Identifying aerial leads

[tom foster]

The person who owned our house before us was an electrician. He ran aerial cables from various points around the house up into the loft, but didn't label any of them up. So, we have 8 different aerial cables up there, only one of which (from the living room) is actually connected to the aerial.

We now want to put a TV in another room downstairs and I would like to know if there is some way I can identify which cable I want, without having to connect them all one-by-one until I find it? Also, is it OK to run two TV points from the same aerial? It's a modern, digital one.

Many thanks for any advice!

Edited to add that I have now found this post (//www.diynot.com/forums/audio-visual/help-identifying-which-co-ax-cable-goes-to-which-tv-socket.357543/) which is very helpful. I'd still like to know whether it's OK to run two TVs from the same aerial though!

 

[big-all]

trial and error i am afraid a cable that is not connected will have no output so nothing to check
if you connect the tv with someone watching it the central core touched to the center off the socket in the attic you will get a reaction

 

[daxi]

The by yourself method is to short coax core & outer in the room you want & to then check for a short with a multi meter in the loft..You could find a second coax that has been wired badly at the connector, but hopefully not.

 

[Sam Gangee]

I'd still like to know whether it's OK to run two TVs from the same aerial though!

Yes but the method depends on your signal strength. You might get away with a passive signal splitter or you may need an amplified one.
Lots of info. on this site: http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/amps.htm

How to use a multimeter: http://www.The-Cool-Book-shop.co.uk/electronics.htm#multimeter