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One of the fist things many people try to do
when they have a poor picture is to fiddle with the TV's tuning.
This should be the last thing attempted as the most common cause
of poor picture are caused by your antenna...a quick visual check
will tell you if parts of it or the cable has broken off or if its
blown around the wrong way. If the problem is there when you are
watching via your VCR's tuner then it wont be the TV at fault, in
fact it is extremely rare for the channels to drift off frequency.
In case you move town or new channel starts
broadcasting you may need to adjust your tuning. Every country has a different range of TV bands and channels for
example the UK only use the UHF band while Australia and New
Zealand use VLF, VHF and UHF. Tuning the channels in should be
similar across all countries. Bearing this in mind we are trying
to present this info to suit all audiences and can only give a
general overview of how to tune in your set. We hope the info is
of help and for this example we are going to tune in the UHF
channel 31 but the same principals can be applied to any channel.
Push Button Tuning If your TV set has
‘push buttons’ and is about 15 or so years old you will find a group
of wheels and selectors under the tuning door and you will need to
follow these instructions:
Switch off the AFT (Automatic Fine Tuner). Sometimes this is done
automatically when the tuning door is opened.
Push the button on which you want channel 31 to appear. (don't
use a button you currently use for another channel or your video)
Open your TV tuning door. This will reveal a series of selectors and
tuning wheels. Each selector and its adjacent tuning wheel is
associated with a tuning button on the front of the TV. For example,
the third tuning button is connected to the third selector switch
and the third tuning wheel.
As channel 31 is on the UHF Band you will need to set the selector
switch to UHF if your set is capable of tuning multiple bands (ie:
you may not have this selector in the UK). Labeling of these channel
ranges varies from brand to brand, but UHF is usually U, UHF, C, or
3. the other 2 spots will be VL and VH or A and B etc.
Turn the corresponding tuning wheel slowly clockwise until the
channel 31 appears on the TV screen or until the little pointer
indicates you have reached the end of the tuning range. If channel
31 does not appear, then begin turning the tuning wheel
anti-clockwise until Channel 31 is found. Perhaps there are other
channels in your area on the UHF band (lets say channel 28) if you
find this one you are getting close so keep trying either side. It
generally takes about twenty turns of the tuning wheel to cover the
range of band selected. When the desired channel appears on the TV
screen, adjust the tuning wheel for the best picture and sound. Turn
on the AFT and close the tuning drawer (or door).
Rotary Tuning If your TV set has a
‘rotary tuner’, then most channels can be found on the main rotary
dial unless you want a UHF Channel, if so then tuning involves the
following steps:
Switch off the AFT (automatic fine tuning).
Select ‘U’ on the ‘main dial’, then turn the ‘UHF channel selector’
knob to the desired channel number.
Switch on the AFT again.
More Modern Sets Every
set built in
the past 15 or so years seems to have a different way of tuning in
the channels with the tuning via an on screen Display, if
you can find your TV instruction manual try and follow it carefully
most have an automatic tuning mode which it will want to default to
when first entering the tuning mode. Automatic tuning is good if you
cant figure out your tuning but the problem is it will not put the
channels under their desired channels numbers. Some set are terrible
to tune even stumping the most experienced TV technician, while
others are simple. TV sets don't detune themselves so if it ain't
broke don't try and fix it, your fuzzy picture may be due to another
reason, like your VCR, cables or antenna.
Still got problems Ask your neighbors, perhaps you
are not in the optimum area for the channel you are tuning, ask a neighbor
with a similar looking antenna what his picture is like.
Do you have the correct antenna? In Australia Several older homes do not
have UHF antennas as there was not UHF transmissions prior to the 70s, if
so you will need to get your antenna checked as you wont be able to
receive UHF channels.
Does your TV only have one rotary control with no U position? Your TV is
probably unable to receive UHF as several older Australian sets were not
built for UHF, If you have a VCR you should be able to tune this into receive UHF channels .
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