Signal Stops when plasma turns on

Dr Jones · **3rd August 2008, 04:45 PM**

Hi folks, been runnig a HTPC for a couple of months now with no major dramas. One thing that was bothering me was that the antenna outlet in my house was in another room so I had a long lead across the floor (not cool). Today I got motivated and up in the ceiling I went and dropped a run of coax down near the HTPC. I used a signal splitter in the ceiling so the other outlet would still work.

Now I still get perfect quality digital on all channels using the old outlet, the new one appears to work just fine too, well at least the sound is smooth until I turn the plasma on and the signal stops completely or at other times is unwatchable. Strange. Obviously I have picked up some interference somewhere.

Any tips? Has anyone ever encountered this before?

Redwight · **3rd August 2008, 06:40 PM**

It sounds like you have made a mistake with one of the connectors and are living in a strong signal area. I am kind of assuming you used a saddle and screw type splitter rather than an F-connector type as that the kind of situation I've seen the most cabling mistakes made. I've got three three way F-type splitters here running into 7 outlets and am the only one that actually uses it but have noticed no adverse effects from splitting the signal that much, and that's in a house that has at least 8 computers running most of the time in it. If you get a poor connection you can easily pickup interference from things like power supplies in PC's and modern TV's.
Out of curiosity if you still have the old cable around does the other socket still work or display the same problem.

Dr Jones · **3rd August 2008, 06:53 PM**

You are correct, saddle and screw it was. As I said in my post the old outlet works fine still (thank god). When you say I live in a strong signal area are you saying I'm still getting something even though I may have made a mistake.

What could I have done really mistake wise? Things to check?

Thanks for your help.

Redwight · **3rd August 2008, 07:05 PM**

Check for stray bits of braid sticking out from under the saddle or the braid touching a component, that kind of thing; and as it's only the one side check for any other differences on that connection of the splitter. The reasoning is that the outer part of the co-axial cable is considered the shielding and your problem sounds like bad shielding as opposed to a broken inner on the cable which has different side effects. One of my pet favourite mistakes is the saddle and screw wall plates are possibly one of the dodgeiest products I've ever come across, when a still cheap F-connector one is nearly idiot proof. The wall plates were really easy to get the braid shorting onto the circuit bord tracks under them and took seconds to get the solder on the inner connection to fail as well.

Dr Jones · **4th August 2008, 05:55 PM**

When I get a chance I'll get up there and recheck everything. I was carefuly to avoid the shield touching anything but who knows. I learnt that lesson a while back.

KingHilary · **5th August 2008, 09:05 AM**

Redwight,

Could you post a picture or link to a picture of these two types of splitters that you mention? Any tips on what is the best type of splitter to put at the wall to split the ariel between the HTPC and the TV?

Thanks,

KH.

Redwight · **5th August 2008, 11:20 PM**

Gimme a couple of days and the answers yes, I can do some pics for sure.

And the F-types the best at everything as far as I'm concerned but it also pays to use crimp connectors on them. I'll get to that too.

Redwight · **8th August 2008, 02:46 PM**

The splitters where I'm living ATM, using crimp plugs and F-type splitters (3x3way).

A 4 way saddle and screw splitter.

A saddle and screw wall plate with FM socket from the back.

A 6 Way F-type splitter.

F-type crimp plugs, before crimping and with TV socket adaptor.

The saddle and screw types persist only because of ease of use, no special tools are required. As you can see however the only special tool required are a set of crimpers and maybe coaxial strippers for the F-type. There are also screw on F-types available, as well as sealed types for outdoor use. The inner of the coaxial is the center connector and the crimp section should get a good connection on the braid\shield.
And as for the splitters you will loose over twice the signal through the saddle and screw type. Minimal loss in the two way ones through to massive amounts through the picture 4-way Saddle and screw splitter. And you get the added bonus of having stray bits of braid sticking out in the most inconvenient way, the awkward angle the cable sits at in brick walls, and they're easily damaged while working on them.