I was wondering about getting one of those freeview boxes to get the extra 30 digital channels. Does anyone know what the reception is like round the ecclesall area and does anyone have any suggestions about what box to buy where to get it from etc etc

Start by checking your postcode here...

http://www.dtg.org.uk/retailer/coverage.html


...then and Google for 'Freeview FAQ'.

I think Ecclesall is a poor Freeview reception area. One idea is to borrow a box and check reception on your aerial/TV before buying one.

I bought a cheapo Bush box from T J Hughes (£50) and it works fine

Look on www.freeview.co.uk and type your postcode in to see if reception is available in your area.

I know someone who gets good reception on Ecclesall Road between town and Hunters Bar, but I know reception is unavailable at some parts of Ecclesall including near the Ecclesall Road South / Ringinglow Road junction.

Does anyone know if or when they are going to extend coverage areas? I think the government is planning to switch off analogue in a few years, so then everyone will have to be able to receive digital.

There's an explanation for Sheffield's Freeview problems here..

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&selm=c2a63f7007b9d038ae2c81826a3f93f9%40news.teran ews.com

Also Freeview transmission from Crosspool to parts S10 & S11 had to be sacrificed to ensure proper analogue reception.

But at £150 the new Sky 'no strings' offer may be an affordable alternative, especially if you need a new aerial for Freeview.

I should also mention that if you live hgh enough to get good analogue reception from Belmont (in Lincolnshire) then you'll likely get Freeview from there too, but BBC1 will be Humberside.

We live up the hilly part of greystones nr banner cross off ecclesall rd and had to get a wideband aerial fitted, cost £98 from a shop on abbeydale rd, almost opposite carterknowle/bannerdale rd.

We got the box from richer sounds, broomhill cost £39.
Make of it is 'strong'
To get it at that reduced priceyou have to say you saw it on there web site, or it is £10 more:thumbsup:

If you love shopping and travel channels you will love Freeview. 30 channels but some are a part of TUTV top up tv so not really 30 channels :(

Cheers for the advice everyone. Now I just have to find someone to lend me a box for a night to see if it's worth it. I can't really afford a new aeriel at the moment so I might just wait and consider sky's offer instead.

We just got Freeview and it's crap. ITV2 and BBC3 are the only things worth watching out of the supposed 30 channels. The rest just seem to be shopping and holiday channels:S

Originally posted by mattfjohnson
I was wondering about getting one of those freeview boxes to get the extra 30 digital channels. Does anyone know what the reception is like round the ecclesall area and does anyone have any suggestions about what box to buy where to get it from etc etc

I have a Freeview box and find the reception to be poor at times. I'm also in the Ecclesall area. Although the picture and sound is favourable when compared with terrestrial, be prepared for plenty of intermittent glitches such as big pixel flickers, cracks in the sound, the picture going black, etc. This is most noticeable on windy nights. I think the whole digital-terrestrial concept is technologically flawed and you might be better off going for Sky Digitals new free service.

Originally posted by t020
This is most noticeable on windy nights.


Sounds like you aerial is waving about in the wind and possibly has water in the cable. Did you just buy a STB and shove it on your old aerial system ?

A lot of people do that and if they get a half decent picture think they've cracked it. In fact the old aerial is often quite adequate but the old downlead isn't. Freeview is a lot more sensitive to poor or wrong cabling than analogue reception and really needs the same kind of aerial cabling that Sky does...ie low-loss, copper core and copper foil screen with no sharp bends in the cable.

We live in a house just off Psalter Lane and have Freeview. The ariel is in the attic and we get really good reception. But we too have experienced the sound cracks, freeze frames and other symptoms when the weather gets bad. The Freeview box is very sensitive to the position of the ariel. While up in the loft, I banged into it and moved it about half an inch. We lost reception completely and spent ages trying to re-establish the signal. We went for the upgrade to Topup TV which requires a digi-box with a smart card (we got a refurbished OnDigital box). Apart from the odd program on E4, it's hardly worth it. Freeview generally has little to recommend it apart from the 24 hour news channels and (occasionally) BBC3 and BBC4.

Originally posted by J-Blaze
We just got Freeview and it's crap. ITV2 and BBC3 are the only things worth watching out of the supposed 30 channels. The rest just seem to be shopping and holiday channels:S

I thought ITV2 was just repeats of ITV1 soap

There's a lot more available on Freeview than just having analogue reception plus you get digital radio thrown in and Freeview isn't significantly different from Sky's free offer.

If you want a wide choice of films old and new, or sport that's sold to the highest bidder, then you'll have to put lotsa dosh in Rupert Murdoch's pocket :D

Originally posted by Greybeard
Sounds like you aerial is waving about in the wind and possibly has water in the cable. Did you just buy a STB and shove it on your old aerial system ?

A lot of people do that and if they get a half decent picture think they've cracked it. In fact the old aerial is often quite adequate but the old downlead isn't. Freeview is a lot more sensitive to poor or wrong cabling than analogue reception and really needs the same kind of aerial cabling that Sky does...ie low-loss, copper core and copper foil screen with no sharp bends in the cable.

Its a new aerial, new wiring, and its in the loft.

Originally posted by t020
Its a new aerial, new wiring, and its in the loft.


Professional installation or DIY ? :D

Anyway I can only suggest you browse the uk.tech.digital-tv newsgroup for what might be causing the problem.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&group=uk.tech.digital-tv

There's a TV transmitter at the top of Crookes. If you've got an external aerial then you should be fine; we're OK most of the time with a loft aerial but it becomes unwatchable in high pressure weather.

* This is some meteorogical term. Not weather that turns up and won't leave until you buy something.

We live just off Psalter Lane, near the college and get great reception with our cheaper than cheap Goodmans box. I spoke to someone at Richer Sounds before getting a box who said a good rule of thumb is that if you get Channel 5 on analogue telly you will probably be able to get Freeview. We get fuzzy Channel 5 on normal TV and get a really strong Freeview signal, so I don't know how true this is.

Bear in mind:

1) Its only £50 (or less) not £150 and I would rather chew off my right arm than give Murdoch a penny.
2) The main reasons for having Freeview: Perfect reception on Channel 5(which now shows lots of reasonable films), Comedy on BBC3, docs on BBC4, two channels of music videos and three 24hr news channels (like one isn't enough) which I don't think is bad for £50.

I get good picture quality in all weather,,,,,runnin off a caravan attena placed in the loft...at Parson Cross

I live in the shefffield 12 area and have a freeview box, and the reception somes times is carbage, five and fiver most days are not watchable, they go either pixelated or the screen freezers. Which is a nightmare when recording off it ( we have one of those recordable ones where you can watch one channel and tape another) And the pants on the other channels, I can spend most nights flicking though 30 channels and not find anything. We haven't got cable fitted on our street so my only option is sky.

Does any one have experience of the new satellite freeview system? I believe it's a dish and a decoder box. The cost seems to be little more than that of a new ariel, plus it supplies HD, TV.
Reception here in Cooks, via Humax pvr, is perfect on all BBC channels, but rubbish on all the ITV, ones.

Yep, take a look at http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=379357&highlight=freesat

I don't know if this is related but my itv text service is not working is anybody else having the same problem

I live in greystones and our freeview reception is terrible. We ended up getting Sky which is a bit of a con because they charge you for some free to air channels such as E4. Apparently when they turn off the analog signal freeview will work brilliantly but you might have a long wait! Meanwhile is there any sign of us getting cable up here?