Can I improve Saorview reception safely?

endeval

Hi folks,

Appreciate your expert advice/help.

I am in Glanmire, I have poor Saorview reception and wondering if I can improve it safely while I have T2/Sat combiners and splitters.

Setup
- Standard Horizontal aerial, facing 230' south towards Spur Hill (C45/C49)
- Direction/bearing of aerial "seems" to be ok. Glanmire mast not reachable.
- Signal: Strength 45-55%, Quality 80-90%, BER (LG TV) <10%

- 15M coax run from aerial to distribution area
- 1-in/4-out passive Triax splitter with 4 outputs used (4 TVs)
- 2 of the Terrestrial outputs are combined with Sat and split back (triax combiners/splitters) to TVs
have a quad LNB and Saorview H aerial.
---Saorview reception is better but not great on these. Splitters helping somehow?
- Sat receivers are Humax + LG TV


It is possible to improve the Saorview signal safely when I combine with Sat?
Amplifier, etc?
Curious how exact these H-aerials need to be on bearing to the mast?

Many thanks,
James

Thurston?

By 'standard' aerial, do you mean something like these? I assume it's outdoors & relatively high up?

Replacing the 4-way splitter with a distribution amplifier might do the trick. First, maybe try bypassing the splitter for a single TV, & see what the signal is like when it isn't split.

endeval

Hey there,
Thats the one. It's about 20ft high on the peak of the gable.

I'll give the bypass a go, thanks.

endeval

Hi all,
Great tip, thank you.

I direct-connected ( Aerial - room Terminal ) one by one and the signal strength is now 100%.

Seems either the amount of split distribution or maybe the combiners are dragging down signal strength.


Any ideas how i can improve it safely, without harming any Sat receivers downstream of the combiners?

Many thanks!
James

The Cush

Replace the splitter with a distribution amplifier if you have a power point nearby or of you haven't power available a masthead amplifier with a remote power supply feeding power via one of the co-ax cables from a TV point.

example of a Variable Gain UHF Masthead Amplifier (4 Way) and power supply

endeval

Thanks Cush.

It sounds like it’s safe so to inject power to boost the signal while there are sat receivers downstream via combiners. That’s great.

Should I look at the quality of the combiner/splitters? They are triax

Thanks
James

Thurston?

I doubt splitter quality is an issue: it's just that your signal isn't strong enough to survive the 4-way split.

Given that you're only a few miles from a 50 kW transmitter, this probably shouldn't be the case, unless the terrain or 'clutter' like buildings & trees are interfering.

Anyhow, adding an amplifier should be an easier fix than looking at resiting your aerial.

endeval

Thanks lads, really appreciate it.

I'll see if i can find a local retailer for the power distrib unit.

winston_1

Thurston? wrote: »

I doubt splitter quality is an issue: it's just that your signal isn't strong enough to survive the 4-way split.

Given that you're only a few miles from a 50 kW transmitter, this probably shouldn't be the case, unless the terrain or 'clutter' like buildings & trees are interfering.

Anyhow, adding an amplifier should be an easier fix than looking at resiting your aerial.

If there is an aerial problem it should be fixed rather than masking it with an unnecessary amplifier. No doubt it will get worse and you will have to fix it eventually anyway.

The Cush

winston_1 wrote: »

If there is an aerial problem it should be fixed rather than masking it with an unnecessary amplifier. No doubt it will get worse and you will have to fix it eventually anyway.

Most likely a difficult reception area with a nearby low power transmitter that the OP can't get a signal from. Replacing the standard contract aerial with a hi-gain model might improve reception enough not to require replacing the splitter with an amp but the amp is probably an easier fix.

endeval

Hi all.

Update: installed a Wolsey 6-way amp with 10dB gain. Everything is much better now on all TVs.

Perfect. Thanks!