For best TV reception your TV aerial should be mounted outside and as high as possible, though you may also get good reception if it is inside, for instance in the loft, or even with a set-top aerial.

To get the best reception you need to make sure that your aerial is in good condition and pointing towards the best local transmitter. An outdoor aerial can deteriorate or be knocked or blown out of its correct position, and cables and connections from the aerial to the TV set can become corroded. If you live near the sea, corrosion can happen quite quickly.

Poor reception

If your aerial is broken or out of alignment or the connections are corroded, the signal reaching your TV set will not be strong enough. This will result in problems with the picture or sound, such as 'snow' (a faint or grainy picture) and jumbled words on Ceefax (teletext).

If you are experiencing such problems, first try to find out if there is another cause:

Check today's transmitter work to see if your local transmitter is affected by a fault or maintenance work.

If possible, check another TV set connected to a different aerial - for instance, at a neighbour's - to see if that has the same problem.

Make sure that your aerial lead is securely plugged into your set-top box or TV and check any other connections.

If there is still no improvement, you should have your aerial and its connections checked for faults.

Important: checking, repairing or installing an aerial

We suggest that any work on your aerial is carried out by a professional aerial installer.

Ghosting

Ghosting is a double image on the TV screen. Signals bounce off solid objects such as hills, tall buildings or cranes and reflect off shiny surfaces such as the sea. This can create a second, delayed signal and produce a ghost-like repetition of the main picture on the TV screen. Slightly changing the angle of your aerial, so that it is not pointing directly at the transmitter, may improve the picture. Alternatively, it may help to replace the aerial with a more directional one that focuses on the main signal and ignores other ones.

Other reception problems

Other problems, such as horizontal bars or white dots or flashes, are more likely to be the result of interference caused by electrical equipment, radio communications or the weather.

Communal aerials

If you share a communal aerial (for example, in a block of flats) and you are having reception problems, the aerial may be faulty. See if other residents using the same aerial have the same problem. If there appears to be a fault with the communal aerial, you will need to report it to whoever is responsible for the block - the council, landlord or property manager.

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