TV aerial not working.

spud17

cajef wrote: »

There is a short circuit in the cable somewhere, losing the signal completely when the braid is connected indicates that the centre core and braid are shorting together, are you sure that the cables and coax plugs are made up correctly.

The favourite in my view.

Use a cheap meter to check resistance between centre and braid, should be infinity.

I'm the same as your earlier post, I'm 600m from the local relay, but use Stockland Hill (15 miles) with an old loft aerial which came with the house, get 95% signal and 100% quality with Freeview HD.

darich

I'm pretty sure the cables and plugs are done correctly, although it does seem that something is wrong somewhere.
It was me who put the plug on the original cable from the aerial when it was on the chimney. I've also done it for sky box extension cables and they're fine.

As for the possible short circuit.....I wired the aerial to a brand new piece of co ax cable.....and connected it to the TV....and got the poor signal with the core connected and then nothing with the braid connected....that was me trying the aerial in the kitchen next to the tv. I guess that could point to incorrect wiring of the aerial....but it's connected identically to the way it was when it was taken down.....might need to have a look at that and post a pic

Will have a think over the weekend and see what I can come up with.

I'll post back with update on progress......

many thanks for all suggestions so far :beer:

birkee

My signal is O.K with a decent ariel high on the chimney, but try an ariel in the loft, and it's useless. (For another TV in a loft conversion, even though I used a full ariel, not an indoor one.)

darich

Many thanks to all for the suggestions.

I took the portable into the loft and connected everything up and got a poor picture on analogue signal….nothing on digital.

So I took the whole set up down from the loft and the signal was marginally better. As I moved towards the bedroom window the picture improved a bit. Opened the window (only have hoppers at the top) and stuck the aerial out the window.

Big improvement.

It proves that the wiring and connections are ok, but the signal isn’t reaching the aerial in the loft.

The area I’m in gets a decent signal. I’m only 13miles from one transmitter and 16 from another. I never had any issues with picture quality prior to taking the aerial down.
Can anyone recommend an aerial that will pick up my signal in the loft to avoid mounting one outside?

Thanks

lucylucky

I doubt it to be honest as it is the roof which is blocking the signal.

Outside is the way to go (sorry)

Inactive

lucylucky wrote: »

I doubt it to be honest as it is the roof which is blocking the signal.

Outside is the way to go (sorry)

I agree, I would have an external aerial fitted, it is evident that a loft mounted one isn't going to do the job properly.

closed

You haven't said what you have already. A very small adjustment in the positioning of an aerial can have a dramatic effect. Is it the right way up?

liam8282

http://www.maplin.co.uk/stand-off-bracket-28752

http://www.maplin.co.uk/6-straight-mast-5096

Should do the trick.

darich

closed wrote: »

You haven't said what you have already. A very small adjustment in the positioning of an aerial can have a dramatic effect. Is it the right way up?

I had connected up the aerial that was removed from the chminey.
The picture was good enough when I stuck it out the window to convince me that it was the right way up.

closed

Still haven't said what you have now, which colour coded band it is, how many elements, type of reflector, which polarisation and transmitter you are using. Take it along to a local aerial shop, and ask for advice, but bear in mind, the more gain, the more directional it is, so a slight misalignment can drop the signal to 0. The roof attenuation should be offset somewhat by the higher position in the loft, unless there is some line of sight obstruction. If the reflector is a folding one, make sure it is fully folded, and you are out of the way when testing.