included, was �100. That equates to about �68, which may seem a lot but I knew the box was buggered, and they cost a lot more. He also made slight adjustments to my dish. The engineer arrived exactly when he was supposed to, and was very courteous, clean, and efficient. I was very happy with the service - and let's be honest, how often can we say that these days?

[carlosthecat]

I thought I was the only one. I live on a main road and busy bus route and have great reception using my freeview set-top box - so long as no buses go past (and also no noisy motorbikes, which it seems to dislike too, as do I). At first I could get some channels and not others (e.g. BBC ones but not ITV or C4) and on other days I got the channels I previously couldn't get but not the ones I previously could get (e.g. ITV and C4 but not BBC). At the moment I seem to be able to get most of the free ones but I've probably jinxed it now.

[Whickerman]

carlosthcat - believe it or not, the sparkplugs on motors can interfere with signals, so that could explain the motorbike problem!

[carlosthecat]

whickerman thank you. would that be just while motorbikes are revving up? (sorry, I know nothing about motors)

[Whickerman]

Not sure - but our petrol lawnmower affects it too...!