Customer has asked me to run an extension to their TV Aerial cable. Not digital, just the normal aerial on the roof.
Cable run will be 15 metres. Is that going to work, or will they need some sort of signal booster?
Digital *is* normal these days, not that it makes much difference to the aerial, other than letting you get away with more.
If it works OK now without a booster, chances are good it'll work with the extension, probably worth a quick check of various channels beforehand (see if the TV has a strength/quality display) so you don't get any "it was ok before you touched it" comeback (you presumably don't have the equipment to measure signal strengths).
Use decent cable (make sure it's copper with braid and foil screen) join with F plugs+barrel if you can (toolsatan doesn't sell the latter, but screwfix do).
All UK TV broadcasts are digital these days.
Is this a straight extension or do they still want a TV, or the abilty to have a TV, at the start of the extension?
Be interesting to know what he wants it for given analogue transmissions ceased ages ago.
I keep thinking I probably ought to buy a digital TV, although I'm not really sure why; I've not missed having one so far.
In article ,
Doesn't sound like it's worth it for you then.
I *presume* TMH means "normal aerial co-ax, not ethernet cable for a computer network".
(/me sits back and waits for the version of the Yorkshiremen sketch where people talk about using thin and thick co-ax for computer networks.)
15m of almost any decent UHF TV coax will have a loss of (say) 3dB.
If the customer used get a reasonable analogue picture, presumably they are having absolutely no problems with your new-fangled digital.
Digital usually gives you perfect pictures with a signal quality quite a lot worse than you'd be happy with for analogue. In particular, it typically works down to a much lower signal level (at least 15dB lower), so even with the additional 3dB loss, it'll probably be fine. However, before doing anything permanent, you could always simply try adding a
15m lump of coax to the end of the existing coax.If the customer is likely to want to have the option of using a TV at either end of the extension, it would be more professional to connect the extension permanently to the existing coax via a proper
2-way splitter. This will lose you another 4dB, making a total of 7dB at the far end of the extension. But again, you'll probably get away with it (and again it's easy to try out before doing the installation). If the signal does seem to be too low, you could try a low-gain 2-output amplifier instead of the splitter.
Only insofar as watching DVDs on a large screen, rather than on a computer monitor, might give a more cinematic effect.
Sorry, what I meant was not cable.
They want to retain the TV where the existing aerial is and run another
15m away in another room.
If the signal is strong, then a passive splitter might work - especially if the signal has already been amplified by a loft or masthead amp.
If not then you'll need a 2-output amp with the existing TV and the extension on separate outputs. Such are available at Argos (and can be taken back if not satisfactory, but in terms of cost per hour it may be better to buy something better to start with)
Owain
I've just daisy chained - mind you I have a dist amp feeding it.
sometimes the reflections are not in any band you care about. Worth a try with a bit of cable before going mad trying to be too prissy about impedance matching
if using passive, avoid this type
prefer this type
perhaps something like this?
Probably band I or III 405 line
Um, because there's no such thing as a digital aerial perhaps?
Tim
May I suggest this site for a bit of background:
Peter
Well, with analogue, daisy chaining would have been a big 'No No' but digital changes all of that (but you may still experience consequences
- just not ghosting consequences :-)
Use a a proper 12V distribution amplifier. Check the signal strength first at their TV using the relevant menu option.If it's a modern Freeview TV there will be an option. If the signal strength shows as 80% or better then OK but if any of the MUX's (channels) are low or droping out, fix that first. Chances are that the old aerial is 40+ years old and pointing at the wrong transmitter and that the aerial lead is similarly cream crackered. Dave
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.