The 3 steps for setting up an indoor TV aerial

When choosing a TV aerial, you need to consider if this will be placed indoors or outdoors. Most commonly TV aerials are set up outdoors however, it is all down to the area’s coverage and the signal strength, and sometimes this can only be detected by a professional installer. Outdoor TV aerials are much more common than indoor TV aerials for several reasons, but the main one is that you are guaranteed a stronger signal and a better TV reception. For outdoor aerial installations, contact the professionals at mikeharrisaerialandsatellite.co.uk If there are reasons you cannot install an outdoor aerial, an indoor aerial is your next best option. This can function well if your area’s coverage is strong, you only need to connect it to one TV and there are obstructions outdoors that do not allow you to place it on your outside wall or roof. Here, we will discuss the tips for setting up an outdoor TV aerial.

Setting it up

Once you have researched and selected your chosen indoor aerial, it is time to begin setting it up. We would advise taking a trip outside before you do so to look at the direction of your neighbor’s outdoor TV aerials, to see the direction of your local transmitter. If your TV has been used previously, there should be no need to tune your TV to access local channels. However, if the TV is new, if you can, we would advise connecting it to a working TV aerial in your home or at your friend or family members home to ensure that the TV channels are working correctly to see if the reception is clear in this area before connecting it to your new aerial.

Plug in your aerial

Once you have established that your channels are tuned, it’s time to plug in your new aerial to your TV or cable box and place it in the selected position. Indoor TV aerials are not always the best-looking devices to have on display, especially in your living room, and for the best result we would advise placing this relatively high and near a window, perhaps on a shelf and behind an ornament or light would be the best bet. The aerial cannot always be placed near your TV and in some cases, you will need extension cables, so we would advise investing in cable covers to make this look slightly neater. Once plugged in, begin making your way through all channels to ensure that your reception is working for them all. You may need to move your aerial around slightly during this step to ensure that channels on different multiplexes are working.

Lock your aerial in place

Once step two is complete and you know that all channels have a quality reception, you do not want to lose this over time. Therefore, try to secure your indoor TV aerial with Velcro pads, double-sided tape, or Blu Tack to secure it to the area. Indoor aerials can be particularly easy to move around which is the downside to them, particularly if it sits directly at a window where it can be bumped by opening the window or by the wind, or if you have kids or pets. If your aerial is secured and continues to move around, losing signal regularly, then consider attaching it to the wall. Sometimes this is preferred more, however, if it is placed on the wall it may struggle to be hidden. If you continue to have problems, maybe your aerial isn’t of high quality or perhaps you need to call in a professional for additional help.

Benefits of an indoor TV aerial

An indoor aerial offers more benefits than just easy installation. It can save the homeowner money as outdoor TV installation tends to be more expensive, as you will most likely hire a professional. As well as this, you are not required to pay monthly or yearly for cable TV, which is useful for those who prefer to watch a small amount of TV and would not receive the full benefit of cable TV. Outdoor TV aerials can also be greatly affected by extreme weather conditions, meaning that the homeowner may have a higher chance of facing issues with their TV reception and quality. Additionally, damage and repair costs may need to be added on top of this inconvenience.