TV Signal Breaking Up

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Discussion

zedx19

Original Poster:

2,702 posts

139 months

Monday 3rd September 2018
quotequote all
1 aerial, about 2 years old, feeding 2 TVs, 1 upstairs and 1 downstairs. Just recently the picture has been dropping out for a brief second at random times, probably 2-3 times an hour. I did think it was the masthead amp so I bought a new one, which did improve things slightly. Downstairs the TV shows 100% signal strength, 98% signal quality. Upstairs, signal strength 40% and quality 70%. The signal drops out at similar intervals on both sets, however it seems much worse at night for some reason?? Mainly watch HD channels, BBC, ITV and 4, seems worse on ITV and 4.

The new masthead amp I bought has 4G flitering and did improve strength and quality but did not fully resolve the issue. Before getting an expert out, is there something I'm missing that is obvious? The coax goes straight into the loft from the aerial and is then fed through the walls before reaching the sockets.

eybic

9,212 posts

173 months

Monday 3rd September 2018
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Sounds silly but have you checked that there is nothing in it's line of sight? I know Sky dishes can lose signal due to trees etc.

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Monday 3rd September 2018
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Sounds like it could be the drop cable to the upstairs TV, can you disconnect that and see if it improves?

zedx19

Original Poster:

2,702 posts

139 months

Monday 3rd September 2018
quotequote all
WinstonWolf said:
Sounds like it could be the drop cable to the upstairs TV, can you disconnect that and see if it improves?
The amp had 4 cables plugged in when I went to replace it, so when I fitted the new one I only plugged the 2 required ones in. When I still had problems, albeit less severe, I did try just having 1 plugged in at a time though and the problem remained.

Nothing obvious in the line of sight either, 2 storey house with the aerial poking up from the apex.

I'm struggling to understand how I have a near perfect quality/strength signal, which suggests all is well, but 20 minutes later the picture drops/pixelates for a second (literally a second) then comes back fine.

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Monday 3rd September 2018
quotequote all
zedx19 said:
WinstonWolf said:
Sounds like it could be the drop cable to the upstairs TV, can you disconnect that and see if it improves?
The amp had 4 cables plugged in when I went to replace it, so when I fitted the new one I only plugged the 2 required ones in. When I still had problems, albeit less severe, I did try just having 1 plugged in at a time though and the problem remained.

Nothing obvious in the line of sight either, 2 storey house with the aerial poking up from the apex.

I'm struggling to understand how I have a near perfect quality/strength signal, which suggests all is well, but 20 minutes later the picture drops/pixelates for a second (literally a second) then comes back fine.
Passive or active splitter? I'd want to eliminate that too.

Have you retuned in the last month, there was a major retune event recently.

zedx19

Original Poster:

2,702 posts

139 months

Monday 3rd September 2018
quotequote all
Unsure on the splitter, this is what I purchased -> https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B077S35BB3/ref...

However I've just realised it's a booster, not a amp, what's the difference? There were 2 other boxes in the loft, the one it replaced looked similar to the above, the other box lying in there looking like this -> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Antiference-Variable-Mast...

Would running a booster and not an amp cause the random issues I'm getting?

Just for clarity, the aerial lead comes straight from the aerial, into the loft and into the booster box. There are then 4 coax leads that go round the house, fed from this box (which should probably be an amp?).

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Monday 3rd September 2018
quotequote all
zedx19 said:
Unsure on the splitter, this is what I purchased -> https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B077S35BB3/ref...

However I've just realised it's a booster, not a amp, what's the difference? There were 2 other boxes in the loft, the one it replaced looked similar to the above, the other box lying in there looking like this -> https://www.amazon.co.uk/Antiference-Variable-Mast...

Would running a booster and not an amp cause the random issues I'm getting?

Just for clarity, the aerial lead comes straight from the aerial, into the loft and into the booster box. There are then 4 coax leads that go round the house, fed from this box (which should probably be an amp?).
Booster/amp interchangeable terms for conversation purposes.

Have you tried adjusting the gain on the masthead amp?

Have you retuned?

zedx19

Original Poster:

2,702 posts

139 months

Monday 3rd September 2018
quotequote all
Thanks for your help, I have returned after fitting the new booster box, which resulted in a number of extra channels being found. The booster box has nothing that can be changed on it though? Should there be an amp plugged in as well that I can adjust then?

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Monday 3rd September 2018
quotequote all
zedx19 said:
Thanks for your help, I have returned after fitting the new booster box, which resulted in a number of extra channels being found. The booster box has nothing that can be changed on it though? Should there be an amp plugged in as well that I can adjust then?
This can be adjusted for gain

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Antiference-Variable-Mast...

But I'd wait and see how things are now you've made a change.

FlossyThePig

4,083 posts

242 months

Tuesday 4th September 2018
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There's been some multiplex changes over the last few weeks which could explain the new channels.

What is the state of the aerial? That may be the source of your problem

Enter your postcode (and house number) into the Digital UK site

The link will return some technical details about transmitters available to you and what direction to point the aerial. If you are lucky you could get the extra multiplexes (COM7 HD and COM8 HD)

megaphone

10,692 posts

250 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
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OP can you confirm you have replaced the old masthead amp with a new distribution amp? Or do you have both still in place?

zedx19

Original Poster:

2,702 posts

139 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
quotequote all
megaphone said:
OP can you confirm you have replaced the old masthead amp with a new distribution amp? Or do you have both still in place?
Pass, unsure! I don't have an amp plugged in anywhere, just the booster box. I did try and wire in an amp yesterday, but everytime it was plugged in the light on the amp box would go off and I got no reception so I've gone back to the booster box. The aerial was replaced about 2 and half years back by a local company, can't remember their name though! I tried rewiring the connection which feeds upstairs tele last night though which improved the upstairs signal strength and quality massively. It would appear the quality of the connections is perhaps to blame? I may try rewiring connection to downstairs tonight to see if that improves things. There was a lot of braiding hanging out the bottom of the connector, which I understand should be wrapped and tucked with nothing hanging out.

PixelpeepS3

8,600 posts

141 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
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How long have you two been together?

zedx19

Original Poster:

2,702 posts

139 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
quotequote all
PixelpeepS3 said:
How long have you two been together?
???

PixelpeepS3

8,600 posts

141 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
quotequote all
zedx19 said:
PixelpeepS3 said:
How long have you two been together?
???
you posted that tv and signal broke up? i'm assuming they are cute nicknames you have for one another ?

zedx19

Original Poster:

2,702 posts

139 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
quotequote all
Done a bit of research myself on this and may have found the issue, although I'm yet to test it. I probably should have mentioned that I have a Ultra HD Youview box downstairs and a HD Youview box upstairs. From another forum I stumbled upon, someone complained of very similar problems. Apparently the Youview boxes are fussy about signal and too strong a signal can result in the random dropouts I'm getting. So I've bought a variable attenuator in an attempt to help. Has worked for others so hopefully works for me.

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
quotequote all
zedx19 said:
Done a bit of research myself on this and may have found the issue, although I'm yet to test it. I probably should have mentioned that I have a Ultra HD Youview box downstairs and a HD Youview box upstairs. From another forum I stumbled upon, someone complained of very similar problems. Apparently the Youview boxes are fussy about signal and too strong a signal can result in the random dropouts I'm getting. So I've bought a variable attenuator in an attempt to help. Has worked for others so hopefully works for me.
You can also drop the gain on the masthead amp (the thing closest to the aerial)

zedx19

Original Poster:

2,702 posts

139 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
quotequote all
WinstonWolf said:
zedx19 said:
Done a bit of research myself on this and may have found the issue, although I'm yet to test it. I probably should have mentioned that I have a Ultra HD Youview box downstairs and a HD Youview box upstairs. From another forum I stumbled upon, someone complained of very similar problems. Apparently the Youview boxes are fussy about signal and too strong a signal can result in the random dropouts I'm getting. So I've bought a variable attenuator in an attempt to help. Has worked for others so hopefully works for me.
You can also drop the gain on the masthead amp (the thing closest to the aerial)
Don't have this though, all I see is aerial outside, cable coming inside into loft, cable goes into booster box in loft which distributes to 4 feed into cavity walls. If I try to plug in an amp in lieu of booster, signal goes to 0%. Booster has no way of changing anything.

megaphone

10,692 posts

250 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
quotequote all
Sorry I'm confused and so it appears are other posters, you linked to a masthead amp that was 'lying in there' , is this still in place or do you ONLY have the distribution amp that you have bought?

It's impossible to help you is you're not clear.

Yes too much gain will cause issues, that's why I'm trying to find out what you have installed.

Try bypassing all amps and run the aerial direct to a TV, see if you still have issues, if you have a strong aerial signal you may not need a distribution amp, just an unpowered passive splitter will do.


Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 5th September 18:10

WinstonWolf

72,857 posts

238 months

Wednesday 5th September 2018
quotequote all
Yup, I assumed new masthead and an active splitter.

Take some pics so we can see what's going on.