Can I get a digital TV set top box to work without an outside aerial?

[babydalek]

I imagine it's a no. If i got an outside aerial installed how would I get digital TV to work on portable tvs upstairs?

Sorry googling didn't help!

I've got a set top box and no outside aerial and it works just fine. I think it depends how good the reception is in your area.

I've got this aerial which has a booster thing with it www.amazon.co.uk/Telcam-Amplified-Digital-TV-Aerial/dp/B001J4QN52/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&q id=1260380093&sr=8-5

That's the same aerial I just bought! Wonder why it isn't working here. Will go off for another try, it's so frustrating!

Not where I live in fact we cn only get half the freeviwe channels through our aerial with a booster box attached. We are having a new aerial (our one is 25years old and sways alogt in the wind as some of the bolts have come away) installed after Xmas, found a local bloke who will do it for £105 then if we want extensions into any of the bedrooms is £30 per room (we are having one put in our room when he installs new aerial and will do the dd's rooms when they are allowed tv in there rooms)

This is the one I just got we're not in a remote area or anything.

I've got one a like that on the tv in the bedroom downstairs babydalek. I had to mess about with it a bit, in the end I got a good signal if it was on the windowsill with the prong bits crossed over a bit. Also, daft as it sounds it worked better of the power knob thingy wasn't turned up full.

Also, try retuning the freeview box with the aerial in different places, it picks up different channels depending where it is situated/signal is strongest.

Thank will try that, have tried all over so far and got bbc one for a few seconds then it went again!

babydalek - much depends on the actual aerial you have, and the channels which are transmitted for your area. There are at least 3 types of aerial for TV, known as A, B, and E (to cover various groups of channels, to match the transmitters in different regions). The different aerials had slightly different shaped rods as the frequencies involved are different (channel 21 to channel 68 are a few hundred MHz different, see this page www.digitalspy.co.uk/terrestrial/tuning/ ). A set of channels at the bottom end would need aerial rods a bit larger than channels at the top end.

As you might see from the reviews on Amazon, while some are very happy, others get limited or poor signals.

If you're within 20 miles (*) of the transmitter you might be OK. Where I am (on the edge of 3 regions) it would be pretty impossible to use a set-top aerial.

(*) figure plucked out of thin air.

Thanks dude, I have now given up. Will try to see if I can get NTL cable run upstairs instead.