‘No signal’ message on screen

[grazing cows]

Hi, just moved into to new flat. LG smart tv worked by just plugging in aerial cable in previous flat but now says ‘no signal’. I think in the previous flat the aerial socket was a screw in connection, but here, where I am now, there is no screw in option. I have tried the basic push in but no joy.
I am not someone who understands such things easily but would really appreciate any help offered, and I thank you in advance …

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

If it screwed in then it was satelite cable. Does you TV have one of these connectors? And if so are you saying you've plugged a cable in that comes out the wall and plugs into his socket?

Model Number of TV?

 

[sparkymarka]

Re tune tv …..?

 

[Lucid]

The screw-on type is typically used for a satellite TV connection, but there's nothing stopping it being used for a TV aerial connection. Be aware though, changing the shape of the connector end doesn't change the signal type.

This may be teaching you to suck eggs, but you did say you don't understand this stuff, and it does seem to be a point of confusion with plenty of other users, so my apologies in advance if I cover ground you're already familiar with, but here goes...

A TV aerial is the sort of spikey-looking thing you might commonly see attached on top of a small mast which itself is lashed to a house's chimney.

A satellite dish is the slightly oval thing about the diameter of a good-sized wok (Chinese frying pan for stir fry cooking). You commonly see sat' dishes bolted to a flat wall rather than chimney mounted.

These two devices receive different types of signals, and those signals are not compatible with each other. IOW, you can't connect an aerial feed to the TV satellite dish input, and you can't connect a dish feed into the TV's aerial input. The correct connection is required for each as well as the correct tuner, and if the TV has both a Freeview (aerial signal) tuner and a satellite or Freesat tuner then you'll also need to select the correct receiving mode/input before any attempt at retuning can be made.

Most of the blocks of flats I have dealt with provide both an aerial and a satellite dish connection. If in doubt, contact the management company to confirm what's available.

Where it's a standard house converted to a HMO so there are two or three flats then all bets are off. Talk to the landlord to find out what services are available, or if they know if the previous tenants made their own arrangements.

From the sound of it your previous flat had a satellite signal available, and the TV has a satellite tuner. You will have left the TV in satellite mode the same as was used in the previous flat.

It would appear now that you have a connection for a TV aerial in the new flat, but your TV might still be in satellite mode. Make the connection as highlighted in the picture in a previous reply. Bear in mind your input sockets may be in a different position, but the style of socket shown is still correct.

Check the remote control and switch the TV's reception mode to DTV (digital TV) in Freeview mode. LG TVs usually have a fancy graphic that comes up when switching inputs. You may need to use the East/ West cursor buttons to leaf through the input options until you find the Freeview tuner input. Then press the centre / OK / Select button to confirm your choice.

Once in the Freeview DTV mode, next go into the TV's setup menus and select the option to tune the receiver.

This should get some signal for you.

 

[grazing cows]

1 Have same aerial socket as in FreddieMercurys twin’ picture;
2 tried retuning;
3 found the input button on the remote and set it to DTV - retuned again and hey presto!

Thanks everyone for the time you spent helping me!

 

[Lucid]

Thanks for the update. Glad we were able to help. Happy housewarming

 

[grazing cows]

Thank you, Lucid, but … we are not getting all the channels we are used to watching. We have only 10 programmes found via the auto tuning option which are all BBC. No ITV, channel 4 (or Talking Pictures ).

Any ideas how to fix this dilemma?

 

[Rodders53]

Try a different aerial fly lead between wall socket and TV socket? Re-make and hand-made aerial plugs on such leads. Dodgy connections account for most issues.

Where is the UHF TV aerial?

Check with neighbours about the TV aerial (often a communal / shared system in flats) that is used in the building. Or with the Landlord if renting.

Check if there's a box somewhere (near entrance often) where the aerial cabling passes through a main-powered amplifying device that is switched off. If found, switch it on.

 

[Lucid]

Thank you, Lucid, but … we are not getting all the channels we are used to watching. We have only 10 programmes found via the auto tuning option which are all BBC. No ITV, channel 4 (or Talking Pictures ).

Any ideas how to fix this dilemma?

@Rodders53 is correct. Bad connections are a cause of a lot of problems.

In your case though things are further complicated by the fact that you've moved into a new property. You don't know yet (or at least haven't told us) what TV services are available in the building. Nor do you know if the previous occupier has bodged something which is now causing the issues.

If it was me on site diagnosing for a customer I'd start with checking if the TV is connected into the main feed into the flat and not some iffy DIY extension. Next, go into the LG TV set-up and tuning menus and look to see if there's an option for aerial / antenna power. If there is, it should be switched to off. Whatever setting it's on, try the opposite and then try a retune. If the situation regarding channel numbers changes then let us know whether on or off got the most channels, and how many.

Once that's established, my next step would be to check with the neighbours or landlord or managing agents about just how TV signals are handled in the building. 'They' could answer anything from:- 'we have a full distribution system, and so both Freeview and satellite signals are available in each unit. The upkeep is covered as part of the annual management fee' - all the way down to 'Dunno, Guv/Duchess. Everyone does their own thing.'
The latter is unlikely, but that possibility can't be ruled out entirely.

If each occupier is responsible for their own system then my advice to you is to first try the coax lead swap, then try the contact one of your local aerial installers. If they're anything like me then they'll turn up with some diagnostic gear to find out properly what's going on with the signal.

Where the property has an aerial/satellite distribution system then you could always flick back to satellite and see if that improves things. You'll need the satellite connection lead like in the old place.

In the trade we sometimes talk about TV aerial signals as RF. The abbreviation stands for Radio Frequency, and RF can be a very curious thing at times. It can make a broken cable appear to work, and it can turn a kinked cable into a very effective filter which stops some frequencies but not others. Beyond that, there's all the idiosyncrasies of RF transmission and reception. For example, someone living very close by a TV transmitting mast can find that they'll get perfectly acceptable reception with little more than a piece of wire hanging out of the aerial socket. In fact, a piece of poorly shielded coax such as those sold by DIY stores, supermarkets and retailers such as Argos and Comet could work just as effectively for the strongest transmissions. The main BBC channels are generally amongst the strongest signals. The ITV stations too. Issues can combine to create strange effects.

 

[grazing cows]

Hi again,
thanks for again trying to help ….
1 people here are quite elderly … we have been told of one resident has bought his own satellite system but that wouldn’t available to us. So I can only assume we have a ‘standard’ aerial which is in the roof space. Managing agent (newly appointed) doesn’t know
2 previous owner was an engineer and based on what we now know about him he knew what he was doing and not a bodger. (He died in the Spring of this year - so we can’t ask).
3 aerial lead swap seems to be the first thing to try
4 we have numerous aerial sockets throughout the property - but have found none with the screw in connection we used before we moved here last Thursday.
5 the first picture shows the ends of 2 aerial leads. The pair on the right belong to the lead which gave us 10 programmes. The pair on the left gave us no programmes. The ends are different. One set both male the other both female.

Without the screw in socket, I am obviously having to use a different lead to the used at the previous property.

Questions: do I have the correct type of aerial leads?
Am I using the appropriate aerial socket.
I have tried the single aerial socket - which gave us the 10 programmes - but is this the one I should be using?

Sorry to be so long winded but As I said before, I don’t really understand and it is very frustrating!

thanks in advance!

 

[Lucid]

Hi again,
thanks for again trying to help ….
1 people here are quite elderly … we have been told of one resident has bought his own satellite system but that wouldn’t available to us. So I can only assume we have a ‘standard’ aerial which is in the roof space. Managing agent (newly appointed) doesn’t know
2 previous owner was an engineer and based on what we now know about him he knew what he was doing and not a bodger. (He died in the Spring of this year - so we can’t ask).
3 aerial lead swap seems to be the first thing to try
4 we have numerous aerial sockets throughout the property - but have found none with the screw in connection we used before we moved here last Thursday.
5 the first picture shows the ends of 2 aerial leads. The pair on the right belong to the lead which gave us 10 programmes. The pair on the left gave us no programmes. The ends are different. One set both male the other both female.

Without the screw in socket, I am obviously having to use a different lead to the used at the previous property.

Questions: do I have the correct type of aerial leads?
Am I using the appropriate aerial socket.
I have tried the single aerial socket - which gave us the 10 programmes - but is this the one I should be using?

Sorry to be so long winded but As I said before, I don’t really understand and it is very frustrating!

thanks in advance!

Just going down the points in order

1 - understood, but it doesn't help us so we'll move on
2 - encouraging (& RIP)
3 - pictures help greatly, thanks. See below
4 - you won't find the screw type. It looks like previous occupier installed an aerial distribution system rather than aerial and satellite. That's not a bad thing actually because Sat signal distribution doesn't work in the same way as aerial distribution. It simplifies things
5 - see below

Those brass faceplates, the one picture left with two sockets, that's a TV and Radio wall plate. I'm not going to deal with radio at this point other than to acknowledge that it's the type of plate. What you're missing (or at least appears missing from the photo) is the labelling on the sockets that tells you which signals out of what sockets.

The left-hand socket is the one for TV. The receptacle end on the wall plate is a male. That means you either need a cable that's female to male, or you need what's known as a gender changer - a back-to-back / cable joiner / coupler adapter - on a male to male lead.

The cables that you have both appear to be male-to-male. The plug ends picture left are the type used with moulded cables. The plug ends picture right appear to be the plug type you'd buy loose and use as a DIY fit to your own cable. I know it's got holes in the centre post ends but that's how they're made so that the centre core can poke through and be soldered in place. (Incidentally, the cable in both examples appears to be the thin and poorly shielded extension type sold by Argos / DIY sheds / supermarkets.)

If one of the cables is female to female then you'll be able to link the two together daisy-chain fashion, but I suspect they won't do (don't force them) because they're both male.

The immediate fix is a coax gender changer.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-coaxial-couplers-10-pack/26904

If your system doesn't work after this then it's because you're missing a power supply for the amplified splitter/diplexer. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Longer-term you could do with some proper coax fly leads made with good shielded cable, and correctly terminated for the wall plate to TV connections you have. You won't get these off-the-shelf unless you pay through the nose for 'premium' cables in blister packs. I've seen prices ranging from £20 - £30 for a simple fly lead, and even then I'm not convinced how long they'll last.

There's a few of us here in the trade who can make cables to order - white or black all-copper coax cable - and at a fraction of the price. Drop us a message.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

4 we have numerous aerial sockets throughout the property - but have found none with the screw in connection we used before we moved here last Thursday.
5 the first picture shows the ends of 2 aerial leads. The pair on the right belong to the lead which gave us 10 programmes. The pair on the left gave us no programmes. The ends are different. One set both male the other both female.

Those plugs are called 'Belling-Lee'. It could be that it was wired to allow the signal to be daisy-chained through to other rooms, rather than a distribution amplifier being used, so that every room can have a TV. The female plugs seem to suggest this might have been what was done.

Do you have access to a multimeter, to enable you to trace which cables go where?

 

[grazing cows]

Aha! The issue seemed to be the need for a gender (?) converter - because I now have more programs than I could possibly watch including Talking Pictures!

I cant thank you enough - not only for your knowledge but the patience with which you have addressed this issue.

 

[grazing cows]

Just going down the points in order

1 - understood, but it doesn't help us so we'll move on
2 - encouraging (& RIP)
3 - pictures help greatly, thanks. See below
4 - you won't find the screw type. It looks like previous occupier installed an aerial distribution system rather than aerial and satellite. That's not a bad thing actually because Sat signal distribution doesn't work in the same way as aerial distribution. It simplifies things
5 - see below

Those brass faceplates, the one picture left with two sockets, that's a TV and Radio wall plate. I'm not going to deal with radio at this point other than to acknowledge that it's the type of plate. What you're missing (or at least appears missing from the photo) is the labelling on the sockets that tells you which signals out of what sockets.


View attachment 284273

The left-hand socket is the one for TV. The receptacle end on the wall plate is a male. That means you either need a cable that's female to male, or you need what's known as a gender changer - a back-to-back / cable joiner / coupler adapter - on a male to male lead.

The cables that you have both appear to be male-to-male. The plug ends picture left are the type used with moulded cables. The plug ends picture right appear to be the plug type you'd buy loose and use as a DIY fit to your own cable. I know it's got holes in the centre post ends but that's how they're made so that the centre core can poke through and be soldered in place. (Incidentally, the cable in both examples appears to be the thin and poorly shielded extension type sold by Argos / DIY sheds / supermarkets.)

If one of the cables is female to female then you'll be able to link the two together daisy-chain fashion, but I suspect they won't do (don't force them) because they're both male.

The immediate fix is a coax gender changer.

View attachment 284274


https://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-coaxial-couplers-10-pack/26904

If your system doesn't work after this then it's because you're missing a power supply for the amplified splitter/diplexer. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Longer-term you could do with some proper coax fly leads made with good shielded cable, and correctly terminated for the wall plate to TV connections you have. You won't get these off-the-shelf unless you pay through the nose for 'premium' cables in blister packs. I've seen prices ranging from £20 - £30 for a simple fly lead, and even then I'm not convinced how long they'll last.

There's a few of us here in the trade who can make cables to order - white or black all-copper coax cable - and at a fraction of the price. Drop us a message.

I have responded to Lucid but not managed to tie my response to his message. My comment was in direct response to his last message.