TV Aerials in a Modern World

During a recent house extension the TV aerial came off (mostly fell) the house and while i’ve been very conscientious about thinking about Wifi, Cat6 cables and USB ports I’ve completely forgotten about refitting a TV aerial as everything on line these days right?

Well we recently cancelled Sky and just reliant on netflix, amazon etc for the big TV shows but i miss the Freeview channels for just basic channel hopping but without a TV aerial its all off limits.

There must be a small compact TV aerial i can discreetly plug into the TV or some magic technology to access the standard TV channels.

So please recommend me a TV aerial that might work or some similar solution before i go all old school and go out and buy a TV aerial and climb some very big ladders, scare myself, and regret the whole thought process

If you’ve still got your sky dish then just use freesat

Put the aerial in the loft?

As the other thread I haven’t used an aerial or dish for a few years now.

There is a Freeview app that gives you the majority of the channels.

The BBC, ITV, C4 apps all give you access to live TV. Don’t see the point. I just wait until it’s available on demand.

Going back to 2001, and two house moves, I’ve not had a TV aerial. There really is no point surely?

The reason we channel-hopped BITD was because there was no video on demand. Now there is. Why would you want to waste your time watching crap on telly just because it’s on, rather than something you actually want to watch?!

There must be a small compact TV aerial i can discreetly plug into the TV or some magic technology to access the standard TV channels

I use Virgin Media Stream box for when I want to watch terrestrial. Was free with my broadband subscription.

What about, for those saying you don’t need one, everyone who has one just pulls it out for a couple of days. Then post on here how you got on?

Why would you want to waste your time watching crap on telly just because it’s on, rather than something you actually want to watch?!

Because sometimes by browsing through all the random channels you may find something interesting that you didn’t know existed, where as if you only view the programmes you already know about life will get incredibly boring quite quickly?

I’ve found a few TV shows I didn’t know about in the last couple of years, just by channel flicking on a Freeview TV.

where as if you only view the programmes you already know about

what do you think this place is for?!! (clue, not riding bikes) 😉

aerials all depend on where you live and where the local transmitter is.  This predicts what you need: http://213.123.190.40/cgi-bin/tvd.exe?

Come the apocalypse there will be no Internet and ultimate power will be afforded only to those with terrestrial TV….

Most smart TV’s have Pluto, Dave (or whatever its called now) Iplayer, ITV-X etc, etc…

So if you have decent internat, you can just stream everything over the internet anyway.

Freesat.

My TV has it built-in but a small plug-in box is cheap enough and just uses your existing Sky dish.

or you could just buy a ROKU stick and away you go.. no ariel required.

I’m in the process of redecorating the front room, and everything is going back in a different order, with the telly being on the opposite side. I picked up one of these from amazon for cheap, rescanned and haven’t noticed a difference in signal quality;

High Gain Freeview TV Aerial -August DTA240 – HD Portable Indoor/Outdoor Digital HD Antenna for USB TV Tuner / DVB-T Television / DAB Radio / SD / 4K – With Magnetic Base [Black] https://amzn.eu/d/f93EE8B

What about, for those saying you don’t need one, everyone who has one just pulls it out for a couple of days. Then post on here how you got on?

I took my aerial down because it was in a side building that was knocked down to build my extension so have been without aerial for 8 months. I just watch everything through internet (Firestick) and it is better as I now watch deliberate choices rather than just putting up with whatever is on the terrestrial TV at the time. If I want to see what is on that day I just look at an online TV guide and then watch it live or slightly later via internet.

Going back to 2001, and two house moves, I’ve not had a TV aerial. There really is no point surely?

What about, for those saying you don’t need one, everyone who has one just pulls it out for a couple of days. Then post on here how you got on?

Oh no the reality for us is between the 2 extremes

So our tv was disconnected from the aerial at Christmas last year in a room rearrangement. We didn’t notice until March.

We are still not connected to the aerial. This creates, for us 2 problems

ITV is now watched via the ITVX App. Which is ok but we can’t fast forward adverts. But it’s only say one series a year so not a big deal

Channel 4 is a pain. To the point where i might have to reconnect the aerial. This is so we can watch Bake Off and Grand Designs. Channel 4 has no casting and no Android app for Chromecast atc. So we are currently plugging a laptop into the tv for channel 4. I guess a mini pc would be another option

So in summary I’d say the OP needs to decide how much they care about Channel 4

Why can’t you use the Channel 4 app?

Why can’t you use the Channel 4 app?

It’s kinda pissy, I don’t know if it’s a licence issue or what.  I spent a small fortune on a big daft TV and it doesn’t have the C4 app at all.

I spent a small fortune on a big daft TV and it doesn’t have the C4 app at all.

That’s a bit rubbish. Is it a Panasonic?

I always bought Panasonic TV’s but then their app support got worse and worse. I now buy Samsung.

LG.

I’ve been saying this since the outset of “smart” TVs, you’re almost always better off relying on an external source for the smarts. It’s easier to spend £40 on a new STB than £1500 on a new panel.  I have a smaller Samsung which was pretty much obsolete a month after I’d taken it out of the box.

There really is no point surely?

Sometimes after an early shift I’m a fan of an afternoon nap, can’t beat Tipping Point to fall asleep too 🙂

Yes I’m sure I could find it on the STV app but I’m not that invested in watching it.

We have a small powered aerial behind the TV. Works fine. Far more convenient for me than multiple different streaming apps to try and find something to watch.

If you buy a compact hi-fi (denon dm41),  it will have a socket for a dab aerial.

having a proper aerial is essential for proper reception.

broader discussion about “if only the dab transmitters could be shared between the networks, thus improving reception”. Ditto, mobile networks sharing the same transmitters..

We have a small powered aerial behind the TV. Works fine.

Any idea what type it is? Going to need to get something here as the feckless idiots we bought the house off have half-arsed it just like everything else they touched

Any idea what type it is? 

I could look but it’s been there 15 years it’s unlikely you could buy a new one the same if you tried.

It looks like a small 8 inch plastic replica of a real aerial.

Modern ones appear to be either straight sticks or a flat plate.

Another vote here for freesat if you have a redundant sky dish and cabling already. Works great here.

Is there CH4 in HD in Freesat now?

There wasn’t not so long ago which is why I changed from Freesat to Freeview.

Is there CH4 in HD in Freesat now?

Yes

Why can’t you use the Channel 4 app

I’d really like to be wrong. But there isn’t one on chromecast that i can find. In have ios app on my phone but it won’t cast

Yeah, you can’t cast live tv with the Ch4 app.

Can’t you install the app on your TV?

Can’t you install the app on your TV?

I’ve got the app on my tv, and a freesat dish and a freeview aerial. Some TVs haven’t got the CH4 app available to them.

Is there CH4 in HD in Freesat now?

…..Yes

That’s better although I was very happy to take down my dish last week as it’s just not required any more.

C4 is on Firestick if you really want it.

Not had terrestrial TV for getting on 8 years now. I’ve found that instead of channel hopping I just check a TV guide. Then end up finding something not live anyway.

We have a small powered aerial behind the TV. Works fine.

If you buy a compact hi-fi (denon dm41), it will have a socket for a dab aerial.

having a proper aerial is essential for proper reception.

These are sweeping statements, the answer is “it depends.”  At the old house I had to get a new aerial to get all the channels when there was the switchover to DTV.  I spent ages buggering about including getting a signal booster (which turned out to be nonsense because you can boost the signal all you like but the signal-to-noise ratio doesn’t change, you’r boosting that too) before doing what I should have done in the first place which was getting a Man out.    By contrast, my DAB aerial was a couple of metres of bell wire.

But that was me.  For TV I was right on the border between a high-power antenna (Winter Hill, “the tower of power”) and some farty one which was much closer.  Literally on the edge, if you looked at the terrace rooftops they all changed direction halfway up the block.  Unless you bought my old house, your circumstances may well differ.

Yes and your internet may also be shit depending on house/router /cable /wind direction.