TV aerial booster
Discussion
One of the flats I have has an awful TV aerial on the roof and the freeholder isn't interested in replacing it. I need a booster to get a TV to work and the crappy old one I have is struggling and everything gets skippy and cuts off randomly. Recommendations for a plug in booster please as I want to try this before I start looking at other solutions.
cheers
cheers
A backset booster is not really the answer as it will boost the noise carrier aswell as the signal carrier so you have more power (good) but also more noise (very bad for DVB reception). A booster should have a clean signal going in so put it as near to the original signal source, i.e the aerial, as you can. If you can get to aerial then a Masthead amp and power supply is best. Domestic market manufacturers will be something like Philex or Labgear. If you have to use a backset amp then get one with the lowest possible noise figure on it as ALL amplifiers will add some noise to the end carrier level. Mastheads are usually around 0.7 to maybe 3 db. Backset amps are worse at normally 4 to 6db+ which is pretty much waste of time unless fed with a very clean signal to start with. If you can get hold of Vision products then they are one of the best performers on the market and what I use and trust.
You can try bypassing the plate and connecting direct onto the cable but its rare they fail unless water is getting down the cable or the plug has being knocked and broken the contact point in the plate. If its a communal aerial i would think you would know about it as it would be in the details of lease/sale. A communal system will have a aerial company assigned to maintain it so ask your neighbours if they know or have experienced same problem. If you've just moved in you might have your own aerial and a power supply has been taken away for a masthead amp. Loads of options to get on with there.
craigjm said:
I am assuming it serves the whole block. I will have to do some investigating.
There will probably be a distribution system somewhere, in the loft, or in a utility cupboard. It could be a powered distribution amp or a passive splitter with a powered launch amp, that's if it's been done properly! Are other flats experiencing the same issue?Does the TV make a difference? I have just got this place as a repossession and they left behind a crappy old TV and a Ferguson digibox that looks like its about 10 years old. I will be replacing with a modern Samsung and just wondered if maybe that had a stronger tuner or whatever that the signal might not be such an issue?
craigjm said:
Does the TV make a difference? I have just got this place as a repossession and they left behind a crappy old TV and a Ferguson digibox that looks like its about 10 years old. I will be replacing with a modern Samsung and just wondered if maybe that had a stronger tuner or whatever that the signal might not be such an issue?
If its the old DTI 500 box I think they're still ok for reception. Most of the old DTI 1000s with the Thomson badge on wouldn't pick up all the stations or would allocate them to the wrong channel numbers. The newer boxes will probably have better tuners but if you have good sgnals the Fergi box should pick something up at least. It will have a signal check meter in the menu or on the guide IIRC so pick BBC1 and see what the meter says. You have to delete the old channels first on Fergies also otherwise a scan will just add the new channels to the end of the list i.e ch800 onwards. Ask your neighbours what the setup is there also or we'll be going round in circles, we need to know whats there first because it could be all sorts of things causing signal faults.AerialAndy said:
If its the old DTI 500 box I think they're still ok for reception. Most of the old DTI 1000s with the Thomson badge on wouldn't pick up all the stations or would allocate them to the wrong channel numbers. The newer boxes will probably have better tuners but if you have good sgnals the Fergi box should pick something up at least. It will have a signal check meter in the menu or on the guide IIRC so pick BBC1 and see what the meter says. You have to delete the old channels first on Fergies also otherwise a scan will just add the new channels to the end of the list i.e ch800 onwards. Ask your neighbours what the setup is there also or we'll be going round in circles, we need to know whats there first because it could be all sorts of things causing signal faults.
Sorry I didnt mean a Samsung digibox i meant a new Samsung TV. I have a few things to look at now lets see if i can solve it this weekend. craigjm said:
Sorry I didnt mean a Samsung digibox i meant a new Samsung TV. I have a few things to look at now lets see if i can solve it this weekend.
I was talking about the Fergi box thats there. Most TVs today, especially the big brand ones like Samsung, will do very well with weak signals but are not miracle machines. A weak signal will mess up a new tv aswell as the old ones. What I was getting at is the Fergi box you have should be OK if its the DTI500 model. If you have any of those symptoms of lost channels then it MAY be the box.As said, it's all about the aerial really, especially in fringe digital areas.
I had the same issue as you once a few years back - in a ground floor flat that shared a communal, old, crappy analogue aerial in the block's loft space which was next to useless. Again, despite moaning to the managing agents - nothing got done
Luckily I had a mate that went rock climbing in his spare time and was fearless about heights.
I bought a high-gain Televes digital aerial, and hired a monstrously long ladder from 'Speedy Tool Hire'.
My climbing mate went up the ladder to the apex of the block of flats ( around 40 feet up - eek
) with a drill and my new aerial, one weekday when everyone was out at work.
He fitted my aerial, and ran and pinned the co-ax all the way down the side, along the bottom and round into my gorund-floor flat. So I had my own personal digital aerial on top of my block
The reception was perfecto - and for 3 years afterwards, none of the neighbours or leasehold Directors (who lived in other nearby blocks) noticed the new aerial or commented on it, or came round to give me any general grief.
So - if I was you - I'd do the same thing!
I had the same issue as you once a few years back - in a ground floor flat that shared a communal, old, crappy analogue aerial in the block's loft space which was next to useless. Again, despite moaning to the managing agents - nothing got done
Luckily I had a mate that went rock climbing in his spare time and was fearless about heights.
I bought a high-gain Televes digital aerial, and hired a monstrously long ladder from 'Speedy Tool Hire'.
My climbing mate went up the ladder to the apex of the block of flats ( around 40 feet up - eek
) with a drill and my new aerial, one weekday when everyone was out at work.He fitted my aerial, and ran and pinned the co-ax all the way down the side, along the bottom and round into my gorund-floor flat. So I had my own personal digital aerial on top of my block
The reception was perfecto - and for 3 years afterwards, none of the neighbours or leasehold Directors (who lived in other nearby blocks) noticed the new aerial or commented on it, or came round to give me any general grief.
So - if I was you - I'd do the same thing!
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