Poor sky signal on second tv

[Trace015]

Hi, I have a poor sky signal (fuzzy) on my tv upstairs and wondered what was the best way to cure this? I did try an amplifier which did improve the signal quite a bit (but still a little fuzzy), but wondered if this is the best I could hope for? The signal is via an aerial cable from downstairs, through the sky (hd) box. It wasn't a fantastic picture before, but since the digital switchover it seems to have got worse.

 

[Peter Rhea]

Does the Sky box also have a terrestrial aerial connected (to RF in) or is there any other means for combining the terrestrial signal with the Sky feed to the affected tv?

 

[Trace015]

Hi Peter, Yes it does have a terrestrial aerial fitted. We had one suitable for digital fitted when we had ITV digital system some years ago.

 

[Peter Rhea]

Does the affected tv have a Freeview tuner? If so, are all channels viewable or are any conspicuous by their absence?

Do you know which UHF channel the Sky box outputs on & which terrestrial transmitter you receive from? There may be a conflict.

 

[Trace015]

Yes the tv has a built in freeview; there are a few channels that come up as 'no signal'. As for the UHF channel I'm not sure to be honest. What would be the best way of finding this?

 

[Peter Rhea]

Go into the hidden service menu on the Skybox: on your remote press quickly in succession; Services-0-0-1-Select (think this is correct for HD boxes, the alternative is; Services-4-0-1-Select). There should be an option here for RF output or similar which should tell you which UHF channel is in use.

 

[Trace015]

I went into services and tried the various options and even went through all the other available screens ther, but there wasn't anything with a RF output on it unfortunately.

 

[logiciel]

Hi and welcome to AVF.
You started your thread about Sky immediately below this fixed request from forum admin not to:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/satellite-tv/411852-if-your-topic-freesat-sky-do-not-post-here.html.
It's "the hidden service menu" that you need so it's no use going into the normal one.
Follow Peter Rhea's instructions to find the RF Output channel and if it's not 68 change it to that.
Then set a programme number on your extension TV's analogue tuner to channel 68.

 

[Trace015]

Hi Logiciel, apologies for posting under the wrong heading; thought I had gone in on the Sky HD one, but either way I wasn't sure if this was an aerial issue anyway?
I've followed the instructions as Peter has suggested and after several attempts, I finally got there!! The RF output is 68 and it had an 'RF output power' bar under that which said it was 'off'. Not sure if that has any effect? The second tv is also tuned into channel 68, but is fuzzy.

 

[Stevenage Neil]

Does your downstairs TV have a terrestrial, (aerial) socket? If so what do you get if you plug the terrestrial aerial directly into the TV? Can you receive all the channels?

What happens in you plug the aerial back into the Sky box and the Sky box RF1 output into the downstairs TV aerial input?

 

[Trace015]

The downstairs tv does have an aerial socket and when I plug the terrestial aerial direct into the tv, naturally I lose the sky channels, but still have the digital channels ok. I put it back to its original setup, with the aerial into the Sky box and the output to the tv and I can't say I notice any difference??
I should probably point out that there is a 3dB attenuator fitted to the terrestrial aerial socket. Not sure if this has any diffenrence on the picture upstairs?

 

[Peter Rhea]

Ah yes, I should have asked if removing the terrestrial input from the Skybox offered any improvement at the upstairs tv, before proceeding any further.

If it is a Freeview multiplex that is interfering with the Skybox output, then there should be a pretty obvious improvement if the source of the Freeview signal is removed.

 

[logiciel]

That's OK Trace, and I moved you to the wrong place to begin with.
In the original post there's an amplifier, now there's the attenuator - do you actually need them?

 

[Trace015]

Hi, Peter there's no difference in the quality of the picture if I take the aerial out of the Sky box; just lose all the non sky digital signals to the tv's!!
Hi, logiciel, I tried the amplifier, which did improve the picture, but was a rather bulky version so not practical for the position (if an amplifier is the answer, might have to look for a slightly more powerful version with a flylead attached!) as for the attenuator, that was fitted when the aerial was originally installed and I just thought I had to leave it in place as I don't know any better!

 

[Peter Rhea]

Since you have an attenuator fitted to your aerial downlead, you must be in a pretty strong signal area, so there's still the possibility of terrestrial signal being picked up on the cables with no aerial attached. Indeed, your aerial mightn't be contributing much at all.

Would still be interested to find out what channels are in use. I'm only pursuing this because you mentioned in your op that the picture from the Sky box seemed to have got worse since switchover.

 

[logiciel]

Where did you fix the amplifier, and where is the attentuator?
Is the current situation that with aerial to Sky Aerial In, Sky RF1 Out to main TV, Sky RF 2 Out to extension TV, main TV gets Freeview and Sky normally, extension TV gets them all but in poor quality?

 

[Trace015]

Peter, when you ask as to what channels are in use, is this on the tv upstairs?? When I have that in the digital mode, I can get most of the tv channels, although a few have 'no signal'. In the analogue mode, that just receives the sky channels from downstairs and is set to channel 68.

logiciel, the amp was fixed to the aerial going into the tv upstairs and the attenuator was fitted to the incoming aerial downstairs. As for the setup, yes it is as stated, with the downstairs getting freeview and Sky and the upstairs getting freeview (with a few channels missing - 'no signal') but is a decent picture and a poor quality Sky picture on the old analogue mode, set to channel 68.

 

[Stevenage Neil]

68 is at one end of the TV's tuning range. Try changing the RF channel on the Sky box, (21 to 69), retuning your upstairs TV each time, to see if the Sky picture improves. Do this with the terrestrial aerial disconnected at first.

 

[Peter Rhea]

In the analogue mode, that just receives the sky channels from downstairs and is set to channel 68.

Well, 68 should be well away from any Freeview channels, unless some are using it on a temporary basis.

 

[anfukf]

Well, 68 should be well away from any Freeview channels, unless some are using it on a temporary basis.

Depends on the area,Sandy Heath for example has a freeview output on channel 67.

 

[Trace015]

As I live in the Midlands, the digital uk website says my most likey transmitter is Sutton Coldfield and according to the page the channels vary from 39+ to 46. Is that of any use?

 

[Trace015]

Just as a thought, as I stated earlier, the signal is sent from the digibox downstairs via the existing coax cable which is embedded in the wall and up through the loft. Not sure when this cable was put in but I have lived in the house for over 20 years and it was in then. Would it be worth changing to some 'satellite' coax cable like I've seen on Screwfix? If that is the case, what would anybody recommend, as there are various types; RG6 or PF100? Or as I am getting decent digital freeview pictures via the same cable, would it make any difference?

 

[Stevenage Neil]

Try Post 18 and post the results.

 

[Trace015]

Blimey I'm going to be fit running up and down the stairs trying them all!!! lol!! So far I've tried 21, 22, 23 and they are a lot clearer (without the terestrial aerial plugged in of course.

 

[logiciel]

my most likey transmitter is Sutton Coldfield and according to the page the channels vary from 39+ to 46. Is that of any use?

That's correct and it is of use at it tells us that you should be fine on 68, or on almost anything else!
The wiring could certainly be part of the problem and you could find out whether it is by getting a length of new aerial cable and running it direct from Sky RF2 Out to the extension TV - which you could bring closer for the test, even into the same room to avoid that running around.