Free to air channels on Fetch Mini without an antenna

[Dabs1965]

Can I get free to air channels on my Mini without an antenna?

[Davelew]

Hi

No.

If your problem is you don't have an aerial and you have home broadband you could think about streaming live tv using the Freeview FV app and caring to your tv using Chromecast or a similar casting dongle

Dave

[Dabs1965 · Accepted solution]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your reply.  It turns out it is possible.  I reset the Mini back to factory settings and got it working.  There is a couple of seconds delay for it to 'load' but works reallt well.  If you look at the Fetch multiroom guide (not the Optus one) it is referenced in there.

[SillyGogo]

Wow, I've learned something new today with fetch mini sharing the FTA signal via a Fetch Mighty/Gen2 box. To be fair to @Davelew the Mighty/Gen2 box must be connected to the antenna in the first place. So if you don't have an TV antenna any where in the home, then FTA sharing wont work. 

Here is the link for reference (pp10)

https://www.fetchtv.com.au/pdf/Multiroom_user_guide.pdf

[Tigbat]

YES  you can watch LIVE free to air channels on the Fetch MINI WITHOUT plugging in an  Antenna. But you will need the Mighty with an Antenna to do this, see page 11 in the Fetch manual yet there are no instructions on where to find the LIVE channels.  Go to TV ...TV Guide...(where live channels are found) and you will not be able to view any live channel.  I could not get an answer from Optus, and adamant that this could not be done.

Then I found  Live sits in Catch Up,  (that is for the Mini with no antenna)  in Catch Up click on say ABCiview and the top heading has an LIVE tab.  There is a short delay to live real time, but it’s only a few seconds.

Hope this helps and Optus and Fetch add this step to the instructions. 

[Dabs1965]

Thankks @Tigbat.  I've got mine working fine after a few resets and a search for channels on the Mini.  It finds all the free to air channels and they can be selected on the TV guide (just like the Mighty).  When I select them, there is a couple of seconds delay but it is acceptable (to me at least!). 

[Duh]

Hi, I received a replacement Fetch Mini from Optus to fix freezing and stuttering problems. The problems appears to be fixed.

I used to watch Free to Air TV on the old box without a TV antennae plugged into the Fetch Mini. This is not the case with my new Mini, I have switched it of and on multiple times without success. Any Ideas ?. 

[Vin_YC]

Hi @Duh, great to hear you've received your replacement Fetch TV set top box.

In order to watch free to air TV on the Mini, you'll need to have a TV antenna plugged in.  For a guide on setting up the Free to air TV on the set top box, please check out Fetch free-to-air channels not working.

[Duh]

Thanks for responding, however I don't understand why it worked on the old box without an antenna.

[Duh]

Just discovered something weird. In my endeavour to get this to work. I ran an antenna cable from another room to the TV the Mini is plugged into. All good as I used the Fetch remote to move from channel to channel. I then pulled the antenna out of the TV and guess what, it kept working. I then changed FTA channels via the Fetch remote, again working fine.  Note, as I changed channels a pop appeared with a spinning wheel for 3 or 4 secs saying "to remove the delay, plug in an antenna". It appears the Mini is now streaming FTA from the Mighty in the other room.  I don't know why it works but I am now watching FTA TV without an antenna plugged in to either TV or Fetch Mini.