Snowy picture on Prime

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gumboot

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Master Geek

#59322 1-Apr-2010 15:48

Hi All,
Have just changed by Grandmothers aerial from VHF to a Hills combined VHF/UHF so she can get freeview.

I have tuned in all the channels and they fine except for Prime which is snowy and can drop out.

Now the aerial is quite a long way from the TV and loops through two bedrooms before it gets to the TV. So is it worth moving the aerial and shortning the cable? If so I have some RG6 cable spare from a sat install should I replace the 15+ year old RG59 with that as well?

Thanks for any info.

cheers

rscole86

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#313942 1-Apr-2010 16:25

I would suggest you replace all the cable, and distribute it evenly from a central point. Eg, 5meters from aerial to splitter, then 5m from the splitter to each jackpoint in the house.

If that is too much work, try plugging the TV into the first jack and see what the picture is like then, if its still snowy then remove the other two in the chain and check again, still snowy then it is possible the cable to your aerial is corroded. How did it look when you put the new aerial up?

gumboot

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Master Geek

#314239 2-Apr-2010 19:47

I stripped back as much as the length would allow and it was pretty corroded. So I will take the chance to move the aerial as it can be within five metres of the tv, and there is no need for the other outlets.

Cheers

richms

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#314417 3-Apr-2010 16:34

A snowy prime means that its the analog one. Is the TV getting all the digital channels or just some of them? Shouldnt be a concern if analog prime is a little snowy.

But yeah, replace the cable. Old stuff was leaky as hell, and the fact that it is rg59 means whoever installed it was a cheapskate as RG6 was available back ages ago.

Richard rich.ms

gumboot

78 posts

Master Geek

#314535 4-Apr-2010 06:44

A snowy prime means that its the analog one.
No its digital, similar to the 'sparkles' you get when a hdmi cable is too long. If it gets to bad then you get the pixilated freeze.

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sbiddle

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#314539 4-Apr-2010 07:06

Sounds very much like a signal related issue, I'd put money on new cable fixing the issue.

gumboot

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Master Geek

#317203 12-Apr-2010 08:04

Yup replaced cable and signal quality and strength jumped to 100% with perfect picture on prime.

Thanks for all ya help!