aerial/tv gurus??

[Cakky]

hey guys was just wondering if any of you guys are aerial/tv knowledgable

i'm looking for someone that would be able to help me connect up an lcd with freeview built in to our aerial on the roof which is a normal tv aerial with a uhf one on top, runs into the house into a two way splitter one goes to our lcd in the lounge and one goes into my parents bedroom just need to figure out what we need to do to split it into my bedroom

anyone??

cheers

[Bling]

One solution would be to replace the 2 way splitter with a 3 way. Pretty resonable pricing at dick smith etc. Not too hard to connect up.

To install a tv socket in your room... First thing I would try is unscrewing a plug socket off the wall. Jump in the roof with a bit of string with a small length of small chain tied to the end. Find the cable in the roof space that powers the plug socket you unscrewed. Then try and drop the chain down the same hole the power wire feeds down. It may catch on the dwangs inside the wall, but a bit of jiggling the string up and down should have good results.

Take care to not touch the back of the plug socket with the chain when you drop it down. If it works, then duct tape a length of aerial cable to the string and pull it down the wall. Whack a hole in the wall near the plug and pull the wire through it. Buy a aerial wall socket (probably from dick smith again) wire it up, connect the newly run wire to the splitter and you're done.

Hope that helps, a good DIY way of doing it

[matt dunn]

help me connect up an lcd with freeview built in to a normal tv aerial with a uhf one on top,

Cant say I know too much about freeview yet, but isn't all satellite only?

[Bling]

Can pick it up terrestrial too, just the same as normal tv.

[flygt4]

help me connect up an lcd with freeview built in to a normal tv aerial with a uhf one on top,

ant say I know too much about freeview yet, but isn't all satellite only?

there is the satellite version, which came out well before terrestrial, but they don't broadcast HD on that. they use the same dish as your sky reciever etc and are a lot cheaper.

also can get terrestrial now which is broadcast by the usual relay towers to your standard UHF TV aerial. this is the type which is coming fitted in the new generation TV's now. advantage is they broadcast in HD on terrestrial.

theres also 2 main types of co-axial cable and I've found the freeview stuff doesnt generally work with the older cable, so any aerials and cable over about 10 years old will struggle. the freeview is often quite picky about aerial placement and signal strength too.

assuming the existing splitter and cabling is compatible with freeview then as bzg bling said,just swap in a 3 way splitter and run a new length of co-ax.
if you've got under-house access like most places in wellington then the easiest way is to drill a small hole through the floor and pop the other end up where you need it. i just run mine straight through the floor to the reciever and didnt bother with wall outlets etc, but can also get small outlets that will fix to the skirting if you want to be a bit tidier.

[Snaps]

You could ring my dad at Supreme Antennas if you need information/parts, PM me for the number if you want it.

[FXGTV]

I'm a Sat/free to air tech and here's my 2c.
The grade of cable you want to use is called rg6. Its quad shielded to help block out interference. The better the shielding the better the picture. Putting in a 3 way splitter is as easy. The only hard part will be prepping the cable. Splitters are usually under 5 bucks - go to an electrical store, dick smith will rip you.
The most common connector used by us techs are f-type. They need to be compressed on to the cable using a compressor, so its probably easier for you to use the crimp type.With these you can just slip them onto the end of the cable and gently crimp it onto the cable using pliers. With the cable itself you have to strip it back to the copper, taking off the black sleeve, foil/metal fibers and white plastic, leaving 1cm of just copper exposed.
After that, peel back the foil/metal fibers under the copper you have exposed, which should leave you with about another 1cm of plastic under the exposed copper. Make sure to leave at least one layer of foil/metal. The connector should just slip right on and you're done. The copper should come out of the top of the connector only just. The best way to get down a wall from the roof is to use yellow tongue. Builders use it heaps apparently, so its not hard to get hold of. Just tape the fcuk out of the cable to the yellow tongue and feed it down the wall to your outlet. Sometimes you have to drill through noggins to get down walls though - so it really depends what type of house you have.
Let me know if you want to know anything else bro.

Peace

[Cakky]

thanks heaps dude

yeah problem is, the house doesn't belong to me and not to sure if the olds would be too happy with me attempting some home installation amateur stz hahaha, so think I'll have to ring around and sus out some prices unless anybody knows someone thats good for a perky??

[Mr.Phreak]

I can't be bothered getting into an argument over previous statements but if you're in a reasonable signal area, you'll probably get away with one of those sketchy amplified UHF set top jobs

[MAGN1T]

I'll just add a couple of comments.

A 2 way splitter only gives half the signal level to each outlet. A 3 way splitter only gives 1/3 of the signal to each outlet. OK for a good reception area but you might need an amp.

Easier to leave the cabling as it is and put the FTA decoder at the end of the existing cable, use a video sender to get the decoded signal to your own room.

Steve

[FXGTV]

I'll just add a couple of comments.

A 2 way splitter only gives half the signal level to each outlet. A 3 way splitter only gives 1/3 of the signal to each outlet. OK for a good reception area but you might need an amp.

Easier to leave the cabling as it is and put the FTA decoder at the end of the existing cable, use a video sender to get the decoded signal to your own room.

Steve

I've only heard trouble associated with receivers and video senders. An amp is a good idea if you are in a bad signal area though. I've found that splitting FTA signal 3 ways doesn't make too much difference. Its a really whorey way to do it, but to tune the aerial in, take a telly up on the roof and move the aerial around till you peak the signal. Aerials all point the same way, so check out some of the neighbours aerials for reference. You can always run it through a window and avoid drilling/running the cable altogether too

[Alex B]

I'll just add a couple of comments.

A 2 way splitter only gives half the signal level to each outlet. A 3 way splitter only gives 1/3 of the signal to each outlet. OK for a good reception area but you might need an amp.

Easier to leave the cabling as it is and put the FTA decoder at the end of the existing cable, use a video sender to get the decoded signal to your own room.

Steve

The FTA decoder is built into the TV, so that might be slightly hard.

[Adydas]

help me connect up an lcd with freeview built in to a normal tv aerial with a uhf one on top,

Cant say I know too much about freeview yet, but isn't all satellite only?

Wrong the satalite sucks, the VHF/UHF is the HD only version in NZ.

if anything avoid Satalite and get VHF.

[Mr.Phreak]

VHF

And try telling anyone rural that satellite sucks

[B1NZ]

:lol: VHF

And try telling anyone rural that satellite sucks

exactly, If you have a current sky dish on the roof you can buy the cheaper freeview satellite decoder and still get a lot better picture than the standard vhf pictures.

Freeview HD is not available in all areas remember