TV in a room with no aerial socket.

[rubbershoes]

So what's my options? Do portable aerials/coat hangers work? I'm in a valley so may struggle for signal.
Would a chromecast or firestick do?

Do I need a particular type of TV? I haven't bought one for 8 years and guess things may have changed since then

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I'm in a valley so may struggle for signal.

Could you build something like this to pick up the signal (for receiving rather than transmitting)?

 

[The39thStep]

Firestick will do it

 

[moochedit]

So what's my options? Do portable aerials/coat hangers work? I'm in a valley so may struggle for signal.
Would a chromecast or firestick do?

Do I need a particular type of TV? I haven't bought one for 8 years and guess things may have changed since then

You just need an hdmi port for a firestick or chromecast. I may be wrong but would think hdmi ports are standard on new telly's these days.

 

[gentlegreen]

Television ... I remember that - vaguely ...
It lost its magic for me when you could no longer watch the cosmic microwave background when there was nothing on ...

 

[spitfire]

So what's my options? Do portable aerials/coat hangers work? I'm in a valley so may struggle for signal.
Would a chromecast or firestick do?

Do I need a particular type of TV? I haven't bought one for 8 years and guess things may have changed since then

Portable aerials do work depending on where you are. Try a cheap one and if it does mostly work then try a signal booster added into the mix.

If not then fire stick it is.

 

[two sheds]

Have you got wifi? I use computer instead of tv I don't hold with these 16-foot diagonal tv screens myself.

 

[BoxRoom]

What do you want to watch? We don't have a working aerial here and watch a lot of on demand, streaming stuff. We can mostly watch live telly on a browser that we can Chromecast to the telly if we need to.

 

[gentlegreen]

Have you got wifi? I use computer instead of tv I don't hold with these 16-foot diagona tv screens myself.

I'm planning to have a big screen and an HD projector when I move - but mostly for Winamp visualisations and spying on my neighbours with concealed cameras and drones

 

[two sheds]

Don't understand the idea of a tv taking over the whole fucking room

projector fair enough admittedly.

 

[what]

If you can put up a satellite dish then a TV with built in freesat or a set top freesat box would work

 

[rubbershoes]

What do you want to watch? We don't have a working aerial here and watch a lot of on demand, streaming stuff. We can mostly watch live telly on a browser that we can Chromecast to the telly if we need to.

It's going to be in the spare room. Freeview would be useful

 

[gentlegreen]

Don't understand the idea of a tv taking over the whole fucking room

projector fair enough admittedly.

It was using google earth on a smartboard at work that did it for me
I'm hoping to have quite a large horticultural project so will want to be able to look at a lot of cameras and telemetry simultaneously ...

I will also be buying a new PC and at least two 27 inch monitors

 

[The39thStep]

Firestick- sideload Freeview or just load the individual terrestrial apps . It's a piece of piss and you don't need to waste time putting up satellite dishes, projectors , laptops etc.

 

[Supine]

Smart tv with wifi gives you lots of options

 

[A380]

Any decent smart tv will give you all you want over the interweb.

I’d go for the Samsung of the size you want.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Places with shit TV coverage tend to be more likely to also have shit Internet coverage.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Places with shit TV coverage tend to be more likely to also have shit Internet coverage.

rubbershoes probably just needs a comfy chair to sit and read in his rural idyll.

 

[The39thStep]

Places with shit TV coverage tend to be more likely to also have shit Internet coverage.

Should be enough for streaming tbh

 

[rubbershoes]

Places with shit TV coverage tend to be more likely to also have shit Internet coverage.

We've got fibre to the door. Good enough for most things

 

[UnderOpenSky]

It was using google earth on a smartboard at work that did it for me
I'm hoping to have quite a large horticultural project so will want to be able to look at a lot of cameras and telemetry simultaneously ...

I will also be buying a new PC and at least two 27 inch monitors

Could look at 32" ultrawide. Same height as a 27. But wider.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Don't understand the idea of a tv taking over the whole fucking room

projector fair enough admittedly.

Turns out the new ones are flat. I've bolted mine to the wall on an arm that comes out when I want to watch it

 

[two sheds]

Yes sorry I generally try to avoid being so judgemental. It's not hugely important.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Yes sorry I generally try to avoid being so judgemental. It's not hugely important.

Which board did you think you were on?

 

[Aquamarine]

Does anyone know about Freeview in a house with no aerial socket/rooftop aerial - my tv with built in Freeview only gets 6 local London tv channels where I've now moved to in S. London - is getting a rooftop aerial the only option?

 

[platinumsage]

You can get a loft aerial, if you have a loft. Windows and walls are other options. Depends what a line of sight to your transmitter looks like.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Does anyone know about Freeview in a house with no aerial socket/rooftop aerial - my tv with built in Freeview only gets 6 local London tv channels where I've now moved to in S. London - is getting a rooftop aerial the only option?

depends where you are in S London - mum-tat is on reasonably high ground (somewhere between catford and eltham) and gets the full range of freeview with an indoor aerial.

before digital, you could get a fuzzy picture at her place with no aerial at all. digital tends to be you either get a signal or you don't.

there are mains powered boosters you can put between aerial and set.

or there are indoor aerials with built in amplifier / booster.

it's a while since i've had to think about them, first web article i came up with here

if you can move the telly to somewhere else (but reasonably local) where you can connect to a decent aerial, you could try doing the channel scanning / tuning there, then taking it home and see if you can still get other channels - if it can't see them when you do the initial tuning, then it won't show them at all.

if it comes to an aerial, i'd tend to go for a loft aerial rather than roof if you can, unless reception is really dire where you are - it's less likely to fall down and cause damage. i'm fairly near the bottom of a valley in berkshire, and i've got a pretty powerful aerial in the loft and that's ok.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

I got one a bit like this a few years ago:

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/vivanco-tva-4090-full-hd-amplified-indoor-tv-aerial-10225445.html

You need to check the range, though, some are more powerful than others. iirc, you look up your post code on the manufacturer's websites and they will work out where your nearest transmitter is and what strength/range model you need.

And mine worked fine, up until about 18 months ago. I moved away, temporarily, then moved back, and in the intervening period four or five 30-40-storey blocks of yuppie flats have gone up about a quarter/half a mile behind my flat, presumably blocking signal, because most of the terrestrial channels are now missing. So I figure I need to get a stronger one.

 

[girasol]

We have something similar as the aerial cable doesn't reach the tv and there's a door on the way so getting the cable to other side was too involved.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/One-All-Amplified-Indoor-Digital-white/dp/B001ADZ52Y/

 

[A380]

Unless you have a strong digital terrestrial signal I wouldn’t faff about with indoor aerials. Get a tv aerial company in to either give you a yargi aerial on the roof or a freesat dish and box. They are never as dear as you think they will be and it’s not a faff for them as they do it all the time.