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Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › No signal after installing new coax and aerial
Drewpy

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#35326 8-Jun-2009 16:05
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I'm in Kelson/Lower Hutt. 


I've installed a new UHF aerial (removed the diplexer out the equation and dropped the VHF aerial off the roof). It has the correct polarity, correct direction, brand new RG6 Coax, with continuity from aerial to house.

If I go on the roof with my Pinnacle USB tuner and it's supplied mini aerial, I find about 5 channels with alright signal strength and low signal quality (random frames show up). 


If I connect it inside the house to the new coax, I get nothing at all. 

Any ideas or any software for windows that could help me with live signal/strength for a specified frequency ?



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Drewpy

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  #223141 9-Jun-2009 14:10
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*cries like a little girl*


This is sooo painful. Any help to put me in the right direction would be great.



sbiddle
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  #223146 9-Jun-2009 14:23
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Did you try the UHF aerial while you were on the roof?

If the continuity is OK and is there is no short you could try shorting the RG6 to see if you do then get continuity and there is no damage to the cable. The other obvious thing would be to check the balun is securely attached to the aerial in the correct place.

Drewpy

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  #223159 9-Jun-2009 15:00
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sbiddle: Did you try the UHF aerial while you were on the roof?



I did, and had the same affect. I assumed this had something to do with my computer playing up, as I had continuity (using a different RG6 cable which was short). So I'm guessing this will cancel out the cable being the cuplrit ?



If the continuity is OK and is there is no short you could try shorting the RG6 to see if you do then get continuity and there is no damage to the cable. The other obvious thing would be to check the balun is securely attached to the aerial in the correct place.



As mentioned up, I had used a different cable for testing when on the roof, so I'm hoping this has taken the cable out of question. 


I will check for shorts in the connectors, though I am very short I have none as I was careful to make sure there was some of the plastic insulation left before exposing the copper core.


Sorry, "Balun" is beyond my knowledge when it comes to aerials. Is this the connector that converts the signal received throught he aerial into a single signal to transfer through the coax ?



mjb

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  #223241 9-Jun-2009 18:00
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Drewpy: Sorry, "Balun" is beyond my knowledge when it comes to aerials. Is this the connector that converts the signal received throught he aerial into a single signal to transfer through the coax ?




"sort of". It's a converter between balanced and unbalanced signals. the RG6 is unbalanced, but the antenna is balanced - the box on the antenna where you plug the cable in is just a Balun.




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Drewpy

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  #223274 9-Jun-2009 19:12
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Thanks for that.

It's a brand new aerial, and as far as I could tell the Balun was 100% intact and undamaged.

mjb

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  #223278 9-Jun-2009 19:16
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No problems.

I'd suggest triple checking the Balun to antenna connection (probably some metal straps bolted to the Balun). It's possible the Balun is DOA, but quite unlikely, they generally don't have much to them. Short of that, the next thing to try is another antenna... :/




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xrajux
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  #223306 9-Jun-2009 20:02
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have you checked the connection on the tv end of the cable?




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Drewpy

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  #223315 9-Jun-2009 20:23
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I've checked it for continuity, and possible shorts. Is there anything else to check ?

xrajux
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  #223334 9-Jun-2009 20:55
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its just that i have the same problem a few years back, finally i found out that the connector on the tv end wasn't hooked up properly, once i fixed that.....bingo!!!!




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Drewpy

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  #223357 9-Jun-2009 21:09
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Unfortunately I was up on the roof with a different cable, definitely connected fine to the USB tuner and nothing happened.

Things are definitely starting to point a the Balun...

xrajux
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  #223368 9-Jun-2009 21:21
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mayb it is, good luck on that




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mjb

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  #223374 9-Jun-2009 21:26
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Got some extra cable? Make one! It'll let you rule out the Balun.

Use this: http://n-lemma.com/calcs/dipole/balun.htm with a MHz of around 640... so approximately 6 inches of extra cable.

It will not work very well, but it will get close to giving you something that will see if you start to get a fix from the antenna.

edit: I should add - they talk about a balun for a dipole, but the uhf antenna you have is a yagi - that's ok, the active element in the yagi is actually a dipole :) (you can see why I said there's not much to them)




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Drewpy

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  #223486 10-Jun-2009 09:28
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Cheers mjb, will get up this weekend and give it a go :)

Drewpy

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  #229303 29-Jun-2009 19:13
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Finally got on the roof, checked the Balun and all is fine.


*sigh*

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