Trees and Your TV and Satellite Signals

We all know that trees are amazing. They’re a great part of the environment, and we need to plant more of them to take care of the Earth better. But one downside to having trees near your home is when they block your TV aerial or satellite signals. When you’re surrounded by trees, you might have poor TV reception.
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Whether you live in Preston or anywhere else in the country, TV aerials need a clear space to catch signals, and your satellite dish needs a line of sight to get signals from Earth’s orbit. Unfortunately, it only takes a handful of trees to interrupt your late-night TV binge.

Why do trees affect your TV signals?

​Trees can cause a host of problems for your TV reception, but, thankfully, there are steps you can take to help. There is always a way around your tree vs. signal dilemma. Trees do affect specific channels more than others, so you might have a tree issue but get some channels okay while others are missing entirely.

Common causes for loss of signal

Satellite Dishes for Sky & Freesat

Satellite dishes used for Freesat & Sky TV receive signals from satellites in Earth’s orbit and come in at high frequencies. The frequencies have a small wavelength, and most obstructions (trees) are closer to the satellite dish (receiver) than the satellite (transmitter). This means that satellite dishes need a line of sight to the satellite, or you will have poor reception and may lose channels altogether. Higher frequencies and shorter wavelengths are more apt to absorb into the surrounding trees than hit your dish.
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Every satellite that delivers TV orbits around the equator. In the northern hemisphere, satellite dishes point south, and in the southern hemisphere, they point north. This means that if you have trees in the opposite direction, they will not affect your TV signals. If you have trees in the same direction as your dish, you will almost certainly have issues.
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Tree Growth & Moving Foliage

Of course, another issue is that trees are growing throughout the year, and some trees can grow quickly. A tree that isn’t causing a problem one year can disrupt your signal the next. The more growth you have, the more likely it is that your signal will get interrupted.
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Trees are also prone to move in the wind, especially gales. Moving trees naturally cause disruptions with your TV signals. Your picture might break up or pixelate, and you could lose service entirely. Moving trees are typically not a permanent issue, but they can cause problems during a storm. Higher frequency signals are more likely to lose track during a gale.

Seasons

​Trees also change during the changing of the seasons. Starting in spring and lasting through fall, your trees will grow leaves, which can contribute to poor TV reception. Leaves cause more organic material that the TV signals have to pass through to get to your home. You might have a situation where the signal is perfect during the winter and starts failing when the leaves grow.

Solutions

The problems above can be detrimental to your TV watching experience, but there is a solution to every problem. Work through some of the fixes below and see whether you can get a better signal and reception. If all else fails, there are two fail-safe methods outlined at the end.
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Move It

One obvious answer to your issue is to move the satellite dish so that the trees are no longer causing a problem. This entails removing, moving, and installing the dish higher up on your house. One excellent option is using your chimney to hold the satellite dish. You can use a mast and brackets to attach to the chimney or another high part of your house. Call a professional to help with re-installation.

In some cases, after you move the dish, the trees still block your signal. You need to work to find the best position and get creative with placement.
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If you have an aerial instead of a satellite dish, you can also move it to avoid the trees. Try putting the aerial on your roof, or if it is already on your roof, place it in a higher spot. You can try using a crank mast to point the aerial around the trees. If none of this works, you might get a better signal by putting the aerial in a loft.

Re-Align or Change It

If you can’t move the position or you already have, and the signal still isn’t perfect, you can try re-aligning your device. You can also try a different transmitter that is less affected by the trees. There are other options, including a higher gain aerial or a TV signal amplifier.

Re-align your existing aerial from the old transmitter to the new and make sure that the aerial polarisation is accurate. The TV antenna should also be compatible with the new transmitter.
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Instead of changing your transmitter, you can also swap your aerial for a dish or vice versa. Trees that block an aerial may not block a satellite dish, and the same goes in the other direction. Swapping out your device might be the best solution to a tough situation.

Stream Your TV

​Changing the position and re-aligning your device doesn’t work in every situation. If you’re less worried about live TV and just want to watch your favorite shows when it suits you, you can switch to a streaming service. Streaming services like Netflix allow you to watch what you want on-demand, and they don’t require a satellite or aerial. All you need is a stable internet connection.

Cut Down the Trees

If all else fails and you’re not interested in streaming TV shows, your last resort might be cutting down some of the bothersome trees. You can call a professional tree surgeon to help prune our cut down trees that are blocking your TV signal.
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If the trees aren’t on your property, you can call your local government about cutting the trees, or talk to your neighbour about pruning parts of their trees — how you remove them depends on whether they’re on public or private land.

Moving

Of course, the most drastic option to receive a better signal is to move houses. It's rare, but it does happen that a household wants a better TV signal and decides that the best option for them is to change where they live. If you choose to go this route, make sure that you test the new property or home to see whether it does get a better signal than your old house.

The last thing you want is to buy or build a new home only to discover that you're in the same situation when it comes to the TV signal.

Conclusion
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Trees cause a lot of problems but, thankfully, there are plenty of solutions from which to choose. While not everyone is willing to cut down their trees or even move to a new house just for better TV signals, those are always options.

Many people can get better reception simply by following one of the milder steps outlined above. You can move your satellite dish or aerial, re-align your transmitter, or swap one device for another.
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If you end up frustrated and unable to get the best position, you can also forgo the aerial and satellite dish and switch to streaming your shows only. Streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu offer hundreds of TV shows and movies for a low monthly fee. Some streaming platforms also have the option of watching live TV at an additional cost. However, streaming does require a stable internet connection, which is not always feasible.
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At the end of the day, no matter what problem you have, there is a solution.

​Digitec Aerials Preston
​The Watermark, 9 – 15 Ribbleton Ln, Preston PR1 5EZ
https://goo.gl/maps/DJSyzCWAXBARELUa9