Will splitting co-ax cable cause loss of signal?

thenashlegend

Hey guys...Just wanted to as a quick question! I've got a one cable feed into the main tv in the house. It was being fed through a VCR and back another cable to a second tv in another room. That cable was since pulled out and the others have been hidden in conduit.
I'm wondering can I split the main feed in the attic and route it to the second tv? Or will it cause loss of quality? Any help would be appreciated!:)

macbrada

If you split the main feed you should run It to a booster box. These are available in most electrical stores. You usually can feed a few tv sets off this.

Not expensive if I remember correctly

youtube!

You could split it,but the analog signal that you currently have wont be around for long so I wouldnt bother. Digital signals require their own dedicated cable for each TV.

danjo

The short answer to your question is yes.
Assuming you use a passive splitter, it will reduce the signal by half. This may be quite acceptable if you have a strong signal. If the signal is marginal then you should consider an amplifier/splitter as suggested above. This would also be useful if you decide to install more tv's.

danjo

youtube! wrote: »

Digital signals require their own dedicated cable for each TV.

How did you arrive at this conclusion?

thenashlegend

youtube! wrote: »

Digital signals require their own dedicated cable for each TV.

Are you sure? I hadn't heard that?

Other than that I could get a booster box installed. From my limited understanding Saorview will still be using the normal co-ax cable we have now? I'm not totally sure what to do about Saorview but if I could get the basic channels working for now I'd be happy.

youtube!

Sorry I got this wrong, I thought you meant that you wanted to split your signal to watch various TVs on different channels at the same time. If it is analog that is fine but on a digital signal you would run a co-ax from your ariel/sky dish, to each decoder if you wish to have that feature.

The Cush

youtube! wrote: »

Sorry I got this wrong, I thought you meant that you wanted to split your signal to watch various TVs on different channels at the same time. If it is analog that is fine but on a digital signal you would run a co-ax from your ariel/sky dish, to each decoder if you wish to have that feature.

Only one co-ax cable from the aerial is required to feed a TV/STB/splitter/amp, doesn't matter if the signal is digital or analogue. A satellite feed requires a separate co-ax from the LNB to each satellite receiver input.

thenashlegend

Ah right..thats settled then! Thanks for the info lads! Haven't fully decided on the whole Saorview/Freesat issue yet, we had a pretty bad analogue signal hence the reason we switched to Sky, although it would be cheaper to get a Saorview/Sat combo box I dont know how well it'll work with our old signal!

hibble

thenashlegend wrote: »

we had a pretty bad analogue signal hence the reason we switched to Sky, although it would be cheaper to get a Saorview/Sat combo box I dont know how well it'll work with our old signal!

Important thing is to get the right kit and set your aerial up to your correct transmitter according to the Saorview website.

My analogue signal was absolutely brutal - couldn't watch VHF or UHF. Put up a new aerial, ran new cable perfect signal now digital or analogue. The terrestial cable is split 4 ways through a booster I had already had all along. Great picture via Saorview telly (kitchen) Ariva 120 combo (sitting room) CRT telly (daughters bedroom TV3 TG4 analogue) Fourth feed goes to 2nd bedroom but no telly there yet!

thenashlegend

Thanks for that! I'm not at all good with height's so if a new aerial is required it'll be left to someone in the know. We have two aerials up at the minute, I think one is the UHF type but the other is horizontal, about three feet long with bars coming off a central line.. Like this >> I-I-I-I-I- . Apologies for the horrific desciption I wonder would they be sufficient?

The Cush

thenashlegend wrote: »

We have two aerials up at the minute, I think one is the UHF type but the other is horizontal, about three feet long with bars coming off a central line.. Like this >> I-I-I-I-I- . Apologies for the horrific desciption I wonder would they be sufficient?

The one that looks like this I-I-I-I-I-, does it look like this LP7 VHF aerial? If so it'll no longer be required from Oct 24th, not used for Saorview. At the moment the aerial is used for analogue RTÉ1&2 from 5 main transmitters and 1 relay transmitter.

If you get analogue TV3 now with your UHF aerial it should be OK for Saorview when you decide to upgrade. Do you know which transmitter you use for analogue TV or approx where are you located?

Back to your original question, use a distribution amplifier to split the signal in the attic.

thenashlegend

The Cush wrote: »

Do you know which transmitter you use for analogue TV or approx where are you located?

As far as I know it was Longford? I'm in Mayo!

Kristopherus

If you are in Mayo, its probable that you are getting your signal from one of the deflectors. Give a general indication of where you are, please.

John mac

where abouts ish. ?

TheChizler

thenashlegend wrote: »

Thanks for that! I'm not at all good with height's so if a new aerial is required it'll be left to someone in the know. We have two aerials up at the minute, I think one is the UHF type but the other is horizontal, about three feet long with bars coming off a central line.. Like this >> I-I-I-I-I- . Apologies for the horrific desciption I wonder would they be sufficient?

You might as well try the setup minus modifications to the aerial first. It may be unnecessary. I can receive the entire Saorview experience with just a length of coax coiled up behind the tv, and I'm not that particularly close to the transmitter.

thenashlegend

Kristopherus wrote: »

If you are in Mayo, its probable that you are getting your signal from one of the deflectors. Give a general indication of where you are, please.

East Mayo, around Claremorris.

The Cush

thenashlegend wrote: »

East Mayo, around Claremorris.

The Saorview coverage checker recommends Maghera (N Clare) for the Claremorris area, UHF aerial pointing south.

thenashlegend

Interesting! Clare seems a longer distance away than Longford, maybe it'll give us a better signal!

Ronnie Raygun

Try checking your own exact location, by moving the marker on the map. In some places, Castlebar is the recommended transmitter & as you get closer to Ballyhaunis, Truskmore (Sligo) comes into play.

Cairn Hill (Longford) had the advantage in analogue days of only needing 1 aerial to get all 4 channels.

The surest way to find the best transmitter is to physically check reception from each at your location.