Anyone understand aerials wiring?
Discussion
Trying to figure out how to get terrestrial tv.
Quite odd setup, due to location and restrictions there is only 1 terrestrial tv aerial in the village that is sent to all the houses.
The house is wired with old brown TV coax cable throughout and labelled TV and radio at outlets.
We have freesat via a single (optical?) cable from an unknown location elsewhere in the village...
The freesat works fine in the summer, but come winter and most of the channels disappear hence trying to get freeview as well.
It looks to me like the big black coax cable is likely the terrestrial, it is however terminated into an old box with no ongoing connections.
(in the photo there is a satellite cable connected to it, I tried connecting it straight from there to the Optima box "Terr in" connection but to no avail.
Any ideas?
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Quite odd setup, due to location and restrictions there is only 1 terrestrial tv aerial in the village that is sent to all the houses.
The house is wired with old brown TV coax cable throughout and labelled TV and radio at outlets.
We have freesat via a single (optical?) cable from an unknown location elsewhere in the village...
The freesat works fine in the summer, but come winter and most of the channels disappear hence trying to get freeview as well.
It looks to me like the big black coax cable is likely the terrestrial, it is however terminated into an old box with no ongoing connections.
(in the photo there is a satellite cable connected to it, I tried connecting it straight from there to the Optima box "Terr in" connection but to no avail.
Any ideas?
The optima box looks like it's splitting satellite signals. Do you know where they are coming from.
I'd bet that any of the brown or white cables coming from the lower side of that box would provide freesat and/or sky.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MULTISWITCH-OPTIMA-Aerial...
I'd bet that any of the brown or white cables coming from the lower side of that box would provide freesat and/or sky.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/MULTISWITCH-OPTIMA-Aerial...
So confused...
So to answer your question, there is only currently a single input to the system, that is the fibre cable coming into the "Fibre IRS GTU" box. This box then has various outputs that feed in to the Optima box.
Am I right in thinking that all the outputs from the Optima box are exactly the same?
The "Terr in" on the optima box is currently feeding from the fibre box, should terr come from there? I was thinking that the terr would be that great big black coax cable coming in...
I think i'll dig out a tv and connect it directly to that big coax cable and see if we get anywhere.
So to answer your question, there is only currently a single input to the system, that is the fibre cable coming into the "Fibre IRS GTU" box. This box then has various outputs that feed in to the Optima box.
Am I right in thinking that all the outputs from the Optima box are exactly the same?
The "Terr in" on the optima box is currently feeding from the fibre box, should terr come from there? I was thinking that the terr would be that great big black coax cable coming in...
I think i'll dig out a tv and connect it directly to that big coax cable and see if we get anywhere.
The 4 brown cables from the Fibre IRS are effectively the 4 cables coming from the satellite dish - the white is terrestrial.
These all go into the Optima multiswitch - the Rx outputs will go to each TV point where you'll probably have a faceplate which splits the signals into the TV/SAT points.
I'd connect a TV to the mystery cable. You should be able to see an assessment of signal quality on the tuning or options page of the TV. I wonder whether it's been 'replaced' with the feed via the fibre though.
So you have satellite via fibre and also a communal aerial for TV? Interesting system!
Odd that it stops in winter - water getting into the system somewhere? Do you lose all channels or just some of them?
Is it under any sort of service contract?
These all go into the Optima multiswitch - the Rx outputs will go to each TV point where you'll probably have a faceplate which splits the signals into the TV/SAT points.
I'd connect a TV to the mystery cable. You should be able to see an assessment of signal quality on the tuning or options page of the TV. I wonder whether it's been 'replaced' with the feed via the fibre though.
So you have satellite via fibre and also a communal aerial for TV? Interesting system!
Odd that it stops in winter - water getting into the system somewhere? Do you lose all channels or just some of them?
Is it under any sort of service contract?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FrsDnRXsOI
http://www.freetv.ie/quad-fibre-gtu/
http://www.optima-tv.com/app/uploads/product_files...
It looks like your development uses fibre to distribute both terrestrial and satellite signals.
The white & orange box converts the fibre to coax and then the optima box further splits that into 8 feeds.
Any of the 8 feeds from the optima should be identical.
Unless other people in your development are having issues I'd suspect that one of your boxes is malfunctioning.
When it stops in winter is it related to rain? That could be water ingress or a poorly positioned satellite dish losing signal when the rain obscures the satellite.
http://www.freetv.ie/quad-fibre-gtu/
http://www.optima-tv.com/app/uploads/product_files...
It looks like your development uses fibre to distribute both terrestrial and satellite signals.
The white & orange box converts the fibre to coax and then the optima box further splits that into 8 feeds.
Any of the 8 feeds from the optima should be identical.
Unless other people in your development are having issues I'd suspect that one of your boxes is malfunctioning.
When it stops in winter is it related to rain? That could be water ingress or a poorly positioned satellite dish losing signal when the rain obscures the satellite.
I'd connect a TV to the mystery cable. You should be able to see an assessment of signal quality on the tuning or options page of the TV. I wonder whether it's been 'replaced' with the feed via the fibre though.
Yeah, that was my plan, ran an extension lead out there, butchered a coax cable to connect it all up to an old TV then realised that it was so old that it didn't do digital, and then it got dark and I had to take the dog for a walk... Will try again tomorrow with a more modern tv.
So you have satellite via fibre and also a communal aerial for TV? Interesting system!
Yep, originally was just the communal aerial, then the little old lady that owned the property previously decided she wanted sky and so had a cable run from the neighbours on the opposite side of the street... we are the only ones.
Odd that it stops in winter - water getting into the system somewhere? Do you lose all channels or just some of them?
Is it under any sort of service contract?
[/quote]
No service contract, just lose some channels BBC 1, 2 (though not HD) and a lot of the random channels ITV 234 etc
It may be rain related, we lost the channels about a week ago and they haven't returned since... same happened last year.
Our boxes are in a dry cupboard by the front door so can't see how the weather would affect them...
Yeah, that was my plan, ran an extension lead out there, butchered a coax cable to connect it all up to an old TV then realised that it was so old that it didn't do digital, and then it got dark and I had to take the dog for a walk... Will try again tomorrow with a more modern tv.
So you have satellite via fibre and also a communal aerial for TV? Interesting system!
Yep, originally was just the communal aerial, then the little old lady that owned the property previously decided she wanted sky and so had a cable run from the neighbours on the opposite side of the street... we are the only ones.
Odd that it stops in winter - water getting into the system somewhere? Do you lose all channels or just some of them?
Is it under any sort of service contract?
[/quote]
No service contract, just lose some channels BBC 1, 2 (though not HD) and a lot of the random channels ITV 234 etc
It may be rain related, we lost the channels about a week ago and they haven't returned since... same happened last year.
Our boxes are in a dry cupboard by the front door so can't see how the weather would affect them...
Edited by jmsgld on Thursday 24th November 17:48
nyt said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FrsDnRXsOI
http://www.freetv.ie/quad-fibre-gtu/
http://www.optima-tv.com/app/uploads/product_files...
It looks like your development uses fibre to distribute both terrestrial and satellite signals.
The white & orange box converts the fibre to coax and then the optima box further splits that into 8 feeds.
Any of the 8 feeds from the optima should be identical.
Unless other people in your development are having issues I'd suspect that one of your boxes is malfunctioning.
When it stops in winter is it related to rain? That could be water ingress or a poorly positioned satellite dish losing signal when the rain obscures the satellite.
Great, thanks for the help, will have a look.http://www.freetv.ie/quad-fibre-gtu/
http://www.optima-tv.com/app/uploads/product_files...
It looks like your development uses fibre to distribute both terrestrial and satellite signals.
The white & orange box converts the fibre to coax and then the optima box further splits that into 8 feeds.
Any of the 8 feeds from the optima should be identical.
Unless other people in your development are having issues I'd suspect that one of your boxes is malfunctioning.
When it stops in winter is it related to rain? That could be water ingress or a poorly positioned satellite dish losing signal when the rain obscures the satellite.
We are the only ones with Sky / freesat, everyone else just has the terrestrial, I will ask the neighbour where the fibre originates whether he has problems in the winter.
It's not really a development, all the houses are over 200 years old, but it's AONB, listed, conservation area etc hence unable to just have an aerial / dish on the roof...
jmsgld said:
No service contract, just lose some channels BBC 1, 2 (though not HD) and a lot of the random channels ITV 234 etc
If you look through the http://en.kingofsat.net/pos-28.2E.php you might see some pattern in the frequency and polarisation - basically it's high and low ranges, H or V polarisation for a total of four combinations - each of which is carried on the wires from the fibre box.You could take your Freesat box and connect it directly to the fibre box to rule out the multiplexer?
essayer said:
jmsgld said:
No service contract, just lose some channels BBC 1, 2 (though not HD) and a lot of the random channels ITV 234 etc
If you look through the http://en.kingofsat.net/pos-28.2E.php you might see some pattern in the frequency and polarisation - basically it's high and low ranges, H or V polarisation for a total of four combinations - each of which is carried on the wires from the fibre box.You could take your Freesat box and connect it directly to the fibre box to rule out the multiplexer?
It looks like the fibre box has different outputs for different satellite bands and it *may* clash with the voltages being sent by the TV/Freesat unit.
I'm not sure that there'd be any damage but you might not want to risk it. If I had to guess I'd say that it'd be fine.
http://www.gionlineshop.co.uk/Downloads/Mark%20III...
The system you have works as follows.
On your estate you have one satellite dish and one aerial
These are connected together and sent via a fibre to a fibre splitter which has a fibre to each house.
The gtu turns the aerial and satellite signals back into 'electricity' rather than light.
You have 4 satellite feeds which are all different and one terrestrial tv feed.
The optima box allows the 4 satellite feeds and the one tv feed to go to multiple outlets.
Your aerial sockets should be supplying satellite and TVs signals.
The poor satellite signal is most likely caused by
Dish slightly out of alignment
Dish obscured by trees etc
If the dish is not aligned well then poor weather will cause loss of signal, with fibre there will be no cabling loss.
Post up a picture of the face plates you have, you may need to connect to the right output
Do not mess with those cables without a proper meter you will not be able to identify what does what
On your estate you have one satellite dish and one aerial
These are connected together and sent via a fibre to a fibre splitter which has a fibre to each house.
The gtu turns the aerial and satellite signals back into 'electricity' rather than light.
You have 4 satellite feeds which are all different and one terrestrial tv feed.
The optima box allows the 4 satellite feeds and the one tv feed to go to multiple outlets.
Your aerial sockets should be supplying satellite and TVs signals.
The poor satellite signal is most likely caused by
Dish slightly out of alignment
Dish obscured by trees etc
If the dish is not aligned well then poor weather will cause loss of signal, with fibre there will be no cabling loss.
Post up a picture of the face plates you have, you may need to connect to the right output
Do not mess with those cables without a proper meter you will not be able to identify what does what
I agree with BristolRacer, in terms of your set up, but there is no garantee that there is a UHF aerial at the other end of your fibre.
As a basic test you could bring a Tv to that cupboard and plug it into the white cable coming from the GTU (fibre to coax converter) and see if you get any channels from it.
If you, do the system in the house is the problem, but if you don't then there either is no aerial connected or a fault further up the stream.
Where are you? We might be able to help out.
V.
As a basic test you could bring a Tv to that cupboard and plug it into the white cable coming from the GTU (fibre to coax converter) and see if you get any channels from it.
If you, do the system in the house is the problem, but if you don't then there either is no aerial connected or a fault further up the stream.
Where are you? We might be able to help out.
V.
Agree with the above. The fibre 'installation' is awful - really bad practice to have tight bends in a fibre, and you don't want it to be supporting the excess weight! Tie the spare up (loosely) out of the way so that there is no bend on the input to the fibre converter.
The fibre connectors screw on and have a small locating notch, but they still tighten up even if the notch isn't aligned. This causes signal loss. Worth checking that they are properly located 'home' at each end.
The fibre connectors screw on and have a small locating notch, but they still tighten up even if the notch isn't aligned. This causes signal loss. Worth checking that they are properly located 'home' at each end.
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