Loft TV Aerial Random Signal Loss

NathanMorgan
NathanMorgan Posts: 172 Forumite
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in In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving
I've installed a high gain aerial in an empty loft which is connected up to a splitter which I have two PF100 coax cables currently connected to 2 different TV's.

My problem is that one day it would be working perfectly then next thing I have total signal loss on both TV's. I then have to go up the loft and move the aerial slightly and it would work but a couple of days pass and then the signal loss happens again.

Can anyone help me solve this issue please.
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Comments

  • JP08
    JP08 Posts: 851 Forumite
    Well I can only think of two causes for this.

    1) Something is moving the aerial in the loft (draughts? vermin? birds?) - make sure the mountings are tight.

    2) Something dense outside is directly in line with the signal. You've not got some 200 year old oak outside the front of your house that moves slightly depending on which way the wind is blowing have you ?
  • stator
    stator Posts: 7,441 Forumite
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    Could be a dodgey connection, try redoing the connections on each end of the cable.

    Instead of a splitter you could try a masthead amplifier which will compensate for your loss of strength from the splitter.
    Changing the world, one sarcastic comment at a time.
  • Crinkmeister
    Crinkmeister Posts: 473 Forumite
    Digital TV tuners are very good at recovering errors in noisy received data, so they tend to lose a picture with little warning if signal level decreases. When it fails next time, without moving the aerial, bypass the splitter and see if you can get reception on one TV. Alternatively, borrow a signal strength meter and check at the TV end of the cable.
  • NathanMorgan
    NathanMorgan Posts: 172 Forumite
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    my signal strength is 100% but signal quality is hovering between 20-30%.

    How can I improve my signal quality?
  • WobblyDog
    WobblyDog Posts: 512 Forumite
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    NathanMorgan wrote: »
    my signal strength is 100% but signal quality is hovering between 20-30%.

    How can I improve my signal quality?

    Do you have any electrical equipment (central heating pump, anything with an electrical motor) near the aerial? Those can create enough local interference to make the weak output from the loft aerial unuseable.

    Have you looked at this webpage, which is specifically about loft aerial performance:
    http://www.aerialsandtv.com/loftaerials.html
  • NathanMorgan
    NathanMorgan Posts: 172 Forumite
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    no there's no electrical equipment up the loft or anything like that.

    could it be the copper threads that could be my issue as instead of twisting them and folding them back on the outer sheath I've completely snipped them off?
  • Browntoa
    Browntoa Posts: 49,298 Forumite
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    Splitting the signal at the aerial is halving the signal to each TV , as said before use a masthead splitter

    The outer sheath is needed and should be connected
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  • keith969
    keith969 Posts: 1,571 Forumite
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    NathanMorgan wrote: »
    no there's no electrical equipment up the loft or anything like that.

    could it be the copper threads that could be my issue as instead of twisting them and folding them back on the outer sheath I've completely snipped them off?

    Err do you mean the outer coax braid is not in contact with the outer part of the plug?

    If that's the case, or if the outer connection is poor, it might be the cause of the noise (lack of signal quality).
    For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.
  • NathanMorgan
    NathanMorgan Posts: 172 Forumite
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    I've plugged one of the tv aerial straight onto the loft aerial and that's giving me 90% signal quality so my problem occurs when it goes through the splitter.

    what do I need to maintain that signal quality as well as wanting to split the aerial signal in different rooms?
  • frugalmacdugal
    frugalmacdugal Posts: 10,077 Forumite
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    Hi,

    as already said, a masthead amplifier, something like this,

    MXLMA209F.JPG

    1 input, 2 output.
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