There could be a couple of different points of failure after and electrical storm. Trouble-shooting your system is a good idea, but in unplugging the booster and splitter you may have actually unplugged the power supply feeding a masthead amplifier. Whilst unplugged, you'll get no signal from the aerial cable directly because it's being blocked by the masthead amp that has no power.
Also, unless you know from previous experience that the particular indoor aerial has work in your home - and in the room where you're using it - and also that it's correctly aligned both in direction (i.e. pointing at the transmitter) and in polarisation (i.e. the 'fins' either horizontal or vertical to match the polarisation of the local transmitter) then it could be giving you a bum steer too.
You'd be better off taking a TV and a Freeview recorder to your mum's place to try on her aerial system. That way you know 100% for sure that there's a signal. After you've tried an auto tune then you'll know if your telly and recorder are good. Then you can go back home and start to diagnose where the fault is with the aerial system.
Presuming that the TV and recorder work, and there have been no lightening strikes within a mile or so of your property, the next thing to do it to try the single aerial feed. For this, you'll need to know whether you have a masthead amp, and if so, make sure that its power supply is connected.
A masthead amp is generally a box fitted somewhere along the length of the aerial mast. It looks something like this:
image credit to
www.digitaltvhelp.com.au
The power supply for a masthead amp is often mistaken for a booster because it plugs in to the mains and has an In and an Out for aerial connections. The exact look varies from make to make, but they all follow a very similar layout of signal connections and a power lead.
What it really does is use the aerial cable itself as the conductor for power up to the amplifier box near the aerial proper. In the trade, we call this
phantom powering. That's because there are no extra wires, and the power passes like a ghost unseen by the aerial signal travelling down the cable in the opposite direction.
When you come to test the aerial system, and you've seen that you've got a masthead amp, then you'll need this connected so that the amp works otherwise there'll be no signal.
These sort of power supplies don't just power the masthead amp. They can also power a certain class of distribution amplifier that uses phantom power too. This means that if you're struggling to find how the 4/6/8/12-way amplified splitter in your loft connects to the mains, then it might be that it uses phantom power. If it does, then it may be that the coax connection from the power supply needs to connect to a specific socket on the amp, so do take the time to label your connections before unplugging things.
With the aerial, masthead amp and its power supply connected then you should get a signal so long as there has been no damage or misalignment.
A multi-way amplified splitter can be reconnected after you've proved that the basic aerial system works.
In the event that the basic test didn't produce a signal on a TV or recorder that you know is good, then you're looking for faults in the aerial system.
Start with the power supply. There should be an LED light to indicate power. If there's no light then do the basic checks first: Is the wall socket switched on. Has the fuse in the power supply's mains plug blown? If there's still no light then chances are that a mains surge could have killed the power supply. Buy a new one.
Once the power supply is running, double-check any aerial connection leads. Stray wisps of shielding braid touching the centre core will prevent the masthead amp getting its power. A storm won't change that or create that as a problem, but once you start to mess with connections then if plugs are loose or were poorly fitted it may become an issue as things are reconnected.
Things that could still stop the aerial system from working: 1) a head masthead amp 2) a fried circuit board at the back of the aerial called the balun. Since both of these are up at the aerial level, then you'll need to access the loft or eaves or roof where ever the aerial is fitted. That might be a job for an aerial fitter.
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. I could be wrong, but I think it's just an aerial, comes into the house and goes into a separate booster, which then goes to a splitter to run the other TV.
