Freeview wiring

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jefisokla

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Topic # 160068 22-Dec-2014 14:18

Hi guys

We have just moved into a new property which I understand does not have a UHF antenna installed. It does have a Sky dish however. We are not heavy TV watchers so will be planning on getting Sky or any other paid viewing services.

The lounge currently has a Sky cable connector which also has a couple of unterminated cables behind the faceplate - see attached. Every other rooms in the house has got a faceplate installed - see attached - which looks like freeview plugs?

Just from looking at the photo of the unterminated cable, I'm just wondering if the house has actually been prewired for Freeview?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Jeffrey

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Reply # 1202081 22-Dec-2014 14:31

The socket you are showing is a Belling lee / PAL / P75 ( amongst other names ) and is designed for VHF and UHF TV, not for satellite.

There is a good change that your house is wired for freeview.

Plug in your TV and see if it works, you may need to re-tune it if you have moved area's

Cheers

John

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scuwp

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Reply # 1202121 22-Dec-2014 15:34

There will be a distribution box somewhere in the house, that collects and splits the signals around the house. I would say it is pre wired for broadcast TV. Have a look in cupboards or possibly in the garage. Ours looks similar to a fuse box. You can organize and control connections from there.

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RunningMan

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Reply # 1202147 22-Dec-2014 15:58

Another alternative is that the belling lee sockets were there to reticulate the RF output from a Sky decoder, and there is no UHF antenna.

Ultimately, you need to do some more research - either plug in a TV and see if it goes (if it does, great), or trace the cables and see where they go to.

Where are you - is the house in a Freeview|HD (UHF) area?

Alternatively, if there's a Sky dish there, and you don't need HD, then just grab a cheap satellite receiver and plug that in to the dish.

Stu

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Reply # 1202148 22-Dec-2014 16:02

Chances are the house was pre-wired to have a TV in all the rooms, but the wiring hasn't been connected to an aerial for whatever reason.

As above, you will be able to get satellite freeview with a set top box (or if you have a late model Samsung TV) from any of the outlets with F type connecters that have been used for sky.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

B1GGLZ

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Reply # 1202186 22-Dec-2014 16:21

Is there any TV antenna on the roof at all or just the Sky dish?

jefisokla

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Reply # 1203084 24-Dec-2014 10:33

Thanks for the replies guys.

I have plugged in the TV into the wall socket and did not get any TV reception after the auto-tune.

Decided to dig in a little deeper and climbed into the roof space and found these two puppies. Unsure what they are...

And this unterminated cable in the ceiling space - would it be safe to assume that it is to go to the Freeview antenna?

Cheers guys.

Andib

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Reply # 1203091 24-Dec-2014 10:43

That looks like a split of your Sat feed.
You'll need a freeview SAT box to pick anything up on it rather than inbuild freeview UHF on TVs

RunningMan

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Reply # 1203093 24-Dec-2014 10:58

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jefisokla:
And this unterminated cable in the ceiling space - would it be safe to assume that it is to go to the Freeview antenna?

Never assume!

The 5 way device looks like a splitter - 1 input, 4 outputs, presumably sending the same signal to several rooms.

You may find the white cable connected to the input is the spare white cable that appears somewhere else.

The other device is a diplexor - it combines or splits two signals in to one - usually a satellite and an RF signal.

Without know where each cable goes though, it's difficult to say how the house has been wired though. It could have been wired with a UHF antenna, or could have been using RF to reticulate the output from a Sky decoder. We can have a guess, but the only way to kow for sure is to trace where the cables go.

I'd suggest before you go any further, do you understand the difference between Freeview|HD delivered as a UHF terrestrial service and the Freeview DTH service delivered via satellite? When you say you want Freeview wiring, which of these are you trying to do? Do you live in an area that has UHF terrestrial transmission?

Given your first post says there is no UHF antenna, but there is a Sky dish, then you have two basic options:

1) Use the dish to receive the DTH satellite Freeview service. This is standard definition, and you will need to buy a satellite reciver (there are a handful of TVs with inbuilt sat tuners, but they are the exception rather than the rule).

2) IF you are in an area with UHF broadcasts, then you can have a UHF antenna installed, and receive the terrestrial transmission. This is high definition and will work straight out of the box on any recent TV bought in NZ.

jefisokla

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Reply # 1203100 24-Dec-2014 11:13

Yes I do realise that I have two options - Freeview|HD via UHF and Freeview standard via the satellite dish. Our property is in the "Very likely" for both Freeview|HD and Freeview sat coverage area.

Ideally I would like to have Freeview|HD via UHF antenna but it seems like the property hasn't been prewired for Freeview|HD via UHF. There also isn't a UHF antenna mounted on top of the house.

I woulnd't mind getting a UHF antenna installed but if it is not prewired for it and having to cut walls open to get it working, then I suppose my only option is to go with Freeview sat or Sky etc..

RunningMan

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Reply # 1203131 24-Dec-2014 12:11

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jefisokla: Yes I do realise that I have two options - Freeview|HD via UHF and Freeview standard via the satellite dish. Our property is in the "Very likely" for both Freeview|HD and Freeview sat coverage area.

Excellent!

jefisokla:
Ideally I would like to have Freeview|HD via UHF antenna but it seems like the property hasn't been prewired for Freeview|HD via UHF. There also isn't a UHF antenna mounted on top of the house.

I woulnd't mind getting a UHF antenna installed but if it is not prewired for it and having to cut walls open to get it working, then I suppose my only option is to go with Freeview sat or Sky etc..

Both systems will work on the same (RG6) cable, and given the four way splitter, the house is wired to distribute something. If you get an antenna installed, and run it in to the input of that four way splitter, then (in theory!) you should have four usable outlets around the house at the other end of those cables. Depending on the other end, you might need to change over the faceplates/outlets.

trig42

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Reply # 1203132 24-Dec-2014 12:13

In the second picture (the one with the diplexor), where does the output cable go?

The White cable in the splitter input, is that the same cable as the one in the third picture?

Looking at it, I think you could probably get Satellite and UHF signal to all rooms, You connect a UHF aerial to one input on the Diplexor, the dish should already be on the other, the out put from that into the input on the splitter, then 4 cables obviously already run to 4 locations in the house.

You may need to get an antenna installer/tech in to sort it all out and test it's all connected properly (and tidily install the antenna - you may even be able to have one installed in the ceiling space if your signal is strong enough).

jefisokla

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Reply # 1203134 24-Dec-2014 12:15

That sounds like an option!

So we could potentially disconnect the cable from the Sky dish and connect it to a UHF antenna, while utilising the existing cables and splitters, which will give us Freeview|HD?

RunningMan

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Reply # 1203137 24-Dec-2014 12:19

jefisokla:

So we could potentially disconnect the cable from the Sky dish and connect it to a UHF antenna, while utilising the existing cables and splitters, which will give us Freeview|HD?

Yes.

B1GGLZ

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Reply # 1203138 24-Dec-2014 12:21

jefisokla: That sounds like an option!

So we could potentially disconnect the cable from the Sky dish and connect it to a UHF antenna, while utilising the existing cables and splitters, which will give us Freeview|HD?

Yes, or you could connect both the dish and UHF as Runningman suggests. The house is adequately wired so you could do either.

jefisokla

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Geek

Reply # 1203140 24-Dec-2014 12:26

trig42: In the second picture (the one with the diplexor), where does the output cable go?

The White cable in the splitter input, is that the same cable as the one in the third picture?

Looking at it, I think you could probably get Satellite and UHF signal to all rooms, You connect a UHF aerial to one input on the Diplexor, the dish should already be on the other, the out put from that into the input on the splitter, then 4 cables obviously already run to 4 locations in the house.

You may need to get an antenna installer/tech in to sort it all out and test it's all connected properly (and tidily install the antenna - you may even be able to have one installed in the ceiling space if your signal is strong enough).

Yes the white cable in the splitter input is the same one as in the third picture, which is unterminated.

Unsure where the output cable off the diplexor goes, but it looks like its heading towards one of the rooms.

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