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TV/SAT signal down a single cable.
Mindee
Posts: 22,975 Forum Member
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I have a situation where a TV aerial signal feeds two rooms in a series formation. This is done by the first room in the line having a Booster/Splitter which then feeds the second room.
In this second room, I would like to install a Sky Satellite Receiver and have considered using a Splitter/Combiner at each end to achieve this or maybe even a 3 way device that I could include a FM signal for a Hifi Tuner also.
Before I purchase these two items, I want to know if the Booster will pass the combined satellite signal (and TV/FM) without being disrupted in any way before it is split again into the original separate signals at the intended Sky box end, i.e. second room.
Any information and thoughts regarding this installation will be greatly appreciated.
In this second room, I would like to install a Sky Satellite Receiver and have considered using a Splitter/Combiner at each end to achieve this or maybe even a 3 way device that I could include a FM signal for a Hifi Tuner also.
Before I purchase these two items, I want to know if the Booster will pass the combined satellite signal (and TV/FM) without being disrupted in any way before it is split again into the original separate signals at the intended Sky box end, i.e. second room.
Any information and thoughts regarding this installation will be greatly appreciated.
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Thanks Nigel.
Could I not directly feed the combined signals to the second room (bypassing the booster) and then feed back to the first room with another cable just for TV in that room i.e with the booster in the second room?
Or you could combine the TV/Sat signals, split them in the first room, and feed TV to your system via a DC blocking filter, and the second output of the splitter goes to the satellite box in the second room.
If you need a booster amp for the TV, put it in the loft to boost the TV signal before you combine the Satellite signal onto the same cable.
Thanks. I'll look into that further. However I still need to retain the TV signal in the second room.
Well I have a booster amp in the loft. The only reason I use the splitter in the first room is, it's a single cable that feeds the two rooms.
A booster amp may also not have the bandwidth to pass the satellite frequencies from the dish either.
Also if you are considering a satellite recorder rather than just a receiver you will really need two feeds from the dish. Unlike TV you cannot simply split a satellite feed into two to feed the two inputs on the recorder or to feed two separate receivers. Again because of the control signals used.
You can get booster/distribution amps with both TV and FM aerial inputs. These are then combined and fed down the same lead to each TV/Radio receiver. You can use a simple splitter to feed a TV and radio in the same room from the same downlead if required. Or use a filtered one that separates the TV and FM frequencies from each other.
You would ideally have the booster amp as close to the two aerials as possible then feed each room out from the booster location.
Would > this < be any use in solving the problem. I know it's for a "Magic Eye" but it may pass the voltage around the booster to the LNB.
Any thoughts.
So you could end up only having a sort of half way control of the LNB.
As I said perhaps easier to keep the satellite separate to the terrestrial cabling.
Agreed. If only that was easy. I can't run a cable externally and internally would cause much upheaval with the boss.
You need a device to combine the signals from the aerial and dish LNB, and a special wallplate with separate outputs for each.
This is a relatively expensive solution. It really would be simpler to install the necessary number of cables,
At the moment it sounds like you have a TV aerial which has a single feed down to room 1. This feed is then split between a TV in room 1 and a lead off to a TV in room 2.
Do you have a satellite dish at the moment? If so which room is that wired to?
If you do not have a dish then surely you will have to run cables to it anyway (or have the installers do so) so in that instance why faff about? Just get the installers to run cables where they are needed?
There are potential solutions that don't involve running separate cables to where the satellite and TV receivers are. But they would require cabling from each room you wanted a TV in back to a central location. Plus of course wiring from TV, FM and even DAB aerials and satellite dish also to that central location.
Makes sense for that central location to be as close to the aerials/dish as possible, eg the loft. You can get systems, eg LoftBox, that combine all the aerials into a single feed that gets sent to a special wall plate where they are separated out again. The wall plate also has a return feed to take TV back up to the LoftBox which then distributes the TV and radio signals to the other rooms.
So you need two cables to the main room where the "master" wall plate is from the loft box and single cables to each of the other rooms.
The system is designed mainly for boxes like the Sky units that have RF IN and OUT sockets on the back. You connect the TV out of the wallplate to the RF IN on the Sky box and RF 1 OUT to the TV next to the box. RF 2 OUT goes to the RETURN socket on the wallplate and from there back up to the LoftBox to be sent to the other rooms. This way the other rooms get the TV aerial signals plus the UHF output of the Sky box.
Could be a bit trickier connecting up some of the Freesat boxes that don't have RF ins and outs on them. But not impossible.
See the diagram here
http://www.satcure.co.uk/tech/loftbox.htm
Though of course that may require rather more wiring than you currently have installed. And the Domestic Facilities Manager may still object to the work needed
This is exactly what has been used for our installation.
We were having a new terrestial install. Even though I said I would assist the installer to pull extra cables down the 'dot & dabbed' plasterboard cavity he didn't want to do that. I knew it could be done as that is how I pulled the original satellite cables through.
He put some sort of combiner in one of the sky cables in the loft to combine the terrestial and sky signals. In the living room he changed the face plate to one with 2 f connectors & a uhf connector. Connected everything up and yes it works, and has been for over a year now without any problems.
It couldn't have been that expensive as he actually reduced his final bill by £10!
Yes I have a Sat.dish and this feeds another two rooms from two ports on the LNB. I also have two spare ports also, so yes, it is possible to use one of those. However the dish is at the front of the house and to get a cable to the rear, where I want it, would not be easy, as the room mentioned, is enclosed by other rooms. As said, I do have an aerial feed into this room.
I'm fully aware of what is available to use by your link. I suppose if I was doing things from scratch then a system like that would be ideal, though as you may know we all do these things bit by bit over time and as circumstances change. With hindsight I should have had a sat. cable installed in this room when the dish was fitted many years ago before any decoration.
I suppose to be honest, I am trying to experiment simply with what I've got, hence my original question, as at the moment I use a VideoSender, which works well but has its limitations, especially being somewhat affected by WiFi.
When I mention the installation of "another" cable, it immediately gets thrown out by the DFM.
Thanks anyway. I'll put up with the pops and clicks......for now.
Yes it can be done. I know that too. My problem is (and I'm trying to get around it) I have a booster inserted in the line for the area I wish to feed with the satellite signal.
Thanks to all who've took interest in this thread.