Connecting an aerial to more than one television?

[flobadob]

If I have an aerial in my roofspace and receive excellent coverage on it how do I go about connecting it to different tvs. I've got the proper coax cable running from the roofspace to the tvs but can I do it using connector blocks rather than a distributor unit? If so how do I make the connections. Do I simply twine all the centre cores together and all the outer sheaths together and then connect them onto the aerial or is it done differently?

[Buenchico]

Your technique would probably work but the purpose of the outer sheaf is to screen the core from interference. It would be better to use a method which retains the integrity of the shield throughout the whole length of the combined cable run.

Cut the existing cable and fit coax plugs to each of the exposed ends:
http://www.maplin.co....le.aspx?ModuleNo=1604
You theoretically need to solder the plugs on, but simply shoving the core into the 'prong', and jamming the sheaf into place as you screw the thing together has always worked for me.

Fit a third coax plug onto the lead which will feed to your new TV.

Then connect the whole lot together with a Y-splitter:
http://www.maplin.co....le.aspx?moduleno=1625

Chris

[flobadob]

Thank Chris. I've done this before using a sort of splitter thing I found lying about on a site once but don't have another one. Also I noticed when using aerial sockets in the house I would lose signal a lot but when I made a straight through joint instead it worked perfectly. Don't know if it was the socket or another reason.

[paintpowder1]

You're right to suspect 'another reason'.
If you use more than one TV at the same time you'll find that the quality will deteriorate....so you need a signal booster to correct this loss!

[AlBags]

Yes .. For goodness sake .. The gain is halved (like halving the signal strength) when you connect a second cable. You need a distribution amplifier. Just buy one with the total number of outputs that you need. One outlet may be higher gain. Use this for the main TV, if it is being fed from this amp.
Ideally, one would use what is called a "head amp" near the antenna, and an amplifier to power it in the loftspace.
If you want to distribute Sky to other sets, you will need to use a single output head amp, connect down to main TV through the Sky box RF, and connect RF2 outlet on Sky box back up another cable to a distribution amp in the loft. Then take this to other sets. You can then tune in the Sky RF on these other sets. You can control in any of these rooms by adding a remote eye kit. In this case, you need a distribution amp compatible with a magic eye.