Tv aerial problem

asbokid

sahj wrote: »

Appreciate the reply.

To be honest though for someone who isnt great at diy/electrics its not as simple as it sounds! If we had the multimeter then I may have given it a go but we dont.

Plus it will still cost money compared to my option of just drilling a hole and hiding the cable in the side of the chimney breast- which we would not be doing if it would look a mess- you wont even see it.

it doesn't require any electrical skill at all. you've demonstrated more than enough competence already!

and the new coax cable will probably cost more than a multimeter.. which costs from £3.85 (inc P&P) on a famous auction website!

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?rt=nc&LH_BIN=1&LH_PrefLoc=1&_nkw=multimeter&_fln=1&_sc=1&_sop=15&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283

A.Penny.Saved

asbokid wrote: »

it doesn't require any electrical skill at all. you've demonstrated more than enough competence already!

and the new coax cable will probably cost more than a multimeter.. which costs from £3.85 (inc P&P) on a famous auction website!

http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?rt=nc&LH_BIN=1&LH_PrefLoc=1&_nkw=multimeter&_fln=1&_sc=1&_sop=15&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283

A bulb and a battery would probably cost nothing, if you have an old torch and would show whether the cable is conducting or not. Just use a working battery/batteries of a voltage close to that of the bulb rating.

It would save a lot of trouble and extra cost because coaxial cable should not fail unless it has badly perished which it is unlikely to do in a wall, it's usually sunlight which ages cable faster than anything. More likely is an incomplete or shorted connection which is fairly easy to solve once it has been diagnosed.

Amazon want £10.99 for 20meters of cable, B&Q £10.28 for 10m if picked up, Play.com £6.99 for 20m but this could be rubbish as it gives no specification. You would have to mess around to fit it, which might not even be necessary.

I might of missed it in the thread, but did you say what type of cable is in the wall that gives no signal? Is it the thicker 6.8/6.6mm, black satellite cable or thinner brown coaxial cable of around 4.8mm?
Here you can see the different Cable types and characteristics.

If there is already type B (see link) foam dielectric Satellite cable installed, replacing it shouldn't be necessary. It's probably more likely to be a connection problem than a cable problem.

asbokid

A.Penny.Saved wrote: »

A bulb and a battery would probably cost nothing, if you have an old torch and would show whether the cable is conducting or not. Just use a working battery/batteries of a voltage close to that of the bulb rating.

Given the amount of time that the OP has already spent in trying to discover the fault, buying the right tool for the job would certainly speed things up.

It would save a lot of trouble and extra cost because coaxial cable should not fail unless it has badly perished which it is unlikely to do in a wall, it's usually sunlight which ages cable faster than anything. More likely is an incomplete or shorted connection which is fairly easy to solve once it has been diagnosed.

Don't rule out rodents. They eat coax cable, as with most other sorts of electrical cabling.

I've found evidence that they (mice presumably) will eat their way through the outer sheath, the copper braid, and the inner insulator of coax cable. The only thing left was the solid copper core. Rodents don't necessarily eat cabling for its nutrient content, but sometimes to gain more access through an existing hole where for example a cable passes through a wall or a joist.

Amazon want £10.99 for 20meters of cable, B&Q £10.28 for 10m if picked up, Play.com £6.99 for 20m but this could be rubbish as it gives no specification. You would have to mess around to fit it, which might not even be necessary.

I might of missed it in the thread, but did you say what type of cable is in the wall that gives no signal? Is it the thicker 6.8/6.6mm, black satellite cable or thinner brown coaxial cable of around 4.8mm? Here you can see the different Cable types and characteristics.

If there is already type B (see link) foam dielectric Satellite cable installed, replacing it shouldn't be necessary. It's probably more likely to be a connection problem than a cable problem.

Agreed. And there are only two places to check for a connection fault: in the coax plug in the loft or behind the wallplate.

toastydave

Reading between the lines, if sahj has to go back in the loft 1 more time, it will be 1 more time too many!

There's no need to buy a multimeter as the problem is from the amp onwards it can only be;

A: The connector from the cable to the amp end of the box

You can visually check this

Found this on youtube on how to make the plug connection

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfJrneEKdZM&feature=player_embedded#at=19

B: The wall pate in the dinning room

You can visually check this

C: The link cable from the wall plate to the tv, I don't remember if you tried a new one of those, if not replace this first!

or

The Cable

It has to be this if A, B and C are ok

Enterprise_1701C

If you are going to use the old cable to pull a new one through, get as much of the old cable as you can and securely tape it to the new one, one beside the other preferably with electrical tape, but duct tape would probably do it. Not just the odd strip of tape, but wind it round and round the length of the join, and around the end that is going to go into the wall to leave a better angle for going up inside the duct there.

As for rodents, it is not unusual for sure. We had to replace a mouse eaten telephone cable the other day, and we've replaced squirrel eaten coax cables before now. Don't know why, but the little devils love the stuff!

toastydave

Jane_Blackford wrote: »

As for rodents, it is not unusual for sure. We had to replace a mouse eaten telephone cable the other day, and we've replaced squirrel eaten coax cables before now. Don't know why, but the little devils love the stuff!

Lovely soft PVC Jacket and tasty tasty copper, how could you say no!

asbokid

toastydave wrote: »

B: The wall pate in the dinning room

You can visually check this

You would think so but the wallplate itself can fail and often you can't immediately see the fault.

The flylead connecting the wallplate to the AV appliance regularly gets tugged. This strain weakens the solder joints of the PCB-mounted coax socket on the back of the wallplate, and the connection eventually fails. Several of the Screwfix El Cheapo wallplates have failed for this reason.

Better to carry out a continuity test with a proper instrument.

Common point of failure circled in red.

asbokid

Jane_Blackford wrote: »

If you are going to use the old cable to pull a new one through, get as much of the old cable as you can and securely tape it to the new one, one beside the other preferably with electrical tape, but duct tape would probably do it. Not just the odd strip of tape, but wind it round and round the length of the join, and around the end that is going to go into the wall to leave a better angle for going up inside the duct there.

As for rodents, it is not unusual for sure. We had to replace a mouse eaten telephone cable the other day, and we've replaced squirrel eaten coax cables before now. Don't know why, but the little devils love the stuff!

I installed ten low-voltage MR11 downlights in the bathroom. During the night, somebody with very sharp teeth gained unlawful access into our house, presumably through an airbrick.

Scenes of Crime has established that he (or she) ran along the voids between each of the floor joists and chewed off the wiring insulation from every lampholder to the new downlights, causing the transformer to short out and fail!

Strangely, all of the PVC-sheathed T&E that runs in the same floor voids was (wisely) left intact, and only a passing interest was shown in some CAT5 cabling!

Tasty tasty very very tasty!

toastydave

asbokid wrote: »

Better to carry out a continuity test with a proper instrument.

Agreed or for less than cost of a Multimeter, just buy a new wall plate, the OP is a self confessed non techie, just trying to the best thing for the least money

sahj

Case closed! :j

Well after having to pop to the shops this morn I tried Aldi but no multimeters.... instead bought a new wall plate. Came home. Checked the connection of the cable in to the booster-looked fine. Checked the old cable to see if it would pull through but it seems to be plastered in! Fitted the wall plate. Nothing.

Went ahead with plan c, made holes up and downstairs, ran the aerial through and finally we have a working tv in the playroom!

Done, dusted and I never want to see another tv cable again!

Thanks for the input from everyone. :T