Old Virgin equipment - how do I get regular freeview?

[Cleisthenes]

Hope someone can point me in the right direction as my Google skills have failed me

The previous owners of my flat used Virgin and I did for a time after that, I've since moved to BT. I haven't used the TV for normal domestic TV since I moved in two years ago however would like to now see about getting freeview working.

I have the below connections coming out of the wall by the TV, could anyone tell me whether I can use these for the aerial (via adapter of course) or whether these won't work? If not, how do I go about getting it to work?

 

[Haze]

How does your flat not have a normal TV aerial

 

[lucid]

That sort of thin twin shotgun coax is what I'd associate with a Sky satellite installation. That doesn't mean to say it definitely is from a dish connection. It's possible that it's a bodged up fly lead, or the homeowner specifically requested their home aerial system be wired with a lossier cable than regular 6.5mm RG6-sized coax for some bizarre reason. It's just best guess with the limited amount of info on hand at the moment.

Do you know if the property has a TV aerial installed and working somewhere?

You won't break anything by getting an adapter and trying to tune in Freeview. If these are from a sat dish LNB then your TV won't find a signal. (Put your TV in to Freeview mode, then go in to the settings menu and try an auto tune.)

Where these are the only connections besides the thick coax that VM use for their cable service, and you don't want to- or can't- have an aerial installed, then your next best option is to get a Freesat recorder. This presumes of course that there's a working satellite dish setup on the other end of those cables.

Freesat offers a similar range of TV channels to Freeview. On the plus side there's a bit less compression than Freeview, so the picture is a tad clearer. Freesat also has the space to carry more HD versions of the regular channels than Freeview, and it's not subject to the ongoing retunes that Freeview has endured due to the sell-off for 4G and 5G mobile phone use.

Set against that, Freesat requires either a TV with Freesat built in or an external tuner/recorder box at each TV point. This makes it a slightly more expensive option if equipping just a lounge, but far more complicated and expensive if trying to service a whole house.

 

[DoneADougalOnSofa]

I know Sky boxes can do it- I use one to receive Freeview channels via a dish, no contract or viewing card. Whether VM boxes can do this too I don't know.
You'd almost certainly need the requisite box though- I'm certain a TV tuner won't find anything by itself.

 

[lucid]

I know Sky boxes can do it- I use one to receive Freeview channels via a dish,

It's minor point, but although they might be the same broadcast channels on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media etc, they're only Free view channels when grouped under the Freeview EPG. That only happens when he signal is received via an aerial.

 

[Cleisthenes]

That sort of thin twin shotgun coax is what I'd associate with a Sky satellite installation. That doesn't mean to say it definitely is from a dish connection. It's possible that it's a bodged up fly lead, or the homeowner specifically requested their home aerial system be wired with a lossier cable than regular 6.5mm RG6-sized coax for some bizarre reason. It's just best guess with the limited amount of info on hand at the moment.

Do you know if the property has a TV aerial installed and working somewhere?

You won't break anything by getting an adapter and trying to tune in Freeview. If these are from a sat dish LNB then your TV won't find a signal. (Put your TV in to Freeview mode, then go in to the settings menu and try an auto tune.)

Where these are the only connections besides the thick coax that VM use for their cable service, and you don't want to- or can't- have an aerial installed, then your next best option is to get a Freesat recorder. This presumes of course that there's a working satellite dish setup on the other end of those cables.

Freesat offers a similar range of TV channels to Freeview. On the plus side there's a bit less compression than Freeview, so the picture is a tad clearer. Freesat also has the space to carry more HD versions of the regular channels than Freeview, and it's not subject to the ongoing retunes that Freeview has endured due to the sell-off for 4G and 5G mobile phone use.

Set against that, Freesat requires either a TV with Freesat built in or an external tuner/recorder box at each TV point. This makes it a slightly more expensive option if equipping just a lounge, but far more complicated and expensive if trying to service a whole house.

Thanks Lucid.

The property is a flat in an old victorian building, there are 8 flats in total. Do you think it's worth me buying the adapter to try, or is it basically a no go? it would only be the living room that I would need it for, no other TVs in the property.

How does your flat not have a normal TV aerial

Very helpful, thank you

 

[Haze]

Thanks Lucid.

The property is a flat in an old victorian building, there are 8 flats in total. Do you think it's worth me buying the adapter to try, or is it basically a no go? it would only be the living room that I would need it for, no other TVs in the property.


Very helpful, thank you

Not the only person that asked you this......

 

[lucid]

Thanks Lucid.

The property is a flat in an old victorian building, there are 8 flats in total. Do you think it's worth me buying the adapter to try, or is it basically a no go? it would only be the living room that I would need it for, no other TVs in the property.

There's no harm trying the adapter, but like you, I think it's going to be a bust.

If I was on site troubleshooting, I'd start by having a look at the other end of the cables you have where they come out of the wall. They'll either be just coming straight out of a hole in the wall for when there's a satellite dish mounted outside, or they'll be connected to a wall plate; this would be for when the sat signals are distributed within the building as part of the aerial & satellite distribution system.

Where you find a wall plate, you'll probably see that there's an aerial socket too. This isn't 100% guaranteed - there's always the odd exception - but in nearly all of the blocks of flats I have installed gear in there's an in-house distribution system that usually covers TV, Radio and at least one satellite signal feed.

 

[Mel_P]

Ask people in the other flats what they use?

If it's a dish you can use a FREESAT box. I use FREESAT and my cables look like that.

If it was virgin cable it would be a single cable and there would be no signal. You cannot use this unless you have a virgin account.