TV points query

framework123

HI,

Apologies but i am fairly clueless in this area.

My setup is as follows -

In the attic there are external white wires coming in from my sky satelite dish these are connected to 2 black RG6 cables(Not sure how connected,just covered in masking tape).There are 4/5 more of these RG6 cables but the Sky wire is only connected to 2 of them.
There is also a thickish grey wire running around the attic, I dont know what this is or does?

I have standard TV points in around 7 rooms.
In my sitting room there are 4 black (I persume RG6) cables coming out from wall. 2 of these are fed into my Sky Box the other 2 are just loose wires.


Ideally what I would like to do is have Sky available in all rooms with TV points. Also I am also going to install a TV areail to pick up the saorview channels and again would like to have these available in all rooms with TV points.

Will the setup I have outlined above allow this? Will it require much work, could I attempt it myself or get an Electrician in?

Thanks for any advice.
F

lucernarian

framework123 wrote: »

HI,

Apologies but i am fairly clueless in this area.

My setup is as follows -

In the attic there are external white wires coming in from my sky satelite dish these are connected to 2 black RG6 cables(Not sure how connected,just covered in masking tape).There are 4/5 more of these RG6 cables but the Sky wire is only connected to 2 of them.
There is also a thickish grey wire running around the attic, I dont know what this is or does?

I have standard TV points in around 7 rooms.
In my sitting room there are 4 black (I persume RG6) cables coming out from wall. 2 of these are fed into my Sky Box the other 2 are just loose wires.


Ideally what I would like to do is have Sky available in all rooms with TV points. Also I am also going to install a TV areail to pick up the saorview channels and again would like to have these available in all rooms with TV points.

Will the setup I have outlined above allow this? Will it require much work, could I attempt it myself or get an Electrician in?

Thanks for any advice.
F

The thickish grey is likely the mains electrical cables! Here's a picture: http://www.ec21.com/offer_detail/Sell_6242y_6242b_Flat_Twin--7738798.html

To get satellite cables in all the rooms, you'll need a new part for the sky dish. The sky+ box will take two cables and other boxes will need either one or two cables depending on if you want to record while watching another channel or not. (Older ordinary sky boxes only take one cable). If you need to connect more than 8 cables to sky, remember you already are taking up two, it becomes a little more complicated but either way, nothing a good installer shouldn't be able to sort out.

You can get a part that goes on the end of the sky dish that allows for 8 cables to be used, called an Octo LNB. If you need more than 8 you need to get a box which takes the 4 cables from the dish and to put it simply outputs whatever number you need. Oftentimes they have 16 outputs. These boxes are called Multiswitches. Some of them can combine an aerial input and send it down the same cable as the sky boxes. Have a look here: http://www.satellitesuperstore.com/multiswitch.htm. You can get ones that will work with the existing LNB on the sky dish.

The setup you have should allow this with a little work here and there of course, and depending how good your Saorview coverage is. http://coverage.rtenl.ie/index.php move the address pointer to where your house to find out. But it seems you haven't done this sort of stuff before so getting a local TV/Sat installer would be your best bet.

framework123

ok,

Thanks for informative reply...So if I put an OCTO LNB on my dish, does this mean I will have to feed more cables through from the dish into my attic? And then connect these to my internal cabling?

It looks like a multiswitch would be an easier solution for me? I would just feed the current sky wires from the dish into the multiswitch and then connect up all my cables,and also feed in an external aerial if I get one?

Thanks

lucernarian

framework123 wrote: »

ok,

Thanks for informative reply...So if I put an OCTO LNB on my dish, does this mean I will have to feed more cables through from the dish into my attic? And then connect these to my internal cabling?

It looks like a multiswitch would be an easier solution for me? I would just feed the current sky wires from the dish into the multiswitch and then connect up all my cables,and also feed in an external aerial if I get one?

Thanks

Your first point is fully correct, yeah you'd need extra cabling and they can be connected to the existing wires to the rooms.

As for the second question, well you'll need to have 4 cables in total from the sky dish to the multiswitch no matter how many outputs it has. So you'll need to run at least two new cables no matter which route you take. As you may have seen, an Octo would have the advantage of being cheaper at least. A multiswitch would also need its own electrical power from the mains (i.e. an attic socket) I believe.

If there are 7 rooms, there should be more than 4 or 5 cables left over. Are you sure that every room you want sky in has a cable going to the attic?

If you get a multiswitch, it's very important that you get one that works with "Quad" LNBs, not the typical Quattro used for multiswitches.

Probably the majority of places, especially in most larger urban areas can get away with a loft aerial especially if the signal comes through the tiles and not the gable end wall and there's no water tank or foil-lined insulation in the way. You can always get an external aerial and try it out in the attic first, if it doesn't work then stick it outside or get someone to do that for you.

The other important thing is that when using a multiswitch that combines Sat and Aerial feeds, you'll (usually) need to use a faceplate in the other rooms which separates out the different signals. (A diplexer or triplexer face plate). There's one in this link for example: http://www.satellitesuperstore.com/multiswitch.htm#outletplates. The following item would also be perfect: http://www.tvtrade.ie/amplifiers-and-diplexers/wall-plates.html

If you want to put Saorview down to where the existing Sky+ box is being used, probably the easiest thing to do would be to use a third cable going to the room and connect it to one of the spare multiswitch outlets. Then you can either connect that to a diplexer faceplate and use the TV output with no problem or else you could get away with connecting the cable directly to the TV (you only need the the cable for the aerial signal being sent down it anyway)

framework123

thanks again,

Ya just checked there have 6 cables left unconnected in attic and have 6 TV points throughout the house(not including sitting room),so that seems to match up.

I think what i may just do is buy an aerial and connect it to the 6 other TV points..So I will have Saorview available in all other rooms and sky in the main sitting room. Will I need some sort of splitter again to connect Aerial to the 6 other cables?

Also just out of curiousity, in my sitting room , there are 4 wires coming from the wall, 2 of these are connected to the sky box, but 2 others are just left there loose, what purpose are they serving or intended to serve?

Thanks,

F

lucernarian

I saw the same in a house I lived in, they appeared to go to the front of the house to be hooked up to NTL but the number of cables at either end didn't match up. Perhaps they were split somewhere en route to the living room.

It wouldn't be much more complicated to get the multiswitch instead of just distributing the saorview signal. But yes, you can get a distribution amp which will give e.g. 4, 6 or 8 outputs from the one aerial input. It would need access to mains power also.

I take it that it would be awkward to have another 2 cables from the sky dish into the attic on top of the existing two cables?

If you got an 8 way multiswitch, and say 5 or 6of these: http://www.tvtrade.ie/amplifiers-and-diplexers/wall-plates.html and e.g. a saorview aerial kit from the same site for about €30 you'd have most of the rooms setup with Sky/Freesat/Saorview as well as your living room with its sky+. The wallplates just involve connecting one of the outputs from a multiswitch to them.

Just going for Saorview now means you'd still have to feed a second cable to any room if you wanted sky/freesat later, or else you'd have to use a multiswitch as above or else you'd disconnect the Saorview input and hook it up to the dish instead.

framework123

ya it would be more akward to run more cables from the dish. its obviously all sealed up so more drilling etc. and it runs through a walk in weardrobe to the attic,which is all covered up with presses etc now.

I have some sockets in the attic so power isnt a problem up there,luckily
Can you recommed a distribution amp for me?

I actually just re-counted cables in attic, I have 9 in total, so maybe 4 are going to sitting room and 5 to rest of rooms, but that leaves me 1 room short. Electrician would hardly have put in a TV point if no cable running to it or maybe i missed 1 in attic. Or maybe as you say could be 3 going to sitting room with it split somewhere along the way to give 4..Anyway most rooms seem to be covered.

Also I believe any aerial will do for Saorview,or are some better than others? Would this one be ok for inside an attic? I know it states for chimney
http://www.tvtrade.ie/outdoor-uhf-tv-aerial-kit.html


Thanks again

lucernarian

Just heading out now, I'll get back to that this evening! Whereabouts roughly are you based? Most larger urban areas can get away with it in an attic but if there's large buildings between you and the Saorview site then you might need it outside.

framework123

outskirts of killarney - aghadoe - It says nearest station is Knockmoyle.Coverage shows green aswell.
Thanks for all help no rush, just something im looking to sort out over next few weeks

lucernarian

Hi - sorry for not replying sooner, it had completely slipped my mind!

That aerial you linked to comes with a wall mount or a chimney mount. You can choose either when buying.

But... even if the rte coverage checker suggests Knockmoyle, I would recommend using an aerial pointing towards Mullaghanish. It's the main broadcasting station for much of Munster (quicker time to have faults repaired, better backup equipmen if something goes wrong so overall even better reliability) and in an attic, the signal from Mullaghanish will penetrate the roof/walls better than the signal from Knockmoyle.

I'd buy an aerial by itself. Much cheaper, and you can use any number of things to hang an aerial in an attic. String, nails, a wooden baton etc. and with no hassle of drilling etc. Or have it resting on top of a cardboard box. It won't work so well if it lies on the "floor" of the attic. You already have most of the cable in place from the different rooms. If there's an electrical wholesaler or outlet in Killarney, you can get a couple of metres of cable and a few connectors depending on what the distribution amp uses. Which leads me to...
http://www.tvtrade.ie/proception-6-way-tv-amplifier.html

or

http://www.tvtrade.ie/proception-6-way-tv-amplifier-with-bypass.html

The first one uses the traditional TV coax plugs (belling lee plugs) and the second one uses F-connectors which I prefer as they're quicker to fit. Always welcome when working in an attic! They also make a somewhat better electrical connection. Either plug type can be bought in the DIY places or (much more cheaply) in an electrical wholesalers or even ebay or suchlike.


Here's a group A aerial for Mullaghanish http://www.tvtrade.ie/red-group-a-uhf-aerial.html. It needs to be horizontally polarised, like in the picture on that website. Knockmoyle is vertically polarised and uses group c/d or wideband if you go for that.

I went into a fair bit of detail there but it's really straightforward if you've even wired an electrical plug before and you can always ask away if you've any doubts! Good luck.