Suddenly terrible TV reception - three weeks of fuzz!

[Backingvocals]

Three weeks ago my tv reception went haywire. I have Freeview and most of the channels are suddenly unwatchable. You can just about make out a picture and hear a jerky audio. Two or three channels are completely unaffected (KIK, the terrible kids channel and LondonLive which obviously nobody watches!). Now and again the picture is ok but then it fails again.

I've had a new aerial put up and that's made no difference. The person who did it thought the only other option was that the cable from roof to socket has been damaged. It was only installed 6 years ago. Is it possible it could have been damaged by the building work next door (terraced?) They've been doing a complete house refurb, rewire, party wall work etc. Handyman thinks they might have damaged the cable with their drilling but they say it's impossible.

Any thoughts?

[wowfudge]

Yes - replace the cable. Of course they will say they haven't damaged it - they don't want to pay to sort it out. Our next door neighbour accidentally cut through the cable to our aerial once. That was fatal to reception, but could be fixed.

[Backingvocals]

It runs down inside the wall so not easy to replace I'm guessing. I keep telling them I think they have damaged it and they keep saying they don't think so! Sigh.

[PigletJohn]

If you still have the old aerial (or are willing to buy another) you can stand it on the furniture, connected with a co-ax cable, and adjust it an inch at a time, see if you can get a good picture. I keep mine in the loft so it is easy to tinker with and unlikely to be damaged by weather.

If you can get a good picture with the aerial inside the house and an undamaged cable, then you know it is not or something wrong with the TV, so it must surely be either a damaged cable, or an incorrectly oriented roof aerial, or a poor connection.

Digital TVs need the aerial to be pointing pretty accurately in the right direction, so professional aerial fitters use a signal meter to verify that the aerial is correctly aligned and picking up a good signal, it can be affected by trees, buildings and overhead cables. Sometimes a small indoor aerial is adequate.

Old cables are, I'm told, not very good with digital signals, and sometimes get rain in them.

[Backingvocals]

Bugger. I sent the old one to the dump. The plot thickens though. The picture is better at night - next door turn the electrics off at night when the builders go home. could their booster be interfering with mine somehow?

[PigletJohn]

don't know. AFAIK interference from ordinary household devices has to be within a couple of yards of the cable.

I remember a pro trying to explain to me that there are various standards for co-ax, the newer ones being much better than the old, and some of them have extra screening.

How sure are you that the new aerial is pointing in the right direction? Can you lay your hands on a compass?

I have no connection to the company but it was recommended to me. Somewhere on the website you tell it your postcode and it tells you where to aim the aerial, and which way up.