Confusion around TV signal options!

Bendy_House

Check out Manhattan Freeview HD box.

It might just be what yer after

ChilliBob

Many thanks for the suggestion. Whilst I'm not going to use it now, to answer, the black cable goes into the wardrobe in the main bedroom. Where there is a small platform on a sliding rail! I think they must have had a small TV in there which they didn't want on display all the time. Unusual but quite an interesting concept actually! (but it's probably a 15" telly lol) 

Bendy_House

ChilliBob said:

Many thanks for the suggestion. Whilst I'm not going to use it now, to answer, the black cable goes into the wardrobe in the main bedroom. Where there is a small platform on a sliding rail! I think they must have had a small TV in there which they didn't want on display all the time. Unusual but quite an interesting concept actually! (but it's probably a 15" telly lol) 

I mean the black cable on this photo:

That black cable SHOULD be the one coming FROM the aerial. So if you are tracing it to a cupboard, then either there's an aerial in there (which I doubt) or the previous occupant needed locking up.

The only reason to trace it is to see if there is an aerial there somewhere. In which case it'll give you the option of a normal 'terrestrial' signal in some rooms at least - wherever these white Out 1 and 2s go.

ChilliBob

One of the white outs goes to the kitchen, the other god knows, both kids had a TV in their room on some integrated units, so perhaps one of them. Certainly nothing downstairs in the lounge or what we intend to use as a play room. Ironically where they had two further TVs. I think they must have been Sky mostly. They reddid the property in 2008 and gutted it so I guess perhaps just straight to Sky except this odd box in the loft! 

Slinky

Sounds like you inherited a similar setup to ours. Wires going everywhere and nothing worked when we tried to connect up our TVs. There was a satellite dish on the chimney but unable to trace where that fitted into the system. We got an aerial installer in to put up a new terrestrial aerial and 4 sockets. When we got our house back from the tenant we rented it to for a year, there was yet another satellite dish, so we now have 2 of them up there we don't use! 

Rodders53

Shotgun (figure 8) cables are almost invariably satellite.

Common with old $ky installs was RF2 out (analogue TV modulator, with potential for IR return for magic eye control) went up to other rooms or the loft to all rooms.  No need for a UHF aerial on the input to the $ky box but often was to distribute TV to the other room(s).  The RF2 would go to the UHF in of a distribution amplifier as shown in the picture.

However in this case there are too many other rooms without more cable splitting.  (Bed, Kitchen, Kids x 2).  


Cables can be traced with a multimeter and some patience: check all are open circuit inner to outer;  then short one room inner to outer at a time to trace the other end;  LABEL!!

Check out Wolfbane for TV signal level predictions, and Freeview 'professional/detailed view' for interference figures.  The only aerial I'd choose to use out of those sold by Toolstation is the Blake '28 element' log periodic https://www.toolstation.com/compact-log-periodic-tv-aerial/p31278

ChilliBob

Thanks, that's quite a technical overview

I think besides the sky stuff in the lounge the rest looks obsolete. I'm hoping we will be content with our new TV and the Internet, if not I will have to revisit this 

[Deleted User]

Hi,

even with new fangled telly, if you intend using Sky free channels, you will still need a Sky box.

J_B

[Deleted User] said:

Hi,

even with new fangled telly, if you intend using Sky free channels, you will still need a Sky box.

Or Freesat?

ChilliBob

All we would want to watch is stuff on BBC, 4 and rarely ITV, and Netflix