TV Aerial boostage and Sky box query

[Welly]

Down at Welly Towers the main TV coaxial from the Aerial on t'roof goes straight to the Sky Box. I then have an Aux Output from the Sky Box (RF-2??) which sends an analogue signal and 9 volts back up to the loft and a 4-way splitter for other TV points.

I want 'clean' TV signals now to all outputs so want to take the incoming coaxial into a mains-powered booster....this will send lovely signals to the other TV points but is it ok to send a 'boosted' TV signal to a Sky Box? I just rang a TV aerial company and spoke to an actual person who exclaimed that this might send 'too much' TV signal

Electrically, I need to frig up a power supply from the lighting circuit up there, I might have to install a 3-pin socket (protected via a 1 amp fuse) but is this a no-no? just thinking in the future some numpty might upgrade the fuse to 13 amps and have many electrical capers ensue? the lighting is fed from a 6A MCB so I guess it'll pull 1440 watts before tripping but this might be a bit dodgy? it might be safer to cut off any pre-wired 3-pin plug and bosh the flex straight into a fused spur?

Any advise welcomes

Welly
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[benczuk]

the main TV coaxial from the Aerial on t'roof goes straight to the Sky Box

Never heard of a sky box taking a feed from an Aerial.... ??? Surely it comes from a Dish, and thus is useless for any other tv, boosted or not. Plus I believe you cant split a feed from an LNB, which is why you have two (or more, the LNB allows for up to 4) feeds in to the two 'tuners' on a sky+ box..

[lozz]

You link the airiel to the sky box..

so you can use one of them sky Mouse things..so you can watch sky and change channels from other room's ithink,

twin lnb is for the box to record..when it works.. Sky is pile of crap ihate it..

[benczuk]

You link the airiel to the sky box..

so you can use one of them sky Mouse things..so you can watch sky and change channels from other room's ithink,.

Aye, but that gives you a fake feed only of what the skybox is showing. You cant use that as a TV feed for freeview. (or the feed from the LNB for that matter) which is what welly was asking for

twin lnb is for the box to record..when it works.. Sky is pile of crap ihate it.

Crikey. that's a strong sentiment, what have they done to offend you? I have tried BT, Sky and Virgin over the years and both the other two were a complete pile of poo compared to Sky+ on a channel line up, interface quality and general ease of use.

[Welly]

The Sky box has got a UHF aerial 'feed' and then a jumper coax to the TV sitting above it and in addition I'm currently using the RF-2 output which carries a UHF aerial signal through which I tune the other TV's I used to use the Sky Mouse upstairs but the new TV's don't seem to pick up Analogue signals anymore so it's useless (and loses picture quality).

I only really need to know if the Sky box is happy to receive 'boosted' UHF.

[benczuk]

just been and looked at the back of my sky box and seen the connection you refer to.

As far as I know the Sky box does absolutely nothing with that feed, it certainly isn't connected on mine. So why bother connecting it at all, just boost and split it then feed it straight to your tv(s)?

EDIT. looked up the input and it is purely to send freeview out with the sky feed to other TV's so if you are not bothered about sending the sky feed out and just want a clean tv feed it doesn't need connecting at all....

[PeterN]

I was a TV engineer for over 50 years but all this digital stuff has passed me by since I retired. Having re read your post I realize its the input from the aerial you are trying to boost and not from the dish as I first thought. Digital TV either works or doesn't unlike analogue, if the signal is weak it won't go grainy but just drop out, is it the freeview signal you are trying to amplify or have I got it wrong?

Peter

[DaiRees]

As far as I know the Sky box does absolutely nothing with that feed, it certainly isn't connected on mine. So why bother connecting it at all, just boost and split it then feed it straight to your tv(s)?

It's a pass through as far as your terrestrial signal is concerned, so you can get terrestrial TV (digital Freeview these days) as well as whatever the sky box is transmitting (in analogue) on all of the downstream TVs.

To answer your question Welly. Since the terrestrial picture is all digital these days I'm assuming that what you're saying is that when you're watching Sky in the other rooms, the picture isn't very clear? If it's the digital terrestrial picture you're having issues with there's something else wrong, because digital will be either on or off, you might get blocky picture or break-up if the signal is weak but you shouldn't get snowy or unclear pictures. You've got to assume that the signal being transmitted by the Sky box is OK so it's degrading between there and the downstream TVs, so you almost need to boost the signal coming into the affected TVs. I'd suggest that the biggest loss is probably through the splitter in the attic?

I've also experienced signal loss due to the proximity of other devices, so that's worth a look.

[DaiRees]

I was a TV engineer for over 50 years but all this digital stuff has passed me by since I retired. Having re read your post I realize its the input from the aerial you are trying to boost and not from the dish as I first thought. Digital TV either works or doesn't unlike analogue, if the signal is weak it won't go grainy but just drop out, is it the freeview signal you are trying to amplify or have I got it wrong?

Peter

Ooops, typing at the same time were we Peter?

[PeterN]

Looks like it, only normally the other person gets in first.

Peter

[Welly]

The 'remote' TV's are fed through the Sky Box's UHF side; only the RF2 output converts any digital signal to Analogue (I'm told) so the clarity when watching freeview on the other TV's isn't as good as having an aerial directly into the TV.

I have been advised to check the channel setting on the RF2 and change it to something like No. 60 as you can get interference on the lower channel No's but ultimately I want to avoid routing through the SB and have something more traditional.

[DaiRees]

Right that's a bit different, but the terrestrial freeview signal is just passing through the sky box and is still digital to your downstream TVs, so you really shouldn't be getting poor picture. The other question is do you watch sky on the other TVs, because if you split the terrestrial aerial straight to the other TVs you won't be able to anymore? Your setup sounds right to me as it currently is, on all of the downstream TVs you should be able to get the full range of freeview channels (in digital) and whatever the sky box is showing (in analogue).

[Bailes1992]

Like other have said freeview is digital so it's on or off.

The Sky Box output is still digital but it gives an analogue signal to a certain frequency so you can pick up the Sky on another TV.

If you have a bad picture I'd be inclined to say there is something wrong with a connection somewhere. I personally would go around the house replacing any plugs and stripping/reinstalling any ariel sockets.

You will have no issues sending a 'boosted' signal to a Sky box!

Do you use watch Sky in any other bedroom at all? If so you will have no issues boosting the RF-2 output from the Sky box if you wanted to replace the splitter with a booster.

When I moved into my house I fitted a new ariel in the left with an 8 way booster.
I fitted new ariel sockets in each of the bedrooms and in each corner of the living room (her indoors likes to play with the layout ).
The terminals on the back of the ariel sockets I bought (snap in module type as I have a data outlet next to each ariel socket too) were a bit crap. You couldn't do them up very tight or they'd strip the threads. I ended up removing the terminal and soldering the cable straight to the plug. Signal is perfect in every room!



We have a BT TV box in the living room and that has no issues with the boosted signal at all!

[Welly]

I'm not really getting a 'bad' picture it's just not super-clean, noticed more when one of the remote TV's was changed to 32".

I see now about the analogue thing, that's only the sky part, didn't realise. Perhaps my existing RF2 booster thing isn't up to much.

I think I know what to do now; a powered 8-way Masthead amplifier. Then I can remove the RF2 thing altogether, I won't need to take the UHF to the sky box either.

[PeterN]

I wonder if with all those cables you are getting a reflection that's interfering with the signal. Ideally any unused outlets should have an 80 ohm termination. You can make this by wiring a 82 ohm resistor across a coax plug. You could try disconnecting them in turn from the distribution amp and see if you get any improvement.

Peter