freeview (terrestrial) reception experience

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kiwiace

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#95276 29-Dec-2011 07:25

Hi there - very useful forum people - thought this happy tale of the new $199 Tivo might be helpful to someone...

Our house came with a UHF/VHF aerial. It had a Kingray signal amplifier box, but the power cable was gone. I figured that out back in the analog days and got a new power box down in the house to power the signal amplifier.

The Kingray box amplifies UHF and VHF and connects to another amplifier box of some sort on the UHF antenna. Water has gotten into that and rusted it out. It seems to point towards Kauwau (from a hillside in Hataitai without line of sight

That all got us some snowy prime and tv 1 on analog. Couldn't get digital reception first time with the Tivo.

Anyway, I opened up and fiddled with the gain control in the Kingray box (boosted it a bit). That pulled in 4 channels. Boosted it a bit more and they were all there! So the rusty old inherited equipment did the business (signal strength 70-74%).

Does anyone know the consequences of the amplifier box on the UHF antenna being rusted out? should I try and seal it better? Presumably the cable is still carrying a signal to the Kingray box, and maybe the circuitry wasn't doing anything?

jonherries

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#562349 29-Dec-2011 08:24

The other day I ripped down our vhf aerial, and removed the diplexer. I then re-terminated the coax on the uhf aerial.

Made a big difference to "signal strength" and "signal quality" metrics in eye tv on my mac.

Also had no effect on the quality of fm signal for stereo reception.

My suggestion to you is to take the kingray out of the equation and see if it is doing anything at all...

Jon

jonherries

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#562350 29-Dec-2011 08:26

Sorry misread, tkae the other box out. Then see if you still need the kingray.

B1GGLZ

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#562414 29-Dec-2011 11:53

jonherries: Sorry misread, tkae the other box out. Then see if you still need the kingray.

+1
In view of the rust and corrosion it would be worth installing a new UHF antenna and quality co-ax direct to the TV. You'll probably find then that the amp isn't necessary. Seems very strange to me to have an amp on the UHF between the antenna and the Kingray. Where does it get its power from as I'm pretty sure the Kingrayd hasn't got power passthrough capability? Maybe its an old diplexer? Anyway if its rusty get rid of it.

kiwiace

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#562661 29-Dec-2011 20:50

thanks for those ideas guys - yes not sure if the box on the UHF aerial is an amp. the box is a similar size but I am pretty new to this stuff. anyway since I have a signal and a happily running Tivo I'll probably leave it for now but will go to those ideas if it starts to drop. cheers.