Which Aerial Amp

[Greenie9657]

Good morning all,

As I've been renovating my house I have put aerial points in all the rooms (only had one when I started and that was in the front room). I'm not in a position to connect them all in the attic and was wondering what is a good one to buy?

I have electrics in the attic so a powered amp is fine and I need it to supply 8 TV points.

Thank you for your time

 

[bernardgreen]

I like Lab Gear, well made and never given any problems

This will do everthing http://www.labgear.co.uk/category/a...s/8-way-home-distribution-unit/1002/1014/267/

Designed to distribute any combination of Sky™, Sky+™, FM, DAB, UHF and CCTV signals around the home

Or for TV only http://www.labgear.co.uk/category/a...ng-and-digilink-ir-return-path/1002/1014/259/

This is powered by a box at one of the TV s sending power up the TV aerial lead

 

[Sam Gangee]

An 8dB amp. as suggested will probably do but I couldn't make a specific recommendation without knowing your signal strength at the aerial, type of coaxial cable and lengths of cables. It would be unprofessional to do so and might be wrong.

This might help. http://www.the-cool-book-shop.co.uk/satellite_freeview.htm#tvpoints

 

[winston1]

It all depends on how much signal you have. For instance I am about 20Km from Crystal Palace and using a simple 10 element yagi on the roof I get sufficient signal to feed 8 rooms with a simple passive splitter and no amplifier.

If you can't measure the signal level you cannot sensibly choose an amplifier (or not).

Too much signal is as bad as too little.

 

[Greenie9657]

I want to try and get the best I can. How do I find out how good the signal is? I've never had any problems with the picture. I routed the main aerial into the attic and is currently split to supply 2 TVs. But still no problems with the picture.

 

[Sam Gangee]

First, what's your postcode so we can look up the predicted signal strength? That would be a start.

 

[Greenie9657]

First, what's your postcode so we can look up the predicted signal strength? That would be a start.

Hi Sam,

Postcode is DT9 6AW

Thanks for your help

 

[Sam Gangee]

DT9 6AW prediction is a 48 dBuV/m signal (at 10 metres height from Stockland Hill on a bearing of 250 degrees). That's moderately strong so, provided that you use WF100 cable and the runs aren't each dozens of metres in length, you should get away with a passive splitter such as this:
http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/page15a.htm#V26-106

Stockland Hill requires a "Group A" aerial so I'd suggest a V11-20A2
http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/log-periodic_aerials.htm

(If you use a "wideband" aerial you could be disappointed.)

 

[Greenie9657]

Thanks for the reply Sam.

All the coax I've put in the house has been PF100 but the longest run is around 5 meters and was done by an electrician when I had a kitchen extension put on, and it looks like just a cheap one. For £7 I'll give the splitter a go and see how I get on. Hopefully it'll work.

 

[winston1]

Thanks for the reply Sam.

All the coax I've put in the house has been PF100 but the longest run is around 5 meters and was done by an electrician when I had a kitchen extension put on, and it looks like just a cheap one. For £7 I'll give the splitter a go and see how I get on. Hopefully it'll work.

PF100 is another manufacturers brand of WF100.

Sam has suggested a passive splitter, given your location, projected signal etc, so why not do so. An unnecessary amplifier will add its own noise, possibly overload your TVs, and waste electricity.

 

[Sam Gangee]

PF100 is another manufacturer's brand of WF100.

I'm not convinced that it's anywhere near as good as WF100. It's imported by Philex and they don't provide full spectrum attenuation figures. All they state is 2.77 dB at 1 MHz (presumably for 100m), which is truly awful. In fact it's so bad that I suspect they've made a mistake. But that's what they state.
http://www.labgear.co.uk/category/cable-connectors-tools/cable/pf100-satellite-cable/1003/1022/18/

Anyway, with regard to the splitter, if you do find the signal is too low, you can fit a single-output masthead amplifier in front of the splitter (preferably near the aerial).

 

[Greenie9657]

Thanks for all the help. I'm hopefully going to get the splitter delivered today or tomorrow and ill fit it and let you know.

 

[Sam Gangee]

Yes let us know and please confirm that you have the correct aerial because you'll probably never get good results otherwise.