We have problems with our freebox too.  Sometimes we can get the channels fine and other times we get no signal at all.  Mostly it happens with ITV and channel 4.  We have been getting that message that we have to retune on Sept 30.  I'm hoping that will sort it out.

It's strange though, the digital signal is a few seconds behind the analog signal.  I don't have a box on the bedroom and if I am watching the same thing as hubby is downstairs, it's like an echo if I step into the hall.

Shameless BUMP....come on folks, I'm off to Argos in an hour

We get that too, but all the TVs are using the digital signal....strange....i know when Corries is about to finish as I can here the it from the other room...

Hiya DID   this is maybe not what you want to hear,but a guy from STV says once the changeover happens in May,from analogue to digital if you dont have a digital TV you wont get a picture - now talking with others  - if you have a sat dish and a freeview box (some flatscreen tellys have freeview built in - then you will be fine but you need a TV change .When I asked Comet 6 months ago - they said you dont need to change a thing the only difference will be picture quality  - does anybody REALLY know  - in this economic times  - have the elderly got to splash out out on a flatscreen etc ??  not just them , us as well !!

I've got a freeview box in the bedrooms, but the signals were very poor. We bought boosters etc ( I now have a draw full of un-used aerials!) but they made no difference.
We got an aerial fitter to hook it up to the main aerial in the end and it's been perfect since.

We have SKY in the living room TV.I had to get a digital roof Aerial for my Tv in the bedroom to get a reception for Freeview.We are in a bad "dip" for TV reception.Also had to get another roof connection for my Niece's TV in her bedroom.

I doubt the aerial booster will work as it just amplifies what you have.  Digital signals are not very forgiving over data loss which is why it pixelates instead of gets a little fuzzy.  I'd put the box on the main aerial and see what the reception is like there first.  If the signal is a bit weak anyway in your area then I suppose the indoor aerial may well not manage to suck it all in.

As for needing a TV change for the switchover  ... people just need a digital receiver somewhere not a new TV.  A digital set-top box (for as little as £20) and an old, analogue TV is enough.  It's just the analogue receiver in the old TV that becomes obsolete, not the rest of the TV, as long as the TV has an input socket for the set-top box e.g. a SCART socket.

I also doubt an aerial booster will work. Crap-in-crap-out, as they say.  Boosters will amplify the signal power but also amplify the distortion.  It's worth a go, if you can get a refund if it doesn't work. 

A roof aerial (or improving your roof aerial) is really the best solution.  However, one thing to watch out for is that there's actually no such thing as a 'digital aerial', although you'll see the words on the sides of vans, it's actually just marketing taking advantage of the Digital Switch-over.

The reason why digital TV may be staggered in a house is probably due to different boxes processing the digital signal at different speeds.  Digital boxes have to decode the signal (in principal, a bit like a PC Modem, I think) before showing pictures.

Thanks for your replies, I do have a TV with bult in digital in my bedrooom, I also has Freeview plus in there...I just wondered if a booster would help but i guess not...

They're doing our switch off in 3 parts, the first on the 30 th September so hopefully the signal will improve then.....I need Dave in my bedroom (trust Dave to be one of the channels I cannot get upstairs)...hmph, maybe I'll have to go down the getting it connected to the main ariel route, I was hoping for a cheaper option...