TV Signal Breaking Up
Discussion
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.
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.
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.
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?).
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?).
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.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 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)New aerial fitted 2 years back which looks very much like this -> https://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-27885lab-megabo...
When I went into the loft, the cable from the aerial went into a 4 way booster box. I can trace the aerial cable back to the hole in the wall, there is nothing else the cable goes into before this -> https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B077S35BB3/ref...
Lying on the insulation in the loft, doing nothing was this -> https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00LGWN84Q/ref...
When I went into the loft, the cable from the aerial went into a 4 way booster box. I can trace the aerial cable back to the hole in the wall, there is nothing else the cable goes into before this -> https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B077S35BB3/ref...
Lying on the insulation in the loft, doing nothing was this -> https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00LGWN84Q/ref...
Ok, might have figured this out! The Youview box upstairs appears to have been auto tuning to East Midlands whereas the one downstairs has been tuning to West Midlands. I only found this out when going into some deep settings section. Oddly, despite being in the East Midlands, the signal is very poor when tuning to that transmitter, so changed to West Midlands and both downstairs and upstairs were at 100% strength, 98% quality. So I plugged in a variable gain thing and dialled it down a bit and things seem a lot better. Still the occasional dropout so might need to dial it back a bit more but too much more will result in CBeebies HD going which will annoy the kids 
Dropouts are massively less than they were though.
Dropouts are massively less than they were though.Still not got to the bottom of this, last 2 nights, just as bad with signal dropping out! I've tried everything now, attenuator appeared to work but last 2 nights it hasn't and is just as bad, no matter how strong/weak the signal was. Tried new booster, tried direct aerial to tv connection, still same problem! So I've been recommended a local guy who is going to come out and diagnose what's wrong.
So I may have got to the bottom of this...
I'd put a call in to a local specialist last week who had come highly recommended. Unfortunately he was on holiday until Friday but promised he'd call first thing Saturday. 8am Saturday he calls and was incredibly helpful, asking various questions and suggesting some things over the phone. Told me to try these options and if they don't work, he'll come out. Top bloke so if anyone needs a TV aerial guy in Belper/Amber Valley, PM me!
Anyway, he told me that it's more than likely that my signal is too strong and the signal is likely boosting 4G interference. He suggested bypassing the booster in the loft, if that didn't work or the signal dropped completely, to get a 4G filter. If that didn't work, try an attenuater. He said that it was highly unlikely there was a fault with any of my equipment and it will be 4G interference being boosted and overloading my box. So yesterday I had a 4G filter delivered, I tried that and the old booster box and things improved but were still not perfect. So I tried a 4G filter, together with a variable attenuator. Things improved but only if turned down low which meant I lost a few channels. So I tried a 4G filter with the attenuator, through the new booster box which also has 4G filter (nothing works without the booster), together with a passive splitter out 1 output of the booster. I now have all channels and last night had no problems!
To clarify, the aerial lead now goes into a 4G filter, then a variable attenuator which is turned down slightly, then into a booster box with inbuilt 4G filter, then there's a 2 way passive splitter plugged into the booster, then 2 cables into the splitter feeding upstairs and downstairs. I know it sounds like a complete bodge of random connections, but it seems to work fine!
I'd put a call in to a local specialist last week who had come highly recommended. Unfortunately he was on holiday until Friday but promised he'd call first thing Saturday. 8am Saturday he calls and was incredibly helpful, asking various questions and suggesting some things over the phone. Told me to try these options and if they don't work, he'll come out. Top bloke so if anyone needs a TV aerial guy in Belper/Amber Valley, PM me!
Anyway, he told me that it's more than likely that my signal is too strong and the signal is likely boosting 4G interference. He suggested bypassing the booster in the loft, if that didn't work or the signal dropped completely, to get a 4G filter. If that didn't work, try an attenuater. He said that it was highly unlikely there was a fault with any of my equipment and it will be 4G interference being boosted and overloading my box. So yesterday I had a 4G filter delivered, I tried that and the old booster box and things improved but were still not perfect. So I tried a 4G filter, together with a variable attenuator. Things improved but only if turned down low which meant I lost a few channels. So I tried a 4G filter with the attenuator, through the new booster box which also has 4G filter (nothing works without the booster), together with a passive splitter out 1 output of the booster. I now have all channels and last night had no problems!
To clarify, the aerial lead now goes into a 4G filter, then a variable attenuator which is turned down slightly, then into a booster box with inbuilt 4G filter, then there's a 2 way passive splitter plugged into the booster, then 2 cables into the splitter feeding upstairs and downstairs. I know it sounds like a complete bodge of random connections, but it seems to work fine!
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