OK, so after realising that Sky were taking me for a complete mug I decided to ditch it and go for Freeview. The only problem was that the postcode for the house we were living in came up as not applicable for Freeview on their site but the house we were due to move to, even though it was only around 5 miles away, came up as OK. This concerned me a tad so having read every forum I could find on Freeview boxes I decided to buy a cheapy which I could easily return if there were any problems. I actually wanted one with an EPG and Hard-disk like Sky+ but decided to experiment without spending too much money first.

I tested the box and found quite a few channels so was relatively happy. The new house had a very naff aerial and we wanted to move the furniture around in the lounge which meant that the TV was no longer near the aerial socket so this meant running a new cable which the aerial fitting man saw as positive. The least amount of joins the better. After a lot of research I knew what aerial to go for and this happened to be the one the guy was going to fit so I was happy there. He put a quality booster/splitter in the loft and it runs from there directly into the back of the Freeview box with no socket on the wall. He set it all up, all looked good, off he went. I was confident I had the best aerial at the correct angle with the right height mast and that the cable/booster used were of a very good quality with the minimum amount of joins. This was about a year ago.

In the weeks that followed the signal for all ITV channels including channel 4 and Film 4 got steadily worse. It was beginning to be a lottery as to whether we would be able to watch what we wanted and as with the lottery, winning seemed to get harder as it went on to the point where it really did seem like getting a signal was 14 million to 1. Because of this we ended up not even trying to watch it and just used terrestrial. My neighbours had the same problems, as did other people in my area who I

Well Moaner I have to say I have two Freeview boxes in Central London (both Sony which I was told were best - a mere

My Dad rang me excitedly this morning, as he had just found the cricket on Radio 5!

My home town is a postcode lottery when it comes to Freeview. Some people within walking distance of my house can receive it. I can't, yet the analogue system in my area is being switched off a couple of years before London. I suppose they may sort it out before then, but I won't hold my breath. It was 1987 before I could get Channel 4 and I still can't get Channel 5!

I refuse to pay for Sky, as per Moaner's previous post and don't even think of suggesting Cable TV. No cables within at least 10 miles.