According to recent statistics, the average American household watches nearly eight hours of television per day. This means that if you’re getting a weak signal from your antenna, a huge part of your entertainment is lost.
Yet you shouldn’t wait until your antenna breaks completely to seek out a TV repair company. There are some key signs of a bad signal that you can spot early and have repaired, saving you a lot of time and frustration.
In this guide, we’re going to take a look at some common TV antenna problems and what they might look like. This will give you a better idea of when you should call for a repair.
Are you ready to learn more? Then read on!
Table of Contents
1. TV Not Showing Any Channels
When you turn on your TV, you should be presented with a selection of different channels to watch. Sometimes, however, you can turn on your TV and instead be met with a message that says something like “searching” or “scanning.”
If this happens, it means that your TV is looking for channels, which it may or may not find. If it doesn’t find any channels, then your antenna is broken and you’ll need to replace it.
However, even if it finds the channels again, it’s a sign that you don’t have a stable connection through your antenna, and should consider repairing it now.
You may also get a message saying something like “no signal,” which is also a terrible sign for your antenna.
2. How Does Your Antenna Look?
If you think there might be something wrong with your antenna, you should take a look at the antenna’s position and condition. Your antenna should be pointing in the same direction as the antennas on your neighbors’ houses. If yours stands out from the rest, it’s likely that your antenna isn’t in the right position and you could be having some issues.
You should also check that your antenna isn’t bent and that none of the antenna’s limbs are broken or otherwise damaged.
3. Is Something Blocking Your Signal?
If you’ve only recently started having issues and your antenna is fine, then there could be something blocking the signal. Buildings and tall trees can sometimes interfere with your TV signal, so if there’s a new apartment block in your neighborhood, it could cause some issues.
There are other environmental factors that could also be affecting your TV signal. For instance, 4G phone signals can sometimes cause interference that results in a bad TV signal. Has anything changed in your area recently?
Interference from buildings and the like doesn’t always lead to no picture. Sometimes it can lead to a strange phenomenon called ghosting, where you get a second version of the same image on your screen. This is caused by a building reflecting the signal, leading to you getting two signals instead of one.
4. Check the Cables
Sometimes your home antenna might not need a repair: it may just be a case of a loose connection somewhere along the line. You should find the antenna’s cable in your lounge and disconnect it from your TV, then plug it back in again, ensuring that it is firmly in place.
If this doesn’t fix your problems, you should unplug the cable and take a look at the visible portion in your lounge. Is there a problem with the connector? Is the cable itself frayed or battered?
Sometimes TV antenna repair can involve just a new cable, which is a much cheaper repair, so never skip this step.
5. Check Your TV Is On the Right Input
Many a customer has rung up a TV repairperson and had them arrive only to find that their TV was on the wrong input and there’s nothing wrong. Not only is this embarrassing, but you’ll also still have to pay the call-out fee, making it a costly mistake.
You can change your TV’s input using your remote control, with the button usually labeled as “input” or “source.” This lets you flip between the antenna and any other devices that you’ve plugged into your TV such as games consoles or a DVD player.
If you’re not on the right source, try flipping through them and see if any of them give you a solid picture.
6. Issues With Too Much Signal
It’s possible to have too much signal, which can lead to signal overload and you not being able to get a stable picture. This often happens with digital signals in certain areas.
Thankfully, it’s quite easy to fix. If you call a technician, they will come to your home and install a device called an attenuator in the signal path. This device lessens the signal down so that your TV gets the right amount of signal to show a stable picture.
7. Are There Poor Weather Conditions?
If you are experiencing poor weather conditions, you won’t need to call a repairperson. Sometimes, extreme weather conditions wreak havoc on TV signals, which means that they could severely impede your ability to get a stable picture. If this happens, there’s no need to worry: the problems should go away when the weather conditions return to normal.
If the problems persist, you should call out a repair service.
A Weak Signal Can Cause Many Different Problems
There are a whole host of problems that a weak signal can cause. If you’re experiencing any of the issues that we’ve mentioned or a combination of them, you should consider calling out a TV repair service.
They will be able to fix your antenna and restore your TV back to its former glory.
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