In
this day and age, you shouldn’t have to put up with poor reception, especially
when the majority of the country has digital signal up and running. There’s
nothing more frustrating than bad sound of visual television quality and if
you’re going to fork out money for a state-of-the-art home entertainment
system, you might as well have a few tricks up your sleeve to keep in mind when
these problems do present themselves. Here, we take a look at some of the
factors that determine why you might be experiencing reception that is not up
to standard. Take note, because diagnosing the problem can make it much easier
to solve it, as well as saving you money and a lot of hassle!
Location
Quite
obviously, your location plays a big role in determining the quality of
reception that is available to you. Living in a valley, near high rise
buildings or in an area with power lines, is likely to affect the quality of
your reception. This is because the signal bounces off and is absorbed by these
structures to some degree, meaning the transmission you receive is not 100%
accurate. Your antenna is best placed on the roof of your house with a clear
line of sight (so to speak) to your transmission tower, but was mentioned, what
lies between them can affect the reception.
If
your reception has suddenly become a problem it might be because you’ve changed
your television set up in some way. Changes you might not even think about can
have an effect such as adding TV points around the house, unrelated work that
has been done on the roof or bad weather (both of which can knock the antenna
from its optimum position), buying a new television or upgrading to digital or
increasing the distance your reception point and the antenna.
Age of the Antenna
Like
most products, old antennas need to be replaced every few years. Interestingly,
most Australians service or replace their antenna ever 12 years and still
expect perfect coverage! Obviously, every case is different and many antennas
will do their job for much longer than this. However, many can become damaged,
have deteriorated cables or be subject to other changing factors (tree
positions changing, move to digital television). If everything else seems to be
working fine and the problem is getting worse, it might simply be time to
replace your antenna.
If
you still can’t figure out why you’re not getting the signal you’re after, it
might be time to call in an antenna specialist. It might be that you simply
need a signal booster installed or possibly an adjustment to your existing
antenna. Otherwise, a replacement antenna may be required - but you can be sure
it will be long lasting and guarantee you’ll have the best viewing experience
for yeasr to come!
