AudiMan

Hi,
Trying to help my M&D (both in there 80's) just had the bloke round to sort the Digital before they switch off everything !!! they paid their 40quid and go a set top box and this works fine in the lounge, mum has a TV in another room and signal is not very good, some digital channels but not many.
Coax on the roof goes into loft where it splits in 2, one goes to lounge other to mums room which is further.
Question - do I buy a one way booster for behind the working set so that the signal is boosted back up the cable to the Y splitter and down to the other TV or buy one that goes in the loft with the Y - Dad not keen on having any powered device up there !!!

or am I wrong in assuming either will make any difference ?? signal is there it's just weak I think.

Thanks

Ian

albob

I would have thought the signal would be boosted going forwards not both ways !? - not an expert so not sure how good the boosters are..

As another point - I thought if u were over a certain age (75?), the digital thing was sorted out for FREE ....

Coffin Dodger

We've got a four way distribution amplifier in the loft and that's probably the best bet for this type of scenario.

The cable comes in from the aerial to the distribution box, then four leads come out of it for the main room, front room, and two bedrooms. Works really well with digital and even Freeview HD works fine.

I'd tell your Dad to get over his fear of having a powered device in the loft. They don't need or consume much electricity anyway. Stick an extra loud smoke detector up there as well if you're really concerned.

The passive splitters (Y splitters) are very lossy (3dB+ per split) so I wouldn't use them for digital.

AudiMan

Cheers guys,
As for the "free" bit - yeah right, the guy was allocated 45 minutes, thats the free bit, any kit which needs to be provided is charged at a flat rate of 40quid. small print apparently !, I wasnt there so it's likely he ripped them off as well !
Joke really, as the aerial is over 25 years old, but is up a VERY high chimney, guy said the signal strength was fine - more like he didnt want to go up there and change it !!

know what you mean about kit in the loft, i didnt have a problem with it and putting a smoke detector up there is a good idea anyway, old folk eh??
still trying to wheen him off his CRT TV and video recorder.

Ian

Ant

where do they live?

i'll bite my tongue about them being 'ripped off'

speedking

Each device will have a built-in signal meter, what are they saying? Normally with digital its either all there or nothing.

the hamster

iTrader: (7)

If he doesnt want a mains powered device in the loft you can use a 2 way masthead amplifier and power supply.

You connect the cables in the loft to a small box (aerial in, 2 x output) then have a 12v power supply unit which plugs in behind the main tv that send a voltage up the aerial cable back to the loft. They are low consumption and safer.

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Elec...7Cprd:28106372

This is a variable gain unit which allows you to balance the signal better. There are 0-10db or 12-25db. Typically, if you're getting a reliable signal on 1 tv then your aerial is providing enough signal and would only need a small amount of gain so in your case I would use a 0-10db and set it at about 6db to compensate for distance.

You'll need to make 2 cables behind the tv, with f-connectors at 1 end and co-ax plugs at the other. The amplifier also requires F-connectors instead of co-ax plugs but anyone with basic electrical knowledge should be able to change them.

Only circumstances where this wont work is if you have an isolated or 2 way aerial faceplate as they wont allow power to pass through them to the amplifier, but this is rare.

HTH

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Some set top boxes can actually power a masthead amplifier. It'll be somewhere in the settings if it can.

The amplifier should always be as close to aerial as possible. Otherwise it just amplifies noise instead which results in a signal to noise ratio no better than before.

the hamster

iTrader: (7)

depends what the noise figure is to start with. Based on him having 1 working tv and 1 not I wouldnt fit a masthead at the aerial then rely on the current splitter as I suspect is a crappy Y shaped one. He's also not likely to want to get up to the aerial and fit one so therefor a low noise masthead with variable gain in position of the current splitter should suffice.

At £20 for the kit inc PSU, thats about £5 more than i pay trade so its a good price for retail and has everything he needs apart from the F connectors.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Of course bin the passive Y splitter...All they contain is a pair of balance resistors to keep the impedance at 75ohms! Basically they halve the signal and double the noise.

Ant

Save yourself time and get someone in who knows what they're doing.

You could have 3 factors here.
Faulty cable/connections to the bedroom point
not enough or too much signal
Faulty tuner in the tv itself.

andy97

iTrader: (1)

Having spent a number of years in this field. Firstly get the longest wideband array(aerial) to gather as much signal as possible. Buy a decent distribution amp and use the best quality cable and connections. Buy components from the likes of Cpc. For £100 you could have a top notch distribution system.

albob

I would go with andy97's advice - but in stages i. e. aerial first (u did say the one they is 25 years old ....

Leslie

Basically best to boost the signal before it reaches the splitter. The signal path is from the aerial to the tv(s). If he is worried about the amplifier in the roof his only choice is to extend the single aerial lead out of the loft, feed it into the amplifier and from then to each TV. That will doubtless be less convenient of course.

Les

Ant

It could be something daft as a dodgy connection to the bedroom, Its amazing how many I come across in a week

albob

Yup - second dat : when I was repairing washing machines, one of the first things to do with an 'awkard' fault was to wiggle/remake all the connections...........!

Leslie

Yes, standard practice of course.

Les

AudiMan

Cheers Guys for all the replies, just to give you a bit more info and for anyone else interested.
Yes the aerial is 25 years old, but Dad with his new STB (goodmans) gets all the digi channels fine, nice and crisp, mum did get 75% of them about 6 months ago but as time has gone on and weve had some bad weather she's lost a few and a retune doesnt get them back, the install of the STB has had noeffect on her channel availability.
So I intend to get rid of the Y splitter and replace for a 2 way booster in the loft (only about 5m from the aerial. )
Will post the outcome.

Thanks again for such a helpful response.

Ian

albob

If u are missing channels -- take mums stb/tv into dads room and connect to his system : do a retune of mums stb/tv : return mums stb/tv to her room and reconnect to her system.

Her stb/tv will now 'remember' all the channels and 'may' display them..........

and disconnect connections at y splitter and then reconnect to see if it has improved signal quality.........!

andy97

iTrader: (1)

If the aerail is 25 years old it will be a narrow band array. To maximise siganl from transponders which can be spread across the spectrum then you need a wideband. Also use CT100 grade coax. With no breaks or junctions.

Leslie

Yes the closer the amplifier is to the aerial, the less the line noise from the coax will be amplified of course.

Les

speedking

Hence my question in #6.