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reception problems

I recommend being very cautious about signal boosters, particularly if the gain is not adjustable. The only boost you really want is sufficient (and no more) than is required to make up the loss that will occur downstream of the booster.
 
Me too, in #74, even though I have one to feed my T2, YouView box and TV! Mind you, its intended use is as a splitter, since the signal is fine.
 
In this case, your losses would behave been the result of splitting the signal three ways (less than a third of the signal going to each end point), so the prior amplification is justified.
 
the last set of figures i posted were with the rooftop aerial

i have just plugged the indoor aerial into the booster/splitter and recorded these figures for the sheffield muxes

21 50 100
24 54 40
27 46 10
39 60 100
42 58 10
45 55 10

so some are significantly better than thru the rooftop aerial thus backing up your suppositions that sheffield would be the way to go with my next rooftop aerial, the indoor aerial is a full two stories lower than the chimney and therefore has a much worse line of sight due to houses etc, whereas the aerial is pretty much uninterrupted all the way to crosspools

sorry its taken me so long


my splitter seems to have very loose connections, one of the cats goes behind the sideboard where the splitter is and she frequently dislodges it, gonna buy another this afternoon i think

cheers as always
 
Thanks for that last piece of information.

Whatever you decide to do - stick with what you have got, rotate the aerial, get an indoor aerial, get a better booster, fit a new external aerial - I think you are now more aware of the options. I am sure that those following this thread will have been just as enlightened.

Good luck.

Martin
 
MartinOnline said:
Whatever you decide to do - stick with what you have got, rotate the aerial, get an indoor aerial, get a better booster, fit a new external aerial - I think you are now more aware of the options. I am sure that those following this thread will have been just as enlightened.



Martin
Click to expand...

thanks again, i'll let you know if theres any further drop outs
 
bixieupnorth said:
the last set of figures i posted were with the rooftop aerial

i have just plugged the indoor aerial into the booster/splitter and recorded these figures for the sheffield muxes

21 50 100
24 54 40
27 46 10
39 60 100
42 58 10
45 55 10

so some are significantly better than thru the rooftop aerial
Click to expand...

And that's from a single vertical rod as opposed to a wrongly oriented compound aerial. I reckon you will get far better figures with a directional aerial.
 
bixieupnorth said:
can they
Click to expand...
Depends on the cable connector, maybe not the horrid white plastic ones.

A "socket" can be tightened by squeezing the centre contact - it is usually split. A "plug" can be tightened by splaying out the outer cylinder (again, often split on the all-metal versions), and sometimes the inner contact.

When I assemble connectors, I kink the core wire that goes down the centre contact so that it makes good contact to the tube.
 
Black Hole said:
When I assemble connectors, I kink the core wire that goes down the centre contact so that it makes good contact to the tube.
Click to expand...

Is that necessary? A signal that has made it across several miles of atmosphere is more than capable of jumping the last few hundredths of a millimetre, Shirley?

It's different with satellite, of course, where you need a physical connection to power the dish.
 
af123 said:
The general recommendation from those in the know is to solder Belling Lee connectors...
Click to expand...

But the signal has jumped the gap before you even plug the coax in! It's an electromagnetic signal: it travels in a vacuum!

I see some plugs have a tiny securing screw now, on the centre tube, to stop the thing from falling apart, and I can only think that soldering serves the same purpose.
 
I have never soldered, but I do kink the core. All my cabling is of the old brown type, even for Satellite. It works. :)
 
Mike0001 said:
But the signal has jumped the gap before you even plug the coax in! It's an electromagnetic signal: it travels in a vacuum!
Click to expand...
I know it does, but you are relying on a small capacitance and it might also create an impedance mis-match and waste some signal power in a reflection.

Mike0001 said:
I see some plugs have a tiny securing screw now, on the centre tube, to stop the thing from falling apart, and I can only think that soldering serves the same purpose.
Click to expand...
I find them very unreliable, either shearing off or pulling out of the plastic. That is all there is to hold the plug together. Buy decent all-metal plugs, cheap enough as long as you don't buy them singly from Maplin.
 
Mike0001 said:
Is that necessary? A signal that has made it across several miles of atmosphere is more than capable of jumping the last few hundredths of a millimetre, Shirley?
Click to expand...
If that were true, then why would it not jump an inch if you pulled the connector out completely? An inch is still much less than several miles.
It obviously isn't true, and it doesn't jump except by the method BH has already said.
af123 said:
The general recommendation from those in the know is to solder Belling Lee connectors...
Click to expand...
I always solder mine. Not that I use them any more... converted everything to F and just use an F-Belling adapter where necessary.
 
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