My Tv Has 0% Signal Strength; Is There Anything I Can Do To Fix This?

[Caroline]

Hello
I moved into a new house a few months ago but when I try to set up the TV it says there is 0% signal strength and it can't find any channels. The previous owners had cable rather than digital. Is there anything I can do to try and fix this or will I just have to call someone in?
Thank you for your help.

[Hopkirk]

Are you on satellite or freeview?

[jomifl]

You will need a decoder box for the cable I imagine. The house documentation should say who the (cable)service provider is, they will supply a decoder when you subscribe. It will cost you so if you don't want to shell out you will have to connect to an aerial. Is there one fitted to the house.?

[Hopkirk]

You must be connecting a wire to the back of your TV, but where does that wire go? Roof aerial, satellite digibox and dish, or cable from the road?

[Caroline]

The intention is to use freeview. There is an aerial on the roof but when I plug the aerial cable in it says there's no signal strength.

[Jomlett]

Double-check your aerial cabling. Is there a chance that your TV aerial (or any splitter /booster) is unplugged? Could you have a damaged aerial fly lead?

[Hopkirk]

I suspect you will have to get an aerial specialist in.

If it was a weak signal, I would suggest a booster, but you have no signal.

Before that I would check as much as possible that all connections are complete. Where possible try a substitute cable.

I presume your TV has a built in Freeview tuner, and doesn't need a digibox.

[Caroline]

I've tried all three aerial sockets / leads in the house and I get the same issue with all of them. Thank you for all your help; it looks like I'll have to get someone in.

[Hopkirk]

The aerial may have been blown out of line.

Stand outside in your garden and try to see if your aerial is obviously out of line with the neighbours ones.

Try to get a recommendation from someone of a reputable man - or they will con you into having a super duper 'digital' aerial upgrade. (There is no such thing, I understand)

[Caroline]

I didn't notice anything particularly unusual about the aerial earlier when I had a look but I shall check again in the morning before calling someone out. Thank you all for your help.

[Jomlett]

If you've got three aerial sockets it's possible there's a junction box fault. First find the box, though.

[Hopkirk]

Thinking about it further, have you got the TV to re-scan since you moved house?

If you moved to a different TV area it might be saying 0% signal strength on the channels it is looking for, because they are not transmitting in your area.

If the arial was at fault I would expect a message more like 'no signal'.

[johnny37]

I agree with Jomlett. before you pay out a money see if you can trace either ther aerial cable or the socket boxes back to the joins. Could be in the loft. Replacing the aerial is relatively inexpensive. You could try contacting the estate agent who handled the sale to phone the previous owners.

[Traci66]

If the previous owners had cable it could be that the aerial is the old type and not a digital one.