Can I use an indoor TV aerial for Freeview?

 

At the moment, Freeview is not operating on full power. This means that, at present, the Freeview signals are generally lower than standard analogue TV signals.

 

This means that many set-top indoor aerials are currently unable to pull in a decent Freeview signal to feed a Freeview TV set or set-top box. If you're fairly close to your nearest digital TV transmitter, and your existing reception of analogue TV via an indoor aerial is excellent, you may find that a decent indoor aerial will be able to pull in a good Freeview signal.

 

One way of telling, is to enter your postcode into the Wolfbane Digital TV Predictor and see how far away from a digital transmitter you are - Go to http://www.wolfbane.com/cgi-bin/tvd.exe , enter your postcode, and look at the last column, "Antenna (suggestion)".

 

The situation with reduced power Freeview should improve as your TV region gets closer to the Digital Switchover, so if you're not able to get Freeview via a set-top aerial yet, you either need to wait for your local transmitter to be upgraded, consider connecting your TV to a rooftop aerial, or looking at one of the other digital TV options.

 

 

If you're looking for an indoor aerial, we recommend maplin.co.uk.

 

 

 

Other links:

 

• Freeview Reception help: FrequencyCast Freeview Advice
• TV in other rooms: Other Rooms FAQ

 

Answer unclear? Let us know!