Topic ID 173
My old television set is clapped out, so I'm now having to buy a new one. Ideally, I'd like one of these digital sets. However, I'm told they only work when you have a very good incoming signal. My worry is that where I am - Sele Mill, on North Road - has poor reception, hence the very tall aerials in the area and the fact that I can't receive Channel 5. Is there anyone who live close by who's digitally "literate" who can enlighten me on this? Michael
Reply ID 887
A TV engineer who came to my house nr Tesco's on the weekend to quote for a chimney arial, said that Digital & Chan 5 are not available to me. Something about the transmitter in Bengeo being useless etc..
Reply ID 888
Thanks for that. As I'm receiving from the Bengeo transmitter, too, it looks as if the future is analogue for me, regardless of what the government would like me to do. Michael
Reply ID 890
Bengeo is a booster serving a relatively small number of people in "the valley". As such it's quite a low priority as anyone who uses it knows. Eventually it will get upgraded to digital but no time soon.
Reply ID 892
I live a stone's throw from you in Millstream Close and I can't get Channel 5 either. I was thinking of getting a Freeview box - is that digital? If it isn't going to improve my TV picture or increase the number of channels then I won't bother. Any suggestions?
Reply ID 893
Yes, I'm afraid a Freeview box is digital, so won't work round here. So the only option for the digitally impoverished amongst us is to either go with Sky or the local cable company. NTL, I think. Michael
Reply ID 894
Not quite true about Freeview. Coverage is very patchy in the town - some parts of the town centre can get freeeview, for instance. Consult an aerial installer for a definitive answer.
Reply ID 901
keep away from ntl - bit of a rip off methinks. picture often freezes and isn't cheap...
Reply ID 902
NTHell is known to many Subscribe at your peril
Reply ID 936
We're in Bengeo and hence lower than you up there at Sele Farm, but we've managed to get Freeview to work with a "WideBand" aeriel. It cost about £150 and had to be put on a massively high pole, but it generally seems to work (Sometimes esp in bad weather you get the pic freezing up and have to switch over to analogue). It's worth doing though, if only to avoid paying Murdoch and NT-Hell so much money. We tried the latter and soon gave it up. Cheers Mike
Reply ID 1013
I have read the correspondence regarding T/V reception and consider myself very fortunate to be enjoying the fruits of a full Sky subscription. I love watching most sport and this is available to me in superb digital quality (and there is a very noticeable and significant difference over analogue) O.K.,it's cost me a small fortune over the years but the service is absolutely first-class. I went even more mad a couple of weeks back and invested in a Sky+ box. This is quite the most brilliant device imaginable with something like 20 hours of recording time on its hard drive so you need never miss a programme - oh, and it's possible to record two channels at the same time. Not only that, but if the 'phone rings while you're watching, you simply pause live T/V and return to where you left off even hours later! This makes me sound like Mr.Murdoch's greatest fan - which I certainly am not - but I have to say that, at my age, stuff the expense and enjoy the best that life has to offer.
Reply ID 1023
Bit unfair on NTL - we've had for a few years now and not had much to complain about. We had a bit of a problem transferring the old telephone number but I suspect that BT had a hand in that problem. Certainly we pay less now than we did for BT and Sky together and we have the benefit of broadband.
Reply ID 1024
I wouldn't recommend NTL to my worst enemy. Their customer service is absolutely appaling. There are whole websites devoted to discussion of their lamentable service.
Reply ID 1025
can not get digital tv ,but can get dab radio, about 30 odd stations when i last counted.
Reply ID 1027
I find this very interesting as the government is looking to lock out the analogue signal within 10 years.When NTL laid its cable I noticed that I had been excluded (my house lying between two green telecommunication boxes). NTL advised I would be connected once the villages were included! Hello,its now 6 years and I must be the only person in Hertford that doesn't have the option. But, looking at the comments above lucky to not have the option.
Reply ID 1036
I've just been through a fiasco involving digital. I wanted freeview because I didn't want to pay a monthly fee, however, the freeview post code check showed I could not have it (I'm half way up the hill on the south side). So I called NTL, who I used to have (with no problems) in the town centre, where I lived previously. NTL came out and said there was a fault with their cable installation in my area and I could not have it. So I called Sky. Who said that could not put a dish on my house because the trees prevented them from using a ladder safely. So I called an aerial specialist, who said I can have Freeview, with a new aerial and a booster. I paid £200 and I got a terrible 10 foot aerial, which picks a signal, but not well. It pixelates and freezes far too much. The neighbours complained about the height of the aerial. So? I took it down, and now I'm back to square one with 4 channels. I get fed up of those damn monkeys on TV telling me to upgrade digital, when I live in a county town and I can't get it.
Reply ID 1088
As someone who lives underneath the Bengeo ariel I can tell you we also have probelms with walkabout phones and mobile phone signals. We were years before we could get chanel 4 !