Help with LG TV

[Steddenm]

I recently picked up a LG TV with a built in satellite receiver, yet when it does a scan it picks up a few of the ITV regions and some random channels, but none of the BBC channels, no Channel 4, Channel 5 etc.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong. My postcode is set correctly in the settings and the Channel scan does check for the Freesat satellite, but still nothing. Any ideas?

 

[Camberman]

I recently picked up a LG TV with a built in satellite receiver, yet when it does a scan it picks up a few of the ITV regions and some random channels, but none of the BBC channels, no Channel 4, Channel 5 etc.

I don't know what I'm doing wrong. My postcode is set correctly in the settings and the Channel scan does check for the Freesat satellite, but still nothing. Any ideas?

In case you haven't tried it yet, LG have a support site at https://www.lg.com/uk/support/

Good luck with getting it sorted! TV's seem really complicated these days....

 

[Broken Viking]

...when it does a scan it picks up a few of the ITV regions and some random channels, but none of the BBC channels, no Channel 4, Channel 5 etc.

I've no experience with FreeSat and this is just a wetted finger being held up to the air, but the symptom you give here also presents itself on my classic DAB radio; I can easily pick up DAB stations on one of the two main carrier frequencies when I do a scan, but struggle a lot picking up the stations on the other. My limited RF experience suggests there's either a strong local source of interference affecting one of them (Quite possible; There's a lot of Army activity/hardware in my area) or it just happens to be that I'm on a coverage border for one carrier frequency but not the other.

The same issue could conceivably impact DVB-T (Digital terrestrial) signals too, which I'm inclined to think is what your TV is actually searching for. Built-in satellite compatibility would be a thing, but a built-in satellite receiver isn't - Satellite signals require a dish mounted outdoors as their signals are too weak to penetrate house walls. If you are using a satellite dish then check that your connections between the LNB (On the arm extending from the dish) and the receiver/decoder are sound, check for damage to the cable between them, and check that the dish is orientated correctly.

 

[Steddenm]

I've no experience with FreeSat and this is just a wetted finger being held up to the air, but the symptom you give here also presents itself on my classic DAB radio; I can easily pick up DAB stations on one of the two main carrier frequencies when I do a scan, but struggle a lot picking up the stations on the other. My limited RF experience suggests there's either a strong local source of interference affecting one of them (Quite possible; There's a lot of Army activity/hardware in my area) or it just happens to be that I'm on a coverage border for one carrier frequency but not the other.

The same issue could conceivably impact DVB-T (Digital terrestrial) signals too, which I'm inclined to think is what your TV is actually searching for. Built-in satellite compatibility would be a thing, but a built-in satellite receiver isn't - Satellite signals require a dish mounted outdoors as their signals are too weak to penetrate house walls. If you are using a satellite dish then check that your connections between the LNB (On the arm extending from the dish) and the receiver/decoder are sound, check for damage to the cable between them, and check that the dish is orientated correctly.

Hi. Yeah its connected to a satelite dish that recieved everything with Sky+ and the DVB-T2 tuner picks everything up.

It's an LG with built in Freeview/Saorview and Freesat/Saorsat.

The ITV regions in HD mostly pick up (barring a few of the far north ones such as STV and UTV) but none of the BBC channels in HD, Channel 4 or 5, it has ran a software update and the satelite signal is at 100% with 98% quality, so I'm a bit at a loss.

In case you haven't tried it yet, LG have a support site at https://www.lg.com/uk/support/

Good luck with getting it sorted! TV's seem really complicated these days....

I did speak with LG support and they just said to run a channel scan. When I said about free-to-air satelite in the UK I think it drew a blank with them, talking about a CAM slot for Sky (the tv doesn't have a CAM slot).

 

[Richardr]

You almost certainly need to change the LNB - the bit in front of the dish. Sky Q uses a wideband LNB that can pick up all frequencies on either the horizontally polarized or all frequencies on the vertically polarized frequencies, so just needs two connexions to permanently receive all channels, which allows it to record or display numerous channels at once.

Most Freesat receivers, including TVs, need an older style LNB that doesn't cover all the frequency range without switching - and was actually the sort originally used by Sky+.

It is fairly straight forward to change, I think the LNB itself is about a tenner. It will be why you are getting some channels and not others.

It will be why the channels you get will be full power, but others won't be picked up at all.

 

[Dr Hoo]

When I got a FreeSat dish to go with my LG TV (after old aerial damaged in a storm) the installer said that I’ve to get rid of a large tree that was in a ‘direct line’.

Much work with a saw later, everything seems to be fine.

 

[Broken Viking]

You almost certainly need to change the LNB - the bit in front of the dish. Sky Q uses a wideband LNB that can pick up all frequencies on either the horizontally polarized or all frequencies on the vertically polarized frequencies, so just needs two connexions to permanently receive all channels, which allows it to record or display numerous channels at once.

Most Freesat receivers, including TVs, need an older style LNB that doesn't cover all the frequency range without switching - and was actually the sort originally used by Sky+.

This sounds to me like the most likely culprit, if your dish has a Sky Q or other incompatible LNB on it. I know Sky were using quad LNBs for a while (My partner at the time had to have one installed on his) though I don't know how those work beyond being able to supply two separate tuned signals at once for Sky+ functionality. I was also going to ask if dishes angled for Sky/Sky+/Sky Q need to be readjusted to pick up FreeSat. I'm going to guess they don't come from the same satellite (Sky/Comcast play nicely with competitors?! ) so if the FreeSat satellite is in a different location (Particularly at a different azimuth/angle) you might need to adjust the pitch of your dish.

A quick test - If you still have your Sky+ box - Is to plug that in to the satellite connection and see if that still gets full Sky signal. If so then it shows the dish is in the correct position for Sky satellites, and you might need to investigate whether the dish requires adjustment. (With Sky/Comcast and their owner being as they are, their having bought "exclusive" orbital positions for their satellites wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. It'd mean competitors are forced onto different orbits thus received on a different azimuth.)

When I got a FreeSat dish to go with my LG TV (after old aerial damaged in a storm) the installer said that I’ve to get rid of a large tree that was in a ‘direct line’. Much work with a saw later, everything seems to be fine.

I really hope you checked the tree didn't have a TPO disc on it before you did that! Those things can appear out of nowhere (We have a tree in my garden that took root around the time I moved in; It "sprouted" a TPO disc four years ago) and can land you in a lot of trouble over unauthorised adjustments to them!

But yes, a clear line-of-sight is necessary for satellite dishes - The signals are so weak by the time they enter Earths atmosphere they can be stopped by something as thin as toilet paper. Crazy to think that floating past the transmitting end of that signal would result in instant vaporisation; The power output is almost as strong as a TGV with the power controller on 8%!

 

[Richardr]

The dish doesn't need moving - the actual channels are exactly the same broadcast. As an example, the regional BBC One you need will be exactly the same as the one on Sky. All that happens is that the BBC pay Sky for an entry in their Electronic Programme Guide [EPG], and they pay Freesat [which they partly own] similarly.

Not all free to air channels pay to be on the Freesat EPG, but the main ones do.

The satellites are independent of either, ultimately Astra own them.

 

[bleeder4]

I would pop to Argos and buy yourself a cheap Freesat box, rather than trying to use the one built into the TV.

 

[Dr Hoo]

I really hope you checked the tree didn't have a TPO disc on it before you did that! Those things can appear out of nowhere (We have a tree in my garden that took root around the time I moved in; It "sprouted" a TPO disc four years ago) and can land you in a lot of trouble over unauthorised adjustments to them!

To reassure anxious Forumites, the tree did NOT have a TPO disc. It is a self-set sycamore in a private garden that had been pollarded previously and needed a further ‘haircut’, which I did myself. It is already sprouting new branches vigorously.

 

[Broken Viking]

To reassure anxious Forumites, the tree did NOT have a TPO disc. It is a self-set sycamore in a private garden that had been pollarded previously and needed a further ‘haircut’, which I did myself. It is already sprouting new branches vigorously.

I thought I'd mention it. Ours is also in our private (communal) garden, but still has the TPO disc on it...And nobody living here works for the local or county council. The disc appeared about 4-6 months after I'd pruned a long branch that was causing a functional inconvenience to use of the bin area beneath it.

Thing is; The tree is just 19 years old. I thought TPO listings were only considered for trees 50-100+ years or older?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I thought I'd mention it. Ours is also in our private (communal) garden, but still has the TPO disc on it...And nobody living here works for the local or county council. The disc appeared about 4-6 months after I'd pruned a long branch that was causing a functional inconvenience to use of the bin area beneath it.

Thing is; The tree is just 19 years old. I thought TPO listings were only considered for trees 50-100+ years or older?

No, a tree preservation order can be placed on any tree regardless of age provided the tree has good public amenity value and is in good physical condition.

If a tree is dead or dying, or in a dangerous condition in any way, a tree preservation order cannot be applied to it... so if some vandal has, say, hammered a few brass nails into it in the middle of the night some time previously it could not later be given a preservation order because it would be dying...

 

[bluenoxid]

I am also looking at using the LG TV satellite tuner and having the same issue (with Sky bills increasing at pace). The biggest problem with swapping the LNB is getting to the dish but most areas will have a local Aerial and Satellite company who I assume treat this as standard bread and butter work.

 

[Richardr]

I am also looking at using the LG TV satellite tuner and having the same issue (with Sky bills increasing at pace). The biggest problem with swapping the LNB is getting to the dish but most areas will have a local Aerial and Satellite company who I assume treat this as standard bread and butter work.

Yes - it is about as straight forward a job as they do. They will know immediately what is needed, so assuming nothing odd in getting to your dish they will quote a price over the phone, so you can check a couple.