Loss of analogue channels- new set-up help required
 

Ok,

I live in the Midlands, I have Virgin V+ box in the lounge.

I have expensive cable which goes from the RF on the back of the V+ box to the loft where I have an amplifier which splits the signal to Bedroom 1, Bedroom 2 and Kitchen.

This meant that I could watch whatever was on Virgin plus channels 1,2,3,4,5.

After the analogue signal was switched off last week for BBC 2 I no longer have BBC2 in Bedroom 1, Bedroom 2 or Kitchen.

I have a "digital" aerial so why does this not work ?

Is this because the TV's in the aforesaid rooms are not digital ? and therefore need to buy 3 new TV's to watch BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 and 5?

Re: Loss of analogue channels- new set-up help required
 

Do you actually have a rooftop (or loft) aerial connected to your distribution system?

I think you've been watching the analogue signals which VM distribute down their cable. This service is in the process of being discontinued.

Perhaps you could add a terrestrial aerial to your current set-up, perhaps through an amplifier and splitter to isolate it from the signal from the V+ box. (Or change your amplifier to one with two inputs). Then add a cheap FreeView box at each TV.

Re: Loss of analogue channels- new set-up help required
 

I would tend to agree with Pauls, it sounds like your analogue 1-5 was actually coming through the Virgin cable and has been lost as VM has got round to switching off analogue in your area.

You say you have a 'digital' aerial but you don't say what - if anything - it's actually plugged into.

If you want to watch Freeview on any of your extension TVs, then you need to input from a rooftop aerial into your distribution amp, and then you have to either have a Freeview STB with each TV, or have a Freeview-integrated TV connected to the cable coming from the amp.

Re: Loss of analogue channels- new set-up help required
 

This is the start of the digital switch over. On the 21st of this month you will loose all the other analogue channels you have too.

You will need to get a Freeview box for each of your "other" TV's around the house which are not connected to V+ box directly if you want to still be able to watch another channels (ie 1,2,3,4,5) as you did before.

You won't require a Freeview box for these other channels however if your other TV's already have a Freeview tuner built into them. To find this out you'll need to look at the info (Google the make & model if you don't have the instructions any longer) for your TV set's. If they do have a Freeview tuner already built in, then flick across to the digital tuner and do a full scan to get your Freeview channels.

Your aerial you have in your loft will not make digital channels suddenly pop up, you require the digital tuner (Freeview) to enable that to happen.

On the 21st when the full switch over happens, if you take no action you will only be able to view your V+ box on the other TV's which i presume you watch on Ch.6 or something like that?

There are lots of billboard posters around reminding you of the date to retune again (21st).

HTH

Re: Loss of analogue channels- new set-up help required
 

Thanks Guys.

You have confirmed my beliefs. So now I have another question....

OK....

Cable 1 output from V+ Box to LOFT Amplifier
Cable 2 output from Roof Aerial to LOFT Amplifier

1 cable out for each room (Assuming now I have bought either Freeview TV or Box)

Diplex Box in each room and I will still get Cable and Freeview through1 cable ?:confused:

Re: Loss of analogue channels- new set-up help required
 

I think that would depend on whether you're getting an integrated Freeview TV or a set-top box. An integrated TV should be able to serve up the output from your V box on one of its analogue channels and the input from the rooftop aerial on its DTV channels, with just one single RF-IN from your loft.

If you're using a STB I'm not so sure - you might have to put in a splitter and then run one RF to the TV and one to the STB, then use SCART to connect the STB to the TV. You would then get the V box on an analogue channel and Freeview on your AV SCART input.

I think. :D

Re: Loss of analogue channels- new set-up help required
 

Where does your roof aerial connect at the moment, the amp in the loft or the back of your V+ box?

If it were me i would set things up as follows.

1. Aerial on the roof connected to the aerial input socket on the V+ box.
2. The TV out on the back of the V+ box connected to the input of your amp in the loft (which you already have in place).
3. From the amp in the loft, a cable running to each extra TV (which you already have).

This simple setup would allow you to get Freeview on your main TV if your V+ goes wrong for any reason, but then also feed to the rest of your TV's the Freeview signal along with your V+ signal.

You can already do this from what you've said in your original post, so personally i would think you only need to look at whether or not your additional TV's already have Freeview built into them or not.

If they don't then you will need to connect your existing aerial cable into the back of a Freeview box to get your Freeview signal, but you would want to look for an STB that has an aerial out option on it, so you can then also connect a co-ax cable between the Freeview STB and your TV set. The reason for this is you will not be able to get your V+ signal on your extra TV's any other way as this will continue to use the analogue signal. You can use a scart if you wish between a Freeview STB and a TV set to get a better picture, but you must have the extra aerial lead as i've just said or no V+ cable.

If your TV does have Freeview already built in, things will be a lot neater cable wise.

All you would need to do in this case is leave your existing aerial cable plugged into your additional TV set as it is at present and flick the set over to the digital tuner. Have a look on your remote for the said tv for a button like A/D or Digi or Digital or something like that. This should enable you to flick between the analogue and digital tuners within.

Really you shouldn't need to worry about splitting any cables as you should already have the signals in the right place with your current setup, you just need to see if you have Freeview on your extra TV's and that is it.

If your Freeview reception is not too good on all channels at present, wait until after the 21st when you will need to retune your Freeview boxes again, as the power from the transmitters will be increased quite a bit at this point.

What does that mean? Well if you can get Freeview with a little bit of breakup, you should find this is ok after the 21st. If not, you will need to check your aerial connectors as these are normally the reason for bad reception.

HTH ;)