Sctv

^whitey^

I have one TV aerial that picks up RTE, TV3 & TG4 pointing in one direction.
And another aerial that picks up South Coast TV point in a different diection.

How can I combine the aerials so that I can watch from both aerials on the same TV.

Is it possible to connect the cable coming from one aerial to the cable on the other aerial so I can have the signals coming off both aerials travelling down the one cable.

Hope I made myself clear.

Cheers.

Chalk

get a y-splitter



two cables into that - then into tv

^whitey^

Chalk wrote:

get a y-splitter



two cables into that - then into tv

Quick reply :eek:

But dont they "split" the signal and not combine it if you know what I meean???

I havent tried this before so i'm clueless?

Chalk

they can split one signal into two,
or two inot one,

theyre fairly versatile and only about 50p

^whitey^

Chalk wrote:

they can split one signal into two,
or two inot one,

theyre fairly versatile and only about 50p

Cheers, will try that at the weekend

Rippy

Where are you living and what transmitters are you pointing at?
Correct way to combine aerials is with a diplexer,depends on the frequencies of the two transmitters. for instance if you are using main Carrigaline transmitter for SCTV and Crosshaven for RTE you should use a 5153 diplexer.
Carrigaline SCTV frequencies are 40, 42, 45,48 - Crosshaven RTE is 55,59 & 65.
So South Coast is below Ch 52 and is inserted into the left (low) side of the diplexer, and RTE is above 52 and is therefore put into the right side (high).

If you are using an amp the diplexer goes on the aerial side .

^whitey^

Im in ballincollig Rippy, got it working with a bog standard splitter/combiner as above.

However the signal was bad on the english but perfect on the irish when using the splitter.

Thought this might be due to noise, due to the fact that after the Y splitter/combiner I have it split further into four outlets which has 4 long runs of wire around the house to the tv outlets.

So I plugged the Y splitter striaght into the back of a TV then plugged both aerials into that and it worked, perfect reception

So im off to argos during the week to get a booster with 4 outputs to replace the current simple 4 way splitter so I can watch Irish & English on all TV's around the house.

Thanks for the help Chalk.

BrianD

Are SCTV not turning off their analogue deflectors? Thought they were going digital in autumn?

Rippy

You are dead lucky to get perfect reception combining in Balllincollig.
Not every body does. The problem is you are getting South Coast from Iniscarra (BBC1 ch69, BBC2 ch61 , ITV ch66, CH Four ch 64), and Irish Chs from Spur Hill ( RTE 1 ch53, RTE2 ch57, TV3 ch60, TG4 ch63). Both of these are horizontal polarisation and in oppisite directions for most of Ballincollig.
Co-channel interference on adjacent channels is possible (eg. TV3 ch60 & BBC2 ch61, also TG4 ch63 & CH Four on Ch64) if the aerials are combined. Usually the best way here is an A-B switch between the two cables. Guess you just got lucky!

Rippy

Brian, South Coast plan to start work on the digital service in September. This will be a roll-out and will not mean the immediate switch off of analogue transmitters.
I assume main transmitter in Carrigaline will be first to go digital, could be a good while before the little ones like Inisacarra get it.
I'm in the trade and South Coast are not telling us much at the moment.

^whitey^

I need to get a 4-way booster to replace the passive splitter .... any suggestions?
Can I get one with 2 inputs VHF/UHF for IRISH/SCTV or will I just use the Y splitter/combiner?
What should I look out for when buying one?

Thanks for the help lads.

Mike 1972

"Y splitters" are a pile of junk

You can get metal (screened) splitters in Maplin or proper masthead combiners