Coaxial Question

[rkinsella]

Hi all,

My house is a new build - circa 2007, it came with CoAxial already in place for TV. I want a FreeSat box but don't want to make nasty holes in the wall to make it happen. What are the chances I can use the CoAxial already in place, just changing the connectors?

Ray K

 

[ericmark]

Very likely 75 ohm has been standard for TV for a long time there is no real change with aerial system between old analogue and new digital but in the UK during the change over digital was slotted into any gap found so until the change over was completed a wide band aerial was required in most areas.

Now complete most areas are back to narrow band aerials.

Some people have called wide band aerials digital but really no such thing as a digital aerial.

 

[big-all]

just keep in mind you need a separate cable from the dish for every feed or channel
in other words if you have a recorder and 2 tv you will need up to 4 cables as each channel watched or recorded needs an individual feed from the dish one cable means i choice off channel at one time

 

[ChrisFrost]

I think Eric has confused Freesat with Freeview.

In simpler language, builders tend to use the cheapest cable they can get away with. The most basic (cheapest) TV coax isn't suitable for satellite signals. Take a plug off and strip back a little of the outer covering. If what's underneath looks like this with just a smattering of copper braid then it's the cheap TV coax. That means you are out of luck.

However, if you find something with a silver or copper foil as well as the braid then you might be in luck.


Just remember though that a Freesat receiver box is okay with one cable. But if you want a Freesat recorder then they usually need two cables so that the box can record one channel while you are watching another. Cables carrying satellite signals can't be split 1 in to 2 like aerial signals. The system works differently. So if you do want a recorder it would be simpler to get a dish put up and two cables running in fresh.

 

[rkinsella]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the information it has the Silver foil alright, so I presume then I am good to go!

Unfortunately there is two cables in the wall - one for marked TV and one marked FM Radio, but they are the same quality cable and both terminate in the attic space.

I am currently using and plan to continue using one for Irish Digital Television. So that leaves me with only one for the Satellite Connection ... as I am unwilling to lay new cable.

So I will unfortunately have to live without the ability to watch and record satellite.

Ray K

 

[ChrisFrost]

So that leaves me with only one for the Satellite Connection ... as I am unwilling to lay new cable.

So I will unfortunately have to live without the ability to watch and record satellite.

Well, not entirely. Read on...

The thing with satellite signals is that the channels are grouped in to 4 distinct "bands". I use the word bands because a lot of folk are still familiar with something that works in a similar way: radio.

Radio has different bands too. Short wave, medium wave, long wave and FM. The radio receiver has to be on the correct band before you can pick up the channels broadcast in that band. Well, satellite works in a similar way in that it uses 'bands' too. The difference is that the switching between bands is done for you automatically.

Certain Freesat boxes can cope with watching one channel whilst recording another at the same time from a single coax input. However, you need to make sure that both channels are in the same band. That's crucial. As long as they are in the same band then you're fine. But as soon as you ask the box to switch to another band then your recording will fail.

Here's a list of the bands and the channels that each carries.

Low Band Horizontal:
102 BBC Two
103 ITV HD (red button)
104 Channel 4
105 Channel 5
106 BBC Three
107 BBC Four
114 ITV2 +1
118 ITV4 +1
125 More4 +1
138 Zone Horror
139 Zone Horror + 1
206 Russia Today
300 Film4
301 Film4 +1
400 Wedding TV
514 Clubland
600 CBBC
601 CBeebies
690 Inspiration TV
705 BBC Radio 5 Live
706 BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra
750 RTE Radio 1
751 RTE Radio 2fm
752 RTE Radio Lyric FM
753 RTE Raidio na Gaeltacta
786 BFBS Radio
806 Celebrity Shop
807 Shop on TV
809 JML
811 Thane Direct
851 Netplay TV
861 Gala TV
950 BBC 1 London
957 BBC 1 NI
960 BBC 1 Scotland
964 BBC 1 Wales
968 BBC 2 England
969 BBC 2 NI
970 BBC 2 SCOTLAND
971 BBC 2 W
974 Channel 4
986 Teletext

Low Band Vertical:
101 BBC One
103 ITV1
108 BBC HD
113 ITV2
115 ITV3
116 ITV3 +1
117 ITV4
121 Channel 4 + 1
122 E4
123 E4 +1
124 More4
135 Zone Romantica
140 Black Entertainment Television (BET)
203 Al Jazeera English
205 France 24
208 Bloomberg TV
302 True Movies
303 True Movies 2
304 Movies4Men
306 Movies4Men2
308 Simply Movies
403 Rural TV
450 Men and Motors
451 Audi Channel
500 Chart Show TV
501 The Vault
502 Scuzz
519 9XM
602 CITV
603 POP
604 POPGirl
605 Tiny POP
606 Kix!
662 9X
724 Absolute Radio
725 Absolute Classic Rock
726 Absolute Radio Extreme
727 NME Radio
728 WRN
729 JazzFM
777 Insight Radio
790 TWR Radio
803 Pitch TV
804 Pitch World
852 Smart Live Casino
951 BBC 1 CI
952 BBC 1 E Mids
953 BBC 1 East (E)
954 BBC 1 East (W)
955 BBC 1 N West
956 BBC 1 NE & C
958 BBC 1 Oxford
959 BBC 1 S East
961 BBC 1 South
962 BBC 1 S West
963 BBC 1 W Mids
965 BBC 1 West
966 BBC 1 Yorks
967 BBC 1 Eyrks*L
975 Channel 4 + 1
977 ITV 1 London (audio described)

High Band Horizontal:
110 BBC ALBA
120 S4C
200 BBC News
201 BBC Parliament
202 S4C2
402 Information TV
504 B4U Music
691 DAYSTAR TV
700 BBC Radio 1
701 BBC Radio 1 Xtra
702 BBC Radio 2
703 BBC Radio 3
704 BBC Radio 4 FM
707 BBC 6Music
708 BBC Radio 7
709 BBC Asian Network
710 BBC Radio 4 LW
711 BBC World Service
712 BBC Radio Scotland
713 BBC Radio nan Gaidheal (Gaelic)
714 BBC Radio Wales
715 BBC Radio Cymru (Welsh)
716 BBC Radio Ulster
800 QVC
801 price-drop tv
802 bid tv
816 Ideal World

High Band Vertical:
136 Zone Reality
137 Zone Thriller
141 BET + 1
204 Euronews
401 Wedding TV +1
509 Zee Music
650 Teachers TV
719 Capital 95.8
720 Choice FM
721 Classic FM
722 Gold
723 XFM London
730 Planet Rock
805 Gems TV1
810 JML COOKSHOP
813 Best Direct


Now, here's the time when we start to get a bit clever, because with the right bits of gear you can have your cake and eat it.

At the moment you have what sounds like two satellite compatible cables from the loft to the living room. One is being used for local TV and the other for FM.... but it doesn't have to be that way.

There are TV distribution amps available that can combine the signal from your Irish Freeview + FM radio + DAB radio + 1 satellite feed and send the whole lot down a single cable. In your living room you'd then have a wall plate with 3 sockets: TV, Sat, FM+DAB. That type of plate is called a triplexer or triplex plate. That'll leave you one spare cable for the other satellite feed. Problem solved!!!

This is an example of a simple box to combine satellite, TV, FM and DAB down a singe aerial cable. LINK

This is a triplex plate to split the combined signal back to TV, Sat, Radio (FM+DAB) LINK

You'll be able to find something similar from suppliers in the Republic.

 

[Sam Gangee]

I am currently using and plan to continue using one for Irish Digital Television. So that leaves me with only one for the Satellite Connection ... as I am unwilling to lay new cable.

Not a problem. You can combine Satellite and UHF TV into one cable (and radio if you wish). See http://www.satcure.co.uk/accs/page15.htm#combiner

and http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/combiners.htm

If you don't fancy paying shipping costs from the UK, ask your Irish specialist to supply the parts.

 

[rkinsella]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the really really comprehensive response ...

TVtrade.ie seems to have most of what I need. As I have two co-axial connectors in the wall, this means using the combiner on one - I should be able to support 2 x LNBs and therefore 2 satellite tuners.

Reviewing the list of channels and multi-plex'es this should be ample!


Ray K

 

[daxi]

Ignore I miss read the date when the coax was fitted.