How to boost TV signal

Rubidium

thegentleway wrote: »

I had an aerial guy come round for a free quote. He measured the signal in the lounge, said there was nothing. He measured the signal coming into loft, said it was low but would be fine with booster. He wanted £130 + vat to fit booster so I fitted it myself. I'll get a signal tester from screwfix and measure the signal going into the amp.

He would have fitted a high gain amplifier to boost your low signal, not a distribution amp which only has enough gain to each of it's outputs to ensure that after splitting the signal it is no worse than the input signal was prior to splitting for distribution.

Unfortunately every job is different and if you have a very weak signal from your aerial, you need a high gain amp fitting before you even think about splitting the signal and distributing it.

Screwfix do not sell a high gain amp - their highest gain amp is only 13db. A 26db gain amp is available here http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p27286

Suitable PSU here http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Electrical/d190/TV+%26+Satellite/sd3084/F+Type+Masthead+Amplifier+Power+Supply/p61182

After fitting those you could then probably use a 6 way professional splitter here
http://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-professional-splitter-6-way/48074

read the 2nd review:

" I wish I had purchased this earlier. Previously bought a 6 way signal amplifier which had to be plugged in and found that I was not getting the reception I required (signal kept dropping off). Fitted this splitter without requiring power and the signals to all the TV's is vastly improved with no loss of signal. "

This passive splitter has power pass though on one of it's output ports, so you can feed the supply from the PSU downstairs though this splitter to the high gain amp.

thegentleway

kev_min wrote: »

OK, so the aerial signal is at least present, but a bit on the low side..
As you replaced a passive splitter I assume there are other TV points in the house, If so are are they working?

There 6 TV points in the house. I will test them this weekend once I've bought a signal tester.

cameltoe wrote: »

He would have fitted a high gain amplifier to boost your low signal, not a distribution amp which only has enough gain to each of it's outputs to ensure that after splitting the signal it is no worse than the input signal was prior to splitting for distribution.

Unfortunately every job is different and if you have a very weak signal from your aerial, you need a high gain amp fitting before you even think about splitting the signal and distributing it.

Screwfix do not sell a high gain amp - their highest gain amp is only 13db. A 26db gain amp is available here http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p27286

Suitable PSU here http://www.toolstation.com/shop/Electrical/d190/TV+%26+Satellite/sd3084/F+Type+Masthead+Amplifier+Power+Supply/p61182

After fitting those you could then probably use a 6 way professional splitter here
http://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-professional-splitter-6-way/48074

read the 2nd review:



This passive splitter has power pass though on one of it's output ports, so you can feed the supply from the PSU downstairs though this splitter to the high gain amp.

That looks like the passive splitter that was in the loft. So I need to:
- plug TV aerial into high gain amp input
- high gain amp output into passive splitter input
- PSU into one of the TV points in the house? EDIT: has to be power pass port.


Thanks,

fred7777

kev_min wrote: »

as to your question about F connectors, they are about the easiest connector to fit and will provide a much more reliable connection that "twist & tape", to join use 2 F plugs and a joiner http://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-f-plug-to-f-plugs-pack-of-10/95730

100% right. I have a three way passive splitter in the loft. Reception was poor when we first moved in until I replaced the previous plastic splitter with a metal cased one and changed all the connectors to F types. Reception is much better and an amplifier isn't necessary, even in the room where the cable have 3 joins on it's route.

Also for the best reception use 1 piece of cable rather than joins. So if you can replace any joined cables with new it will be better.

thegentleway

I used the SLX Digital Signal Finder from Screwfix. It's got 4 LEDs.


- aerial in: 1 LED (50dB)
- booster out: 2 LEDs (60dB)
- TV point: still 2 LEDs (60dB)
- after extension cable: 1 LED (50dB)


Will amp + passive splitter be sufficient?

Rubidium

thegentleway wrote: »

I used the SLX Digital Signal Finder from Screwfix. It's got 4 LEDs.


- aerial in: 1 LED (50dB)
- booster out: 2 LEDs (60dB)
- TV point: still 2 LEDs (60dB)
- after extension cable: 1 LED (50dB)


Will amp + passive splitter be sufficient?

The high gain amp should increase your signal level by 26db, so your 50db aerial signal should then become 76db which is almost full scale on your signal meter.

NB. The signal strength shown on the LED display is rather crude in that the aerial signal is greater than 50db but it could actually be say 59db but as this is not greater than or equal to equal to 60db it can only display 50db with four LED's

Some devices (TV's, PVR's etc.) are less sensitive than others so it really is a case of try it and see.

thegentleway

I've fitted high gain amp and measured signal at TV point: 3 LEDS (70dB). TV still saying low or no signal...


What could it be? Apart from broken TV...

Rubidium

thegentleway wrote: »

I've fitted high gain amp and measured signal at TV point: 3 LEDS (70dB). TV still saying low or no signal...


What could it be? Apart from broken TV...

Has the TV that you are using been used in that location before?
Have you tried re-tuning i.e. scanning for channels on the transmitter that the aerial is pointing to?
Digital either works or it doesn't depending on the signal strength being greater than the required threshold.
Try another fly lead?
Try another TV?