no tv signal!

[aisling]

Hi,

Since I moved flats, I've not had any TV signal. I was never bothered until I found out I already pay a TV licence through my taxes absolutely unbelievable scam!!! So now I figure I may as well get my moneys worth... I've tried several different digiboxes, and even bought a new TV with the digibox thing built in, and still nothing. I'm thinking there is no signal coming into the flat.

Is there anything I need to do, or something I should ask to activate it?

Thanks

[Jukka Aho]

I've tried several different digiboxes, and even bought a new TV with the digibox thing built in, and still nothing. I'm thinking there is no signal coming into the flat.

Is there anything I need to do, or something I should ask to activate it?

The RF signal should be available at the socket in either the DVB-C format (if it is provided by the local cable company), or the DVB-T format (if it is received via a communal antenna / RF signal distribution system.)

Basic service — the 12-or-so free-to-air channels — should be available in the clear with no action on your part. Premium channels require a subscription, a viewing card, and a cardreader module that can decrypt the Conax scrambling (or a similar built-in capability.)

If you have a TV set with a hybrid DVB-T / DVB-C tuner, try both tuning/autoscanning options (digital cable and digital terrestrial/antenna/aerial reception.)

If everything else fails, contact the maintenance man / superintendent for your housing company and ask for their assistance.

[riku2]

Even if you live in a flat the signal might be DVB-C or DVB-T depending on what the housing company decided (signal from the cable tv company or from their own antenna on the roof). If your flat is now on a different system and your TV only works with the one kind of signal then it's time for a new TV or digibox. Make sure you pick the right kind. Many are now both DVB-C and DVB-T (without paying a lot more for this dual mode).

The socket might be disconnected though - so that no TV will work! and some flats have a daisy chain type signal, so your signal goes through the wall box of other flats before it gets to you. it only takes one person to rewire the box wrong in their flat and others suffer. the previous owners might not have used the wall box or had a tv so never noticed. I'm surprised the last person in the chain gets any picture at all with this kind of bizarre design but there must be some reason for having it (saves on cable length?).

[Jukka Aho]

The socket might be disconnected though - so that no TV will work! and some flats have a daisy chain type signal, so your signal goes through the wall box of other flats before it gets to you. [...] I'm surprised the last person in the chain gets any picture at all with this kind of bizarre design but there must be some reason for having it (saves on cable length?).

Saving on the length of the cable and the space you need to reserve for the coaxial cable runs — especially in an apartment block where the vertical cable conduits may not have too much space to begin with. It’s not done anymore in new buildings, though.

These days they do individual cable runs to each apartment and split the signal to the individual wall jacks using one splitter per apartment.