How many coax cables can come off an aerial?

Draughtsman · 31 Mar 2020

I have an extension in progress & would like to put in a coax socket for terrestrial, I already have an aerial and cable at the other end of the house (aimed at a local booster station). Do I need another arial?

Thank you

Dain

ETAF · 31 Mar 2020

no, you could use an AMP to power the signal to all TVs , dont connect another cable only, the signal ill drop a lot.
I have used a SLx amps https://www.amazon.co.uk/Booster-SLx-Amplifier-27822HSR-Integrated/dp/B00DCVX5FQ?th=1 in the past , But in our new bungalow i used a
Labgear https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0118KQ0H2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which had a remote power source , so i did not need power in the loft
I use 6/8 way because i ran cables to all the rooms , bedrooms etc
BUT you may only want a 2 way , of thats all you are likely to use
I also used for FM aerial as well

SUNRAY · 31 Mar 2020

Dain1 said:
I have an extension in progress & would like to put in a coax socket for terrestrial, I already have an arial and cable at the other end of the house (aimed at a local booster station). Do I need another arial?

Thank you

Dain

Try simply connecting it to both sets first, BEFORE spending any money on it and see what happens.

I've had 6 devices connected to my aerial for years . I had to adjust the aerial for digital switchover as it was about 30 degrees off (and since then added a 11dB passive splitter for Cell phone filtering) but otherwise no problems.

Far too many experts will say it won't work without adding additional kit but if the signal is good you stand a chance.

securespark · 31 Mar 2020

I have two co-ax feeds off one aerial: it's fine.

ericmark · 31 Mar 2020

Aerials are in the main designed to work with 75Ω coax, putting two coax cables into one aerial will cause a miss match, so some thing is needed to allow the splitting this can be a simple resistor or a complex powered electronic box, it will depend on what signal you have if you need a powered device or a passive device.

It is a case of rubbish in, rubbish out, so best place for any powered splitter is at the aerial before any signal is lost, so the mast head amp is best, but first thing is use the menu on the TV which shows signal strength, if high then maybe a cheap splitter will do, but if very low a mast head amp is required, and if in the middle then a amp at the TV may be good enough.

I liked the amp at the TV then I could also feed the VCR into feed for bedrooms so could watch same video after retiring, but that was OK with 14 inch TV, with 32 inch the picture is simply not good enough, so today I use a satellite dish with two special sky Q outputs, and 4 standard satellite outputs, I have a terrestrial TV aerial but never used.

All TV's use HDMI connectors I have one which will work direct to satellite dish, rest all have set bottom boxes, use to be called set top, but top of modern TV too narrow, so if your setting up I would use satellite quality cable so if in the future you move over to get all the extra free channels the same cable will work, for me Sky Q was easy fix, no cables to run, main box great, but the repeater boxes not so good, so my bedroom still has a free to air satellite HD box.

endecotp · 31 Mar 2020

If the signal strength from the local transmitter is high, and your TV is tolerant of a poor signal, then you can get away with all sorts of bodges.

The correct way to do it involves a splitter - which can either be a powered amplifier, or a passive (unpowered) splitter.

A passive splitter is not just a “junction box”; it includes components that balance the impedances.

SUNRAY · 31 Mar 2020

So far 3 negatives.

Do ME a favour and just try a botch first.
If it doesn't work - nothing lost except a few days.
If it doesn't work - start buying pruducts, amplifiers, splitters, power supplies, etc.
If it doesn't work - come back and curse and swear at me for being wrong.
If it doesn't work - I'll be very happy to grovel and apologise for giving the wrong advice.
If it does work - come back and let us know please.

sxturbo · 31 Mar 2020

As Sunray said in theory it should be ok.

The length and quality of the coax also has a big part to play with signal strength.

Pay the little extra for decent cable.

When I moved house I needed some cable as quick and cheap as possible, popped to Screwfix and purchased a labgear (from memory) extension kit it was cheaper than cable on its own and came with connectors. Anyway that evening I found out why it was cheap,the cable was a little on the thin side and I think the shielding and copper core were very poor. I tried to put up with it for a couple of months, I tried all sorts started to doubt my own abilities even. Anyway we moved the living room round and wanted the TV on the other wall and was going to bury cable in the floor so I got decent cable. Not had a problem since.

SUNRAY · 31 Mar 2020

sxturbo said:
As Sunray said in theory it should be ok.

The length and quality of the coax also has a big part to play with signal strength.

Pay the little extra for decent cable.

When I moved house I needed some cable as quick and cheap as possible, popped to Screwfix and purchased a labgear (from memory) extension kit it was cheaper than cable on its own and came with connectors. Anyway that evening I found out why it was cheap,the cable was a little on the thin side and I think the shielding and copper core were very poor. I tried to put up with it for a couple of months, I tried all sorts started to doubt my own abilities even. Anyway we moved the living room round and wanted the TV on the other wall and was going to bury cable in the floor so I got decent cable. Not had a problem since.

Agreed.

I purchased a cheap 100m roll many years ago, I think the screen is about 10% coverage of very thin brittle strands [possibly CCA?] and is just about impossible to terminate without breaking it. I found the part roll on the shelf recently while having a sort out and tested the loss at something like 40dB compared to about 20dB for a whole roll of RG59.

Recycled

winston1 · 31 Mar 2020

SUNRAY said:
Try simply connecting it to both sets first, BEFORE spending any money on it and see what happens.

I've had 6 devices connected to my aerial for years . I had to adjust the aerial for digital switchover as it was about 30 degrees off (and since then added a 11dB passive splitter for Cell phone filtering) but otherwise no problems.

Far too many experts will say it won't work without adding additional kit but if the signal is good you stand a chance.

Typical sparks reply who thinks he’s an expert but in fact knows nothing about RF.

e.g. a passive splitter is NOT a filter so how can it filter cell phone signals.

The correct way to connect two TVs to an aerial is with a proper splitter. It doesn’t cost much.
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MXFBS402.html

Don’t use the plastic Y type sold in DIY sheds. Should there not be enough signal after splitting (unlikely) consider an amplified type 2 set splitter.

winston1 · 31 Mar 2020

securespark said:
I have two co-ax feeds off one aerial: it's fine.

It’s not fine, it is a lossy mismatched bodge done by a sparks who thinks he knows about RF. Confine yourself to electrics which you know and leave RF to the experts.

winston1 · 31 Mar 2020

SUNRAY said:
So far 3 negatives.

Do ME a favour and just try a botch first.

I hope you don’t apply the same principle to all your work. 13 amp sockets wired with bell wire will work in many cases with low loads so just botch it yeah!!

securespark · 31 Mar 2020

Think you know everything, huh?

I didn't install the aerial. It was done by an aerial guy with all the meters, who tested the signal and said it would easily split two ways with no losses.

That was before digital.

It's still working fine nearly 21 years later.

SUNRAY · 31 Mar 2020

winston1 said:
Typical sparks reply who thinks he’s an expert but in fact knows nothing about RF.

So what qualifications and experience does winston have to know better?

winston1 said:
e.g. a passive splitter is NOT a filter so how can it filter cell phone signals.

Perhaps... Just perhaps I know enough to recognise I needed a filter and chose a splitter with a built in filter. Perhaps... Perhaps it might have been better to ask what I did rather than...

winston1 said:
It’s not fine, it is a lossy mismatched bodge done by a sparks who thinks he knows about RF. Confine yourself to electrics which you know and leave RF to the experts.

So what qualifications and experience does Winton have to make you an expert? I wish you'd apply that advice to yourself. So what if the match is wrong.

winston1 said:
I hope you don’t apply the same principle to all your work. 13 amp sockets wired with bell wire will work in many cases with low loads so just botch it yeah!!

Erh NO don't be daft.

So Winston as you seem to be such an expert, lets start by finding out what you do, what experience you have etc. As all I've seen so far is silly, wrong and ignorant statements from you.

Please explain exactly what is wrong with previous posts and why you made the above quoted replies.

sxturbo · 1 Apr 2020

winston1 said:
The correct way to connect two TVs to an aerial is with a proper splitter. It doesn’t cost much.
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/MXFBS402.html

.

This is how I have split my Ariel,

Maybe, for my sins I assumed this was logical.

It does however work a treat. For the cost of it, it's a no brainer really, also saves having to try and get to the aerial to run a 2nd cable.

diynot

If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below, or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.

Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.

Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local

How many coax cables can come off an aerial?

Similar threads