Freeview Reception in Watford ??

Hi, I wonder if anyone can give some advice or info regarding Freeview
reception in the Watford area
(South Herts).

I bought my in laws a freeview box for Xmas. I'd looked at the freeview web
site and the on line
forms said reception was available for their postcode but they'd need to
change their ariel as it
used a different frequency in that area.

I phoned a local ariel company who confirmed that and so I went ahead and
bought the box and
also offered to pay for them to get a new ariel installed.

However, upon the ariel company coming out to install the ariel, they have
informed my in laws that
no reception is possible at their house.

We have spoke to several people at places like Currys & Dixons and they
still say reception
is ok in Watford with a new ariel, in fact some will say you don't even need
an ariel, just turn the
old one round. The freeview web site still says their postcode can get it,
but they can't.

I can't believe a town the size of Watford has no reception. Is is possible
for one small
area to be totally blacked out from reception? Is there any (easy) way for
my in laws to
cheaply (they are pensioners) find out once and for all if they can get any
reception.

Any help greatly appreciated


Cheers



Mark

Hi, I wonder if anyone can give some advice or info regarding Freeview
reception in the Watford area
(South Herts).

I bought my in laws a freeview box for Xmas. I'd looked at the
freeview web site and the on line
forms said reception was available for their postcode but they'd need
to change their ariel as it
used a different frequency in that area.

I phoned a local ariel company who confirmed that and so I went ahead
and bought the box and
also offered to pay for them to get a new ariel installed.

However, upon the ariel company coming out to install the ariel, they
have informed my in laws that
no reception is possible at their house.

We have spoke to several people at places like Currys & Dixons and
they still say reception
is ok in Watford with a new ariel, in fact some will say you don't
even need an ariel, just turn the
old one round. The freeview web site still says their postcode can
get it, but they can't.

I can't believe a town the size of Watford has no reception. Is is
possible for one small
area to be totally blacked out from reception? Is there any (easy)
way for my in laws to
cheaply (they are pensioners) find out once and for all if they can
get any reception.

Any help greatly appreciated


Cheers



Mark

have you tried just plugging it into the existing ariel and seeing what if
any channels can be recieved?

"ChrisM" wrote in message
...
Hi, I wonder if anyone can give some advice or info regarding Freeview
reception in the Watford area
(South Herts).

I bought my in laws a freeview box for Xmas. I'd looked at the
freeview web site and the on line
forms said reception was available for their postcode but they'd need
to change their ariel as it
used a different frequency in that area.

I phoned a local ariel company who confirmed that and so I went ahead
and bought the box and
also offered to pay for them to get a new ariel installed.

However, upon the ariel company coming out to install the ariel, they
have informed my in laws that
no reception is possible at their house.

We have spoke to several people at places like Currys & Dixons and
they still say reception
is ok in Watford with a new ariel, in fact some will say you don't
even need an ariel, just turn the
old one round. The freeview web site still says their postcode can
get it, but they can't.

I can't believe a town the size of Watford has no reception. Is is
possible for one small
area to be totally blacked out from reception? Is there any (easy)
way for my in laws to
cheaply (they are pensioners) find out once and for all if they can
get any reception.

Any help greatly appreciated


Cheers



Mark

have you tried just plugging it into the existing ariel and seeing what if
any channels can be recieved?





And that's "aerial" of course...unless you're being Shakespearean.

In message , on Fri,
9 Jan 2004, Mark Austin writes
Hi, I wonder if anyone can give some advice or info regarding Freeview
reception in the Watford area
(South Herts).

What reception you can get may depend on exactly where you are, however
I am just north of Watford and have just got Freeview. My existing
aerial was aligned to Crystal Palace, and I found that I could get the
BBC channels on Freeview, but not much else.

I had a new aerial installed, aligned to Hemel Hempstead, and now have
very good reception of all Freeview channels. Analogue is worse however,
probably because I am very close to the transmitter, and being
overwhelmed by the signal. I had to have an attenuator fitted to stop
the analogue transmissions interfering with the digital channels.

This link may help. You'll need your OS grid reference, but you can find
that from another link on the page:

http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe
--
Phil

"Mark Austin" wrote in message ...
Hi, I wonder if anyone can give some advice or info regarding Freeview
reception in the Watford area
(South Herts).

I bought my in laws a freeview box for Xmas.

Have you tried the box??? it should pick up at least some Mux bands -
note there are 6 - the strongest is the BBC, most boxes pick up some
stations DJR