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[Yorkie]

I'm not digital yet and to be honest I'm going there reluctantly. I watch very little tv, some days only putting it on to catch the headline news on the BBC and some days I don't bother.  So I'm trying to do this as cheaply as possible without shooting myself in the foot and going too cheap. The one problem as I see it may be the aerial, I had a leaflet through the door last summer which quoted a price of £99 for a new digital aerial.  If I have to spend £99 I'd rather spend it on a usb turntable and burn all my Lp's and tapes to cd.

So the question is has anyone any experience of indoor digital aerials.

As an aside I did the post code checker again and the switchover appears to have been put back a year from 2010 to 2011 whats that about.

[Astral]

I don't have a TV at all. I just watch what I want on broadband for which you don't even need a license (As long as you don't watch "live" streams). Just a thought.

[mr_chris]

Yorkie, have you tried a freeview box? Perhaps your aerial might be ok. There's lots of aerial installers rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of all those unnecessary aerials they can convince people they need installing to make Digital TV work properly!

You can pick up a box for under £20, or even try and borrow one off somebody to try it with your existing aerial?

[Yorkie]

I saw a freeview box advertised for £19.99, which triggered the question really, is that too cheap. I get good reception on analogue despite a sodding great electricity pylon only about 40ft away at the bottom of the garden which the aerial points towards. I have a digital radio in the kitchen which gets good reception (I know its different to the tv but I assume it receives from the same transmitter that the tv signal comes from and is not transmitted on full power).

[UncleUB]

If you get a good analogue signal then as Mr Chris points out a Freeview box could be your cheap solution.I myself have a Freeview box and our only ariel is in the loft fastened to a brush stale which is clamped to the joist  .It was there when we moved in 9 years ago.All our channels have a very good picture .

[Yorkie]

Thank you every one for you replies, shall now go and spend a happy hour browsing the Maplin website.

[tonyappuk]

One caveat. Make sure your existing TV has a Scart socket on the back. Most modern TVs have them, our old kitchen one hasn't and all the cheap (and not so cheap) Freeview set top boxes need a Scart socket to connect to.  I wouldn't usually expect to get good digital reception on an indoor aerial but try it and see, borrowing a set top box if you can. If you are very near the transmitter it may be OK. If you have an outside aerial (your initial post is not clear on this hence my indoor aerial comment) don't be conned into spending money on a "digital" aerial. Unless you are unlucky your local digital channels are being broadcast on the same frequency bands as your existing analogue programmes and your existing outside aerial will be fine. There is no such animal as a digital aerial, it's just an aerial!
Tony

[Floydoid]

Plenty to choose from at Curries: http://tinyurl.com/5vwre3

[guest]

It is worth pointing out that in most places the Freeview signal isn't currently strong enough to make internal aerials viable. Do remember that the strength of the analogue signal is MANY times the strength of the digital and it'll stay that way until the analogue signal is turned off.

As an example our nearest transmitter is the Waltham one. It currently transmits Freeview at an ERP (effective radiated power) of 4,500W. On 1/5/2011 (switchover day for here) that signal strength will be increased to 37,500W.

If you can wait then I would advise you to do so as you will probably have to upgrade any Freeview box you buy now anyway (for HD/MPEG4 broadcasts).

Edit - apparently Waltham currently transmits at 7,300W and has done since last summer, which correlates with a fairly dramatic improvement to the reception on the ITV mux here. Shame 99% of the programming on the ITV mux is junk but you can't have everything

[Floydoid]

I can't get digital until our communal aerial gets upgraded - the present system we have was installed 30 years ago.

[Yorkie]

rizla

Thats thrown another ball into the air, telly is about five years old and although its not had a lot of use, three years down the road will that need replacing anyway.
Can I go away and hibernate till its all over.

[oldfogy]

will that need replacing anyway.

No, just buy a cheap digi (FreeView) box and it will still work okay.

Prices start from £18.00

I saw one the other day which was the size of a credit card and less than 3cm thick.
Dare I say it, Aldi.
http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/58_5420.htm

[grumpy old man]

Yorkie

Can you get freeview signal in your area?  Where I live we only have analogue until digital switch over in 2011.

gom

[mr_chris]

Just remembered, you can check digital freeview availability by putting your postcode and house number in at http://www.freeview.co.uk to see how good the signal is there - that should tell you what you might get. Tells me I should be able to get them all - which I can!

There's a better checker at http://www.digitaluk.co.uk which (for me) is a bit more informative, tells you when the digital switchover for your transmitter is going to happen, and also tells me that my rooftop aerial might need an upgrade until the analogue signals are turned off - fortunately my aerial is pretty good and it does work.

See what either of those sites says for you

[Yorkie]

GoM

Yes I can get freeview, in fact I have a choice of two transmitters, the postcode checkers always assume I use Bilsdale which covers the Tyne Tees area when in fact aerial is pointing at Emley Moor. I can get the Tyne Tees channels, and do have one tuned in for the local news which is sometimes better than the Yorkshire coverage, I assume this comes in through the back of the aerial, the picture is quite good with just a little bit of ghosting.  Using Mr Chris's second link which gives the actual channels available there are more available on Tyne Tees than Yorkshire and its sods law that the one I would be interested in UK History is not available on Yorkshire
I still want to hibernate.