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Freeview reception - all about aerials

Your ability to receive all the Freeview transmissions depends on the suitability of aerial: the design style, "group" and its physical location.

Your ability to receive all the Freeview transmissions depends
published on UK Free TV

Updated 8th January 2014.

Your ability of receive all the Freeview transmissions depends on the suitability of aerial

  • the design style,
  • the "group", and
  • its physical location.

Standard type - Yagi aerial



The standard type of TV aerial is known as the Yagi aerial. It is mounted on a pole, and consists of a rod with a reflector (shown green) at the back and many spiky elements (in grey) at the front. The connecting cable connects to the element nearest the reflector, known as the driver (shown in blue).

These Yagi aerials are directional and so pick up signals best from a transmitter that the rod points towards. The more elements the aerial has, the better it picks up a signal and becomes more directional.

A standard-type aerial is all that is required for digital TV reception in most places. These antennae have between 10 and 18 elements and a single reflector. These are recommended for new installations for good digital television reception, but will more often than not function perfectly in good reception areas.

Typically these aerials are designed to receive only some transmission frequencies - see "groups" below.

High Gain aerials



These aerials are designed for poor digital reception areas, and have two reflectors. For maximum signal strength, some digital high gain aerials have up to 100 elements. Since the switchover to digital-only transmissions back in October 2012, most UK households now have good quality digital TV signals.

A more expensive aerial is only required where the signal strength is low, but can often provide the whole Freeview reception where it might otherwise be impossible.

The CAI (that represents aerial installers) has four standards for digital TV aerials. The highest standard "1" is for homes on the fringes of coverage areas, intermediate standard "2" is suitable for use within the coverage area; minimum standard "3" is for good coverage conditions.

These aerials can be either wideband, or receive only selected frequencies - see "groups" below.

Grid



You may haved used a 'Grid aerial' for analogue reception, but as they are generally unsuitable for Freeview reception, they have now generally been replaced by the Yagi type. However in some places a Grid aerial installation may work for Freeview: otherwise replace with a standard Yagi aerial.

Indoor

Indoor aerials are generally not suitable for Freeview reception. In areas of good signal strength it is often possible to receive some transmissions. Even where an aerial works, people often find that may get interruptions to their viewing (or recording).

Loft mounted

Loft mounted arrivals are not generally recommended for Freeview reception, as the roof tiles and plumbing will degrade the signal. Some compensation for this loss of signal can be made by using satellite-grade cable to connect the set top box to the aerial.

Positioning

The best position for a TV aerial is mounted outdoors, as high from the ground as possible, pointing directly at the transmitter. The signal can be blocked by hills and tall buildings. It should be positioned away from any other aerials.

Horizontal or vertical?

The transmitter will either use vertical mode which requires the elements of your aerial to be up-down, or horizontal mode which requires them to be level with the ground.

Groups

Both analogue and digital television is transmitted the same group of transmission frequencies (known as channel 21 through to 60). A coloured marking on the aerial shows the group.



To create the best possible analogue picture, TV transmissions from adjacent transmitters have been designated to several different groups of frequencies. By using an aerial that receives only the channels in the correct group, the analogue picture can be kept free from interference.

To receive Freeview transmissions from the same transmitter it has been sometimes necessary to use frequencies that are not part of the transmitter's normal group. When this has occurred, the aerial will need to be replaced with a "wideband" aerial (also known as group W) - one that covers every group.

As Ofcom is planning to move the TV frequencies again - perhaps as soon as 2018 - it may be wise to use a wideband aerial if you can to ensure you can keep viewing Freeview for many years to come.

Help with Television sets?
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Do I still have to pay for a TV licence?2
I had perfect channel 5 reception - until I got a digital TV box!3
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In this section
Loft aerials1
Do I need to buy a booster?2
How to receive Freeview on your PC3
Indoor aerials4
Whole house digital TV5
Connecting it all up6

Comments
Sunday, 1 April 2012
M
Mazbar
sentiment_satisfiedGold

6:20 AM

Steve p my technical training limited how dare you i have been doing tv aerials for over 24 years and there are very few things i dont know about aerial reception the problem with this site is people like you who post thinking they know enerything and know very little you come accross as a radio ham or a spark two types of people who havent a clue about tv reception all your advice does is point people in the wrong direction the thing you think all us aerial riggers do with aerials, good riggers will line up every instalation with a meter and use there expertise to deceide where to put the aerial. I dont tell you how good you are at your job if you have one so dont tell me how good i am at mine.

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Mazbar's 384 posts GB flag
S
Steve P
sentiment_satisfiedGold

6:45 PM

Mazbar if you are so good please tell May how to solve his problem; not just that you find Philips TVs hard to deal with.

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Steve P's 1,173 posts GB flag
M
Mazbar
sentiment_satisfiedGold

7:46 PM

Steve it the aerial is facing the transmitter you want and it is the strongest signal you use a anttenuator to reduce the signal of the unwanted transmitters so the tv doesnt pick it up. Today i had the same thing a customer in west derby liverpool her freeview box had tuned in yorkshire not winter hill even though yorkshire had a strongest signal of only 29 dbuv where wither hill had a signal of 65 dbuv so i reduced the signal by 15 dbuv and the receiver didnt pick up yorkshire only witner hill the hardest thing with philips is there tuner only shows up in mhrz not channel numbers and am sorry i carnt remember all the mhrz numbers. Also if you know that you are in a area that has problems with other transmitters you and it is good signal you use a log periodic aerial this has a accute acceptance angle. You also use local information you get with many years of doing a good job. If you look at transmitter information it will tell you that ormskirk in lancashire it will tell you only winter hill works, on a tree lined road winter hill was only giving 40 dbuv on a still day but lesd then 20 dbuv when windy with the trees moved. I put the aerials on storton wood with a log periodic aerial and got them 50 dbuv with no break up. i will try anything to get my customers the best signal. i dont do any other job or try to do anybodys job either try looking at yourself befor you insult me.

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Mazbar's 384 posts GB flag
Monday, 2 April 2012
R
rickh
8:22 AM
Gatwick

Hi, I'm at rh6 7jr and have an old Yagi which looks to be aligned on Crystal Palace. It gets 3 muxes OK but the rest are rubbish, including Mux 1 with BBC1.

It seems sensible to realign on the Reigate repeater but I remember seeing that repeater xmitters have a different polarity? What would be the best antenna?

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rickh's 2 posts GB flag
rickh's: ...
K
KMJ,Derby
sentiment_satisfiedGold

9:04 AM

rickh: The predicted reception at your location currently shows Mux1, Mux2 and MuxB to have variable reception from Crystal Palace, after switchover there is good reception on all muxes. Reigate is shown as good reception now and after switchover. If you do decide to change to Reigate , a wideband aerial would be required, a standard yagi or log periodic should be fine, subject to there being no local reception problems which are not included in the data used by the predictor. You might as well wait for switchover before deciding if any work is necessary.

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag
S
Steve P
sentiment_satisfiedGold

10:13 AM

Mazbar - do you also have a good signal from Wales over the sea?

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Steve P's 1,173 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:26 AM

rickh: If I were you, I'd wait until 18th April when Crystal Palace and Reigate have switched to digital. Then you can see how Crystal Palace fairs and whether it's worth changing the aerial for Reigate.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
R
rickh
10:49 AM

Many thanks, Dave and KMJ. If I stick with the Yagi and point it at Reigate, will I also need to roll it 90 degrees from horiz. to vertical mode?

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rickh's 2 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:04 AM

rickh: Yes, for Reigate your aerial should be vertical.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
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