advice for wiring aerial and coax for 4 tvs

[brucelee]

Hi all I would like to know best way to wire aerial points for 4 tvs
2 bedroooms, 1 living room and 1 in kitchen

should i fit aerial in loft take main coax to a splitter/booster then do individual drops to each tv
Is it acceptable to take supply from upstairs lighting for booster but use a 2 pin plug and socket arrangement so it cant be used for other reasons in future
reason i ask is havnt installed any in yrs long before digi tv and satellite lol
whats correct coax digital or ordinary 75ohm

any advice gratefully appreciated thanks

its for the mother in law so best get it right lol

 

[Phil]

I got a decent Ariel and got a roofer mate to pop it up for 20 quid on the chimney pot. drops into the loft to the booster and straight down to each bedroom where needed. I have power in the loft as in a radial on its own and lighting so now issues with popping a socket up there

 

[topquark]

Depends on what the signal strength is like mate. If it's a poor strength location then best to locate the aerial outside if possible rather than in the loft. Ordinary 75Ohm coax is fine for terrestrial digital TV.

 

[Phil]

get it put outside brucie or else its moaning from the mother in law everytime she gets the squares and the loud glitching noise that goes with it and you know its not worth getting the cold stare when she calls you round to moan

 

[brucelee]

cheers for replies

i have done my own in loft as we live south of winter hill (Rivington Pike television mast) in sight about 5- 7 miles away
I have aerial in loft coax to a booster in bedroom and then drops to each tv
but sometimes pictures arent the best they were better when it was old signal lol

If they want it in loft is it acceptable to wire the power from the upstairs lighting or not,
or there is a cupboard on landing where i could install the booster and a supply then run the coaxes under floor boards as they havnt moved in yet

 

[Adam W]

IMO best to run the booster from a power cct rather than lighting.
Boosters tend to come with a moulded plug on them so best not to snip that off if possible, and if you have a special socket which isn't next to a 13A socket it will probably get changed for one at some point so a vacuum cleaner can be plugged into it for convenience.
I don't think the location of the booster makes much difference; probably preferable in the loft so it's out of the way and you can drop straight down to the bedrooms, but if there's no power up there it's better not to introduce any kind of socket to the lighting circuit.

 

[topquark]

The booster should be located as close to the aerial as possible to avoid signal degredation over a longer run (otherwise you end up amplifying a poorer signal including, possibly, additional noise).

Nothing wrong (regs wise) with using the lighting circuit. I don't like doing it as there is a risk of unnecessary interference from fluorescents (often used up in the loft, although they're not always on).

I prefer to take the upstairs ring up into the loft, if rewiring (spur if not).

 

[brucelee]

Hi Cheers for replies
I was going to take everything to a cupboard located on the landing and install a socket in there but they are moving the loft hatch and enlarging it and this cupboard is now in the way due to were the ladders wil now come down.So it looks as if the option of installing in loft is my only option so will run a socket up there
is digital satellite cable 75ohm suitable for digital television I have never used before and the brother in law has bought everything he said neweys says its better than old style coax? just want to check before i go crawling rund a loft doing these drops and chases to all the different tvs

 

[topquark]

Hi Cheers for replies
I was going to take everything to a cupboard located on the landing and install a socket in there but they are moving the loft hatch and enlarging it and this cupboard is now in the way due to were the ladders wil now come down.So it looks as if the option of installing in loft is my only option so will run a socket up there
is digital satellite cable 75ohm suitable for digital television I have never used before and the brother in law has bought everything he said neweys says its better than old style coax? just want to check before i go crawling rund a loft doing these drops and chases to all the different tvs

The problem with satellite cable is it's often slightly smaller overall outside diameter than the old coax so doesn't always fit securely. Also the conductor in TV coax is smaller. If you're planning on using F connectors then it's not so bad (most aerials come with F connectors these days). Electrically very similar, same impedance (75Ohm) but usually better quality shielding on satellite cable and more expensive as bigger conductor.

The upshot is that electrically you can use satellite cable for TV but not vice-versa. HTH.

 

[brucelee]

cheers mate

thanks for the info not installed any before only old style coax just wanted to check

will get the F style connectors as you suggest

thanks again to all