Finding TV Aerial Installers

To find an installer to upgrade your setup to with a digital Tv aerial ask friends and family if they can recommend a local aerial installer they are happy with for price and quality of work, or contact one of the recognised trade bodies who should be able to recommend a competent and insured installer.

Please note that the cheapest isn’t always the best, you don’t want to break the bank either. If it sounds too cheap to be true then the equipment supplied could possibly be of an insufficient quality to do a decent job. It isn’t recommended to perform an digital aerial installation yourself, not just because it could be a long way to fall, but because a good Tv aerial installer will be able to advise on reception issues in your area, use quality products and get the best alignment accurately whilst taking into account signal levels and noise figures.

The digital Tv aerial supplied doesn’t always have to be a high gain aerial as long as it pulls in the signal and is robust enough for most weather conditions. A sign of quality on a Tv aerial is the Digital Tick Logo and the CAI Logo. Amplifiers or “mast head amplifiers” are commonly used to make up for losses in cable, extra television aerial point distribution or to give the signal that little kick over the threshold and should be screened and low noise. Masts, bracketry and hardware needs to sturdy and able to take a bashing from the weather and coax used should be of the double screened variety.

Further information about the UK Digital Switchover can be found at www.digitaluk.co.uk

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Can I Get Freeview

To check whether you can receive Freeview digital TV signals at your location go to www.digitaluk.co.uk and enter your postcode. The postcode prediction assumes you have a serviceable and adequately installed, digital TV compatible, TV aerial with the correct group for your local transmitter. This postcode prediction will give you a good idea of your potential reception but it would be best practice to consult a TV aerial installer with knowledge of your local area.

When Is Digital Switchover?

After a successful switchover of the Whitehaven in Cumbria area in autumn 2007 the rest of the UK will be switched over to digital only transmissions between now and 2012.

ITV Region

Border 2008/9
Granada, West Country 2009
Wales 2009/10
STV Central & North, West 2010/11
Anglia, Central, Yorkshire 2011
London, Meridian,  Tyne Tees, Ulster 2012

If you are unsure which ITV Region you come under it is the same as your ITV regional news, and analogue ITV Teletext page 106.

The switchover from analogue to digital only transmissions is a complicated process and further information can be found at Digital UK - the website for the digital switchover.

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Sky Remote Control Codes

The following Sky Digital Remote Control codes are so you can get your Sky remote (rcu) to operate your TV: this is useful for changing the TV volume, turning the TV onto standby and basically saving you hunting around the normal television remote control. All of the codes listed below, and the sequence, will work with normal Sky, Sky+ (Sky Plus) and Sky HD (Sky High Definition) remote control units. Some more modern TVs, although there is a code listed, will not work with the Sky remote setup.

  • First find your TV’s brand from the list below.
  • Turn the TV and Digibox on and press TV on sky remote.
  • Press both the red and select button together (about 2 seconds) until the red light flashes twice on the remote.
  • Press the tv button again.
  • Type in your TV code. Red light on remote will flash twice.
  • Press the standby button on sky remote.
  • If TV turns off press select. The red light should flash twice.
  • If TV doesn’t turn off press tv, then standby - repeat until TV turns off, then press select button.
  • The codes listed will work about 85% of modern TV’s.
Aiwa 0406 Memorex 0037
Akai 0098 Metz 0491
Akura 0042 Mitsubishi 0150
Alba 0043 Nikkai 0528
Amstrad 0063 Nokia 0536
B&O 0118 Orion 0549
Beko 0125 Panasonic 0051
Beon 0899 Philips 0081
Brionvega 0147 Pioneer 0166
Bush 0157 Protech 0585
Crown 0225 Pye 0600
Daewoo 0092 Roadstar 0625
Decca 0244 Saisho 0649
Ferguson 0293 Samsung 0060
Fidelity 0294 Sanyo 0159
Finlandia 0296 Schneider 0665
Finlux 0297 Seleco 0672
Funai 0179 Sharp 0093
Genexxa 0330 Siemens 0680
Goldstar 0556 Sony 0000
Goodmans 0335 Tandy 0741
Granada 0340 Tatung 0049
Grundig 0345 Technics 0250
Harwood 0361 Thomson 0771
Hinari 0365 Thorn 0772
Hitachi 0145 Thorn-Ferg 0936
JVC 0053 Toshiba 0156
Loewe 0442 Telefunken 0757
Matsui 0477 Soundwave 0702

To buy replacement or extra Sky remotes go to the Sky Remotes and Accessories page.

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