It is said that one in five people will experience a weak antenna signal at least once in their life. If this happens only once, then you are one of the lucky ones! The reception may be interrupted by high winds or cold weather, but sometimes even after the storm passes, we are left with bad TV reception and headaches. If you have any issues with your aerial signal, we are here to help you! Here we are going to give you some tips and tricks on how you can boost it and we will tell you what you can do to improve it.
1. Ground it
This is not something you will find on many other lists, but it is definitely worth trying! If you have an outdoor aerial, you’ve probably read the instructions that you have to ground one of the cables or cords. In every manual, you will have detailed instructions on how to do that and which part should be put in the ground.
When it comes to indoor units, many people forget that this is an option. Even though you won’t be directly sticking one of the cables into the ground, it is still something similar. Users suggest that you should put a flowerpot next to your aerial, and you should put the cable that goes from the antenna to the TV in the pot. Cover it with a little bit of soil and see if this helps!
Know that you should never put the cables in wet soil, and you should never put water in the pot. So, if this helps and you want to keep the cord in the pot, you should get rid of any live flowers you have there, and instead put some artificial ones, or some other decoration, so you never forget that that soil must stay dry.
2. Get rid of other appliances
The next thing we are going to talk about is how other appliances can interfere with the signal. It is said that in case you have an electronic device in close proximity of your aerial, it may disrupt the signal and you may end up with pixeling or white noise. Because of this, you should never keep your aerial on top of the TV, or close to the router or modem.
If possible, don’t put it anywhere near your kitchen appliances as well. One thing you can try is to unplug all of the other electronic devices you have and see if that helps you get better reception. If it does, then you know what the issue is. Plug one appliance at a time, and see which one affects the reception. That way, you can just move that device somewhere else and get all the channels you want without any issues.
3. Inspect the aerial
Sometimes there is nothing wrong with the signal, and you’ve probably tried everything, but you are just getting a bad reception and not enough channels. If that is the case, and if you’ve tried pretty much everything, the root of the issue might be the device itself.
Sometimes the device is not installed properly, or it may be damaged. So, before you do anything else, you should check to see if there is rust on it, if it is broken, damaged or if there are any parts that are missing. You can take your aerial to your friend’s house and check to see if it shows the same issues there, or you can just consult with your service. If you are not sure how the professionals can help you, you can check this to find out what are the issues that can be solved just with one call.
4. Try adding something metal to it
Another thing that is not usually found on many of these lists, but users swear by it! It is said that a metal hanger or anything similar can act as an amplifier. This is probably the cheapest solution possible, and if it works, it is going to save you a lot of trouble.
Know that this works only if you have an indoor device and if you can easily put something on it (or later on, remove it if it does not help). Some users suggest that this has solved all of their issues, while others say that it did nothing to improve the reception. Since it is an easy thing to do, you won’t lose anything by trying it.
Put the hanger near or on the unit, but make sure it does not touch any wires. You don’t want to risk hurting yourself or damaging the device itself. Put the hanger on, and let your TV scan for new channels.
5. Where is the broadcasting tower?
The last thing is something you’ve probably heard before, but if you haven’t, it may help you a lot! You probably know that the signal works best if there is nothing in its way, so in an ideal situation, there should be a straight line from the broadcasting tower to your aerial, without anything in between. Since that is close to impossible, we should help the signal get to our antennas without any additional issues.
So, to do this, you must first find out where the nearest tower is located. Contact your provider and ask them for more details about it. Once you’ve located it, then you need to just move your aerial to face that direction. You already know that the unit should be as close to a window as possible, and placed as high as possible. Once you do this, your reception should be better and you should no longer experience any issues.
Have you tried any of these things? Which one works best for you? Know that your reception mostly depends on your location and the model of aerial you have. Sometimes nothing can help, and you will just have to purchase a better device. Before you do this, you should talk to your provider, or consult with a service that may probably solve your problems.
