Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


sxz

sxz

761 posts

Ultimate Geek


#129303 10-Sep-2013 11:05
Send private message

Just moved to a new house.  Old house had a Freeview UHF aerial, brand new, no issues.  New house has a UHF aerial, does not work. 

After a bit of research I believe I have a masthead amp, that requires a power supply at the TV end (which I do not want) (source below).   

I do not need VHF or VLF aerial, I just want the UHF.  Can I remove the masthead amp and run it straight to the house?  Why did my old house (700m away) not need it and the new house does?  Is it an old aerial that needs to be replace?

Cheers


 

http://www.freeviewshop.co.nz/forum/index.php?topic=1637.0

 


 

If you are in a weak signal area then you quite possibly will have a masthead amplifier fitted at the aerials which gives you nothing, or extremely weak signals, until you plug in a power supply down in the lounge to power up the amplifier.

 

So check the "joiner box" up on the aerial mount where the cables from the VHF and UHF aerials combine, then the cable you saw going into the ceiling, feeds out of that box. Open the door and see if you can find a model number printed on the circuit board. If it says "Dip" or "Dipl" then it is a diplexer which just combines the signals and passes then straight out the feed cable, so that won't be your problem.

 

If it says "MHU" or "MHW" then it is a masthead amplifier and needs a power supply fitted; but there are several different power supplies, (12 volt, 17.5 volt, 22 volt, etc) so you need to fit the correct one or you will blow the masthead unit. So, if it is a masthead amplifier, let us know the brand name (Kingray, Johansen and Ikuzi are the three most popular) and the model number (MHU 23, MHU 24, MHW 34, etc) then we can tell you what power supply you need.

 

If there isn't a box at all and the cable just goes from the UHF aerial straight down to the wall outlet, then obviously you haven't got a masthead unit, and so you need to check that the cable is actually attached correctly at each end - make sure NONE of the outer shielding is touching the inner core wire at all.

Create new topic
Oblivian
7296 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

  #892596 10-Sep-2013 11:28
Send private message

Do they physically look the same?

If the one you are using now is a full range UHF/VHF the gain may not be the same, or polarity differ from the old one (its up the right way right?)

The connectors and internal cabling can also degrade and corrode over time. Or as you say the amp may have died and stop all traffic. Cant go wrong with a grid array antenna if you are out to replace it

(And DSE have a yagi for $69 atm...)



TechSol
299 posts

Ultimate Geek

Technical Solutions Aust

  #892597 10-Sep-2013 11:29
Send private message

Take it out and see what happens... you are flying fairly blind without a meter if things aren't working.

But since it already isn't working, you have nothing to lose by removing it.

Also, depending on where you are, 700m can mean the difference between perfect reception and absolute zip...

Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.