Help getting freeview Terrestrial going (new aerial)

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Help getting freeview Terrestrial going (new aerial)

Morgenmuffel

639 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 58

Lifetime subscriber

#175780 11-Jul-2015 18:10

Whoops I posted that before I had content

Ok

Had ongoing issues with our elderly sky? uhf aerial and masthead amp, basically every few months needing to clean connectors on aerial as it is corroded inside, so bought a new aerial

http://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/tvs/cables-aerials/auction-915111672.htm

hooked it up .

and signal is blocky hanging and unwatchable.

With the old aerial I would clean and shorten the connector inside the aerial and the picture would improve to almost perfect for a few months, but recently that hasn't been working so well, the masthead amp looks fine there is no trace of corrosion etc in it.

I put the new aerial up and ran the cable directly to the TV, bypassing the amp and splitter, picture was crappy, but as I get no picture whatsoever with the old aerial if there isn't an amp in the circuit its an improvement, I then wired the new aerial into the amp, and on to the TV, completely unwatchable, even worse than the old aerial at its worst.

Any suggestions?

I am in Putaruru and pointed at Te Aroha, the alignment may be a little out, but it is ponted in vaguely the same direction as the old one

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
80646 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 41029

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#1341241 11-Jul-2015 18:16

Referral links: Quic Broadband (free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE) | Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies

Support Geekzone by subscribing (browse ads-free), or making a one-off or recurring donation through PressPatron.

k1w1k1d

1711 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1305

#1341245 11-Jul-2015 18:24

1 - Take it out of the box.
2 - ?

gregmcc

2173 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 836

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1341278 11-Jul-2015 18:52

Morgenmuffel: Whoops I posted that before I had content

Ok

Had ongoing issues with our elderly sky? uhf aerial and masthead amp, basically every few months needing to clean connectors on aerial as it is corroded inside, so bought a new aerial

http://www.trademe.co.nz/electronics-photography/tvs/cables-aerials/auction-915111672.htm

hooked it up .

and signal is blocky hanging and unwatchable.

With the old aerial I would clean and shorten the connector inside the aerial and the picture would improve to almost perfect for a few months, but recently that hasn't been working so well, the masthead amp looks fine there is no trace of corrosion etc in it.

I put the new aerial up and ran the cable directly to the TV, bypassing the amp and splitter, picture was crappy, but as I get no picture whatsoever with the old aerial if there isn't an amp in the circuit its an improvement, I then wired the new aerial into the amp, and on to the TV, completely unwatchable, even worse than the old aerial at its worst.

Any suggestions?

I am in Putaruru and pointed at Te Aroha, the alignment may be a little out, but it is ponted in vaguely the same direction as the old one

have you got the power supply for the masthead amp plugged in to the power?

What grade co-axial cable are you using? (RG-6)?

Morgenmuffel

639 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 58

Lifetime subscriber

#1341282 11-Jul-2015 18:57

Aerial --Amp ---Splitter --- TV

RG6

The masthead amp is wired the same way it always has been

I was testing it in this way

Aerial --Amp --- TV as it was easier than crawling under the house to wire in the splitter, but either way its still crappy/unwatchable at the moment

and yes it is plugged in as the little green light on the masthead amp circuit board is glowing green

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

gregmcc

2173 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 836

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1341304 11-Jul-2015 19:27

Looks like the new aerial is to blame

tangerz

662 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 199

#1341509 12-Jul-2015 10:30

Morgenmuffel:

Aerial --Amp ---Splitter --- TV

RG6

The masthead amp is wired the same way it always has been

I was testing it in this way

Aerial --Amp --- TV as it was easier than crawling under the house to wire in the splitter, but either way its still crappy/unwatchable at the moment

and yes it is plugged in as the little green light on the masthead amp circuit board is glowing green

If the new aerial was giving some signal even without the amp in the setup then it's possible you now have too much signal. I'm pretty sure this can cause similar problems to not enough signal. To see if this might be the case try adding the splitter back into the mix. This will attenuate (reduce) the signal somewhat. Failing that, check inside the masthead amp to see if you can adjust the UHF signal gain in there. Should be a little screw adjuster.

Sounds like the setup is quite old too. If the masthead amp has saddle/clamp connections in there instead of F-connectors or if its not properly shielded (amp circuit inside a metal box not plastic!) then you could be getting interference that way. (Although as it worked before then it's probably OK!) Ideally the system should have F-connectors, RG6 and be fully shielded end-to-end.

Did you change any of the cable in the setup? No shorts on any of the new connectors? Water ingress into old cable or poor connections can cause all sorts of issues.

Mighty Ape

Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

Morgenmuffel

639 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 58

Lifetime subscriber

#1341593 12-Jul-2015 14:30

Ok I'm back

we have a picture now on all channels, Primes a bit Meh with some pixellation same with Choice TV

I have , altered the angle of the aerial, its now pointing almost Due North (well as acurate as my chinese compass on a metal roof next to an aerial is) and am using the old wiring, i think the main thing was changing the angle of the aerial, its odd as the old aerial had to point almost northwest to work, whereas according to my map Te Aroha is North of Putaruru.

Anyway, I am going to keep an eye on it over the next few days

Cheers for the help everyone

'We love to buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them.' WARREN ZEVON

andrewNZ

2487 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1461
Inactive user

#1341598 12-Jul-2015 15:02

Jump on google maps and draw an imaginary line directly from your house to the broadcast antenna. Pick a landmark close to home that you can see and is on that imaginary line. Line the aerial up with that.

Bung

6733 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2926

Subscriber

#1341606 12-Jul-2015 15:16

On Maps you can use the Ruler tool between the xmit mast and your roof and the line stops being imaginary. Pick out the near objects on the line as a reference. Sooner or later the wind will push your aerial around and this makes it easy to reset. I get Freeview over a similar distance (~60km) without amping.