LabGear 6+1

[RickH]

I have my incoming aerial feed connected to a LabGear LDA2061 distribution amp.
All TVs connected are working, but if I check signal strength - not that high :

From Kilvey Hill Transmitter
21 strength 40%
22 40%
24 36%
25 38%
27 42%
28 42%
34 22%

Quality states as 100% on all.

Should I be looking to get a higher signal, and if so how ? ..... the whole point of the Labgear was to provide signal at right level to all of outputs.
Do I need to pre-amplify (mast-head ?)
Or get a better aerial.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Quality states as 100% on all.

Which is all that matters!

Should I be looking to get a higher signal, and if so how ? ..... the whole point of the Labgear was to provide signal at right level to all of outputs.
Do I need to pre-amplify (mast-head ?)

The strength you are measuring, is the strength of the signal from the amp. Boosting the strength into the amp, will not boost the strength from each port of the amp.

Try plugging the cable directly from the antenna, into a TV, then report the signal level and quality.

 

[Rodders53]

Kilvey Hill transmitter in Swansea I presume. Vertical cross roads on the horizontal boom arm.

What receiver? (Not all signal strength meters are created equal).

Ch 34 is the Local TV mux with a much more robust QPSK at 100 Watts. The others are all 2kW erp.
Ch27 is the HD multiplex.

If there are no reception issues then there's probably little to worry about. (A user on Hummy tv forum has similar numbers for that transmitter on their Humax HDR-Fox-T2 pvr that works perfectly).

You do have the terminator (75 ohm F-plug) on the MAIN 17dB gain outlet I assume.
Note the amp ideally needs to be as close to the aerial as possible.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Do I need to pre-amplify (mast-head ?)
Or get a better aerial.

Always get a better antenna, than attempt to amplify a poor signal, because an amplifier just amplifies signal, plus noise.

 

[RickH]

The strength you are measuring, is the strength of the signal from the amp. Boosting the strength into the amp, will not boost the strength from each port of the amp.

Try plugging the cable directly from the antenna, into a TV, then report the signal level and quality.

That was what I assumed - Distribution signal is at optimum level.
I can't plug lead in direct due to location

 

[RickH]

Kilvey Hill transmitter in Swansea I presume. Vertical cross roads on the horizontal boom arm.


You do have the terminator (75 ohm F-plug) on the MAIN 17dB gain outlet I assume.
Note the amp ideally needs to be as close to the aerial as possible.

The amp came with a terminator fitted to the 'main' port .. no idea if it's 75ohm or not.

 

[Rodders53]

Take aerial in and use a joiner to feed the aerial to your chosen receiver temporarily.
https://www.toolstation.com/proception-inline-coupler/p97650 shows what they look like.

What aerial is it?
Where is it (outdoors, loft space, in the room)?

Do you have any reception issues?

To me, those numbers look low. But some receivers work fine with such S levels. Others do not, or may not work reliably. Some TV / receivers measure signal level and quality after internal gain controls and error correction so are virtually meaningless (looking at you Panasonic at least on older sets). If yours are from one of those style then I'd be worried and expect unreliable reception.

A professional, calibrated, TV signal meter is needed to determine exact levels: the ideal is 45-65 dB ref 1 uV (microVolt) into a 75 ohm load. Too much signal can be as bad as too little.

All domestic TV aerial and receiver tuner bits are 75 ohm. The terminator must be fitted (unless the port is used to feed a long cable run and/or passive splitters) otherwise the whole amplification thing gets messed up... which is why I checked.

 

[RickH]

I currently have a Vision V10-321 installed in my loft
32 Element Wideband Vision V10-321

I am getting my signal from Kilvey Hill (Group A)
House is at a marginal reception, SD channels OK, but HD has interference.
As I needed distribution, I installed a Labgear LDA2061LR, and HD signals are received at TV OK.

Would it be better to change aerial to an XB10A (recc for loft install) or Yagi 18A

Or as Quality is 100% no benefit in doing this ?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

House is at a marginal reception, SD channels OK, but HD has interference.

That, contradicts this...

As I needed distribution, I installed a Labgear LDA2061LR, and HD signals are received at TV OK.

An outdoor antenna beats an indoor one, by a wide margin, especially in bad weather - can you not fit one outdoors?

 

[RickH]

I don't see why it contradicts?
If I connect Aerial direct to TV, SD programs are OK, but HD programs are a bit flaky. The house is in a poor reception area.
Once aerial signal has been through the Labgear amplifier the HD channels have no interference.

Yes fully agree an outdoor antenna is better, but I do not want to put an aerial on the outside of the house.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I don't see why it contradicts?

Got it now!

If I connect Aerial direct to TV, SD programs are OK, but HD programs are a bit flaky. The house is in a poor reception area.
Once aerial signal has been through the Labgear amplifier the HD channels have no interference.

That suggests the signal direct from the antenna, is just too weak to drive the TV. It's not interference, because your amp would amplify both signal and interference.

If your reception is OK, your HD is OK, then what actually is the issue?

 

[Rodders53]

Nasty wideband aerial... low gain for group A frequencies .. all widebands are the same except log periodics. That's also a relatively small "high gain" antenna. 13dBisotropic = 10dBdipole approx at it's peak.
Your aerial will only have around 6dB gain at group A frequencies, the same as a small log periodic.

https://www.aerialsandtv.com/knowle...s#wideband-aerial-gain-curves-and-comparisons is Justin's measurement of that style (see XB5WB curve). Justin (ATV) doesn't reckon those 5-bay X elements at all. Any group A will better that.

For a school at SA10 6JJ in the rough area to your profile Wolfbane gives 71* dBuV/m which would be a fairly strong signal location. Aerial positioning may be critical due to the * = diffracted signals.

Put your own postcode into Wolfbane http://www.wolfbane.net/ --- click the digital tv predictor and enter 8 metres as height rather than the default 10 (outside) and give the numbers... plus if the number is 'starred' (which means not line of sight, so diffracted reception).

Lofts lose around 10dB of signal cf the same height outdoors. Signal often increases with aerial height. Pointing through gable ends may be worse... and through party walls can kill the signal completely.

Choice of alternative aerial will depend on space in the loft to mount (or hang on string/tr-raps as high as possible). As well as the outlook toward the transmitter. If the aerial points into another nearby building or tree(s) it may be best to move it so those are missed.
It may be worth moving the aerial to different locations in the loft space to see if any extra signal can be picked up.

I'll assume you have mounted the aerial vertically rather than horizontal and put the reflector on correctly.

 

[RickH]

Put OS grid an 8m height .... advises to use Vertically polarised extra high gain aerial.

The aerial is mounted as per pic .... sorry its not too good a picture. Points straight out through tiles to Kilvey Hill, but village is in a bit of a dip hence low signal.
This aerial was the one recommended at the time as being optimum for digital channels from KIlvey.

 

[RickH]

Got it now!


That suggests the signal direct from the antenna, is just too weak to drive the TV. It's not interference, because your amp would amplify both signal and interference.

If your reception is OK, your HD is OK, then what actually is the issue?

The issue is the Humax box reports signal strength is less than 50%

So questioning whether I need to upgrade the aerial.

 

[Rodders53]

Is RickH also Sargan onhummy.tv and / or Tafflad on AVForums.
I'm getting confused with the two/three threads (so far).