Choosing the Best TV Signal Booster or Aerial Amplifier

A Freeview signal booster, also known as an aerial amplifier can help improve digital TV reception in fringe areas which get a weak Freeview signal from a distant DVB-T digital TV transmitter.

For most benefit in improving Freeview reception, we recommend fitting a masthead signal booster as close as possible to your TV aerial, rather than behind your TV, where it will offer few benefits for boosting digital TV reception.

For help with distributing Freeview or Sky TV around your home with a loft distribution amplifier box, read our useful installation tips.

If Freeview reception is poor on your indoor aerial, we recommend that you read our tips on choosing and installing a loft TV aerial before you buy a Freeview signal booster. This advice will help you to improve Freeview reception by accurately aligning and positioning your digital TV aerial, rather than unnecessarily using signal boosters.

By choosing and installing the best TV aerial, aligning it accurately and fitting quality FT100 coaxial cable, you'll often achieve better Freeview reception than by installing aerial amplifiers (signal boosters) onto an existing poor aerial installation which has old and lossy coaxial cable.

If after improving your TV aerial installation and realigning your aerial, you still get a weak analogue TV signal or poor Freeview reception then a signal booster may help, particularly if you have a long coaxial cable down lead. If you're using an indoor loft TV aerial, or the coaxial cable from a roof mounted aerial enters your loft before being fed downstairs, consider fitting the signal booster inside your loft. Fit the amplifier about 1.5 metres from the aerial for best results. However, as a general rule, only fit a digital TV compatible aerial amplifier if upgrading your existing aerial or re-aligning it failed to sufficiently improve Freeview reception.

Alternatively, if you have an external aerial on your roof, then a Masthead TV aerial amplifier fitted at the aerial will provide the greatest improvement and benefit for boosting Freeview reception, as it will amplify the UHF digital TV signal before any coaxial cable downlead loss is experienced.

So, in summary, the effectiveness of a TV aerial amplifiers is governed to a large extent by where they are installed and how well they are designed. This guide helps you to choose the best signal booster for Freeview DTT TV. If you currently suffer Freeview picture breakup or the picture freezing on one or more Freeview channel, then read on for more advice and technical help.

Suppliers

If you're looking to buy a TV aerial amplifier or install a Sky TV loft distribution box to pipe Sky TV around your home (with remote extenders) then we offer a discount voucher for use on the Satcure website. Satcure are leading UK supplier of TV aerials, signal boosters and satellite TV accessories.

Inappropriate Use of TV Signal Boosters

Contrary to some popular public opinion, a DVB-T Freeview signal booster should only be used in poor digital TV reception areas. Signal boosters will not improve TV reception in strong signal areas, nor will they help reduce analogue TV picture ghosting. When an aerial amplifier is used in a good TV reception area it only serve to increase the likelihood of you experiencing television interference (TVI) and worsen the overall quality of reception. This often leads to annoying patterning on the UHF channels used for Sky TV, Freeview or a Video recorder.

Bear in mind that a TV aerial amplifier fitted to a poor indoor aerial, is absolutely no substitute for fitting a high gain external digital TV compatible aerial. In fact a quality un-amplified roof top mounted aerial nearly always outperforms an amplified indoor TV aerial for Freeview and analogue reception!

Cascaded TV Aerial Amplifiers

It is extremely unwise to cascade two or more digital TV signal boosters (I.E. to use more than one Freeview signal booster chained together) as this can cause signal overload at the TV and lead to poor television interference immunity.

Fitting a Cheap TV Signal Booster

The least effective type of digital TV signal booster is the cheap "set back" type which is fitted close to your television. As the name suggests this type of TV aerial amplifier is connected at your television - between your television and the aerial face plate in your viewing room.

A set back Freeview signal booster will either have a 240V power supply or be powered by batteries. Since the UHF tuner inside a modern TV or Freeview Set Top Box is better designed and has a lower noise figure than a cheap signal booster, all set-back TV signal boosters really achieve is to amplify the noise and make Freeview reception worse! They also make your TV significantly more prone to interference from nearby radio transmitters like Tetra, Taxi bases and Amateur Radio.

In short, don't waste your money by buying a cheap TV aerial amplifier which you just intend to install in your living room behind your TV. You will find it ineffective and problematic. By far the best signal booster or amplifier is a masthead fitted type (described below).

Masthead TV Amplifier

The best Freeview signal booster is a fully screened digital TV compatible masthead aerial amplifier which should be installed close to the TV aerial, powered up the coaxial cable by means of a separate masthead power supply unit situated behind your main TV. Masthead amplifiers for improving Freeview reception are available at cheap prices from Satcure. Click here to apply for a Satcure discount voucher.

If you have an indoor TV aerial then the masthead amplifier should be fitted in the loft into the coaxial line, about 1 metre from the aerial. A masthead TV amplifier is usually powered down the coaxial cable from a separate mains power supply close to your TV. Choosing the best TV signal booster depends largely on where you live and the strength of your Freeview DVB-T aerial signal.

In general a medium gain aerial amplifier with a gain of about 10 - 15dB and a maximum noise figure of 3dB is a good choice. The two stage, cheap high gain TV signal booster (popular about 10 years ago and still in widespread use) often causes television interference problems (TVI) and TV signal overload. If you suffer TVI and have an aerial amplifier fitted, please refer to my TV interference tips page for advice.

More expensive types of Freeview compatible digital TV aerial amplifier sometimes incorporate GaAsFet technology and provide high gain and very low noise with excellent interference rejection. GaAsFet masthead amplifiers can help boost extreme fringe area Freeview reception and solve DTT reception problems. This type of signal amplifier is ideal where Freeview picture breakup or freezing is experienced.

Masthead TV amplifiers (masthead digital TV signal boosters) can significantly improve Freeview reception in weak signal areas, giving far more improvement than a set back TV signal booster. The reason for this is a masthead amplifier will help to eliminate coaxial cable losses by amplifying the UHF digital TV signal present right at your aerial, helping to counteract the UHF signal losses of the coaxial cable down lead.

Even if your Freeview TV aerial is external - mounted on your roof, the coaxial cable may enter your loft or run down the external wall of your house. It may still be possible to carry out a DIY installation of a masthead aerial amplifier by connecting it as close as possible to your TV aerial, even if you can't physically get onto your roof to mount it right on your TV aerial mast. The closer the unit is mounted to the aerial (using the shortest length of coaxial cable) the more effective it will be at improving Freeview digital terrestrial TV reception.

Freeview / Sky Distribution Amplifier & Slx TV Link Remote Eye (Extender)

A loft distribution amplifier (available from Satcure - click here for a discount voucher) is suitable for boosting and distributing both Freeview digital TV and Sky around your home. When used as a Sky TV distribution amplifier it is not fitted in the TV aerial feed, but fed by coaxial cable from the 2nd RF outlet of the Sky box. In this case, the amp usually gets its 12V DC power from the Sky Digibox itself and is often mounted in the loft of a house from where it feeds a UHF signal to each TV in the house. An installer menu option exists in the Sky box to turn on the power feed to a distribution amp. Click here to find out how to access the Sky installer menu.

Available from satcure
* discount voucher *

A loft distribution amplifier is now available with a compatible Sky TV remote extender (TV Link). This allows you to change Sky TV channels in any room of your house by using a standard Sky remote control. Previous distribution amplifiers prevented the Sky TV link remote extender from working by blocking the infra red command signal from the Sky box to the TV link remote eye (extender).

These new generation Sky distribution amplifiers fix the earlier problems of not being able to change channels remotely, and can feed up to 8 TV's. The unit also acts as an aerial amplifier, providing a small amount of UHF signal gain to each TV to help counteract coaxial cable losses. Used in conjunction with the TV link remote extender (remote eye), this provides a cheap Sky TV distribution system with the convenience of being able to change Sky channel from any equipped room.

Visit Satcure to compare prices on Sky TV compatible distribution amplifiers, loft boxes and TV link accessories. Apply for our discount voucher before you buy.

F-Type Connectors

If your Sky distribution amplifier uses F-type connectors and you require help fitting an F-type plug to coaxial cable click here. We provide step by step pictures to help you properly fit an F-type plug.

Help Us Improve

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