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| Thread ID: 60447 | 2005-08-02 04:04:00 | Improving TV reception | Morgenmuffel (187) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 377480 | 2005-08-03 15:48:00 | now that picture with the joker has his hand up, next to "This is from today - I cut a bit out of a big picture rather than shrinking it down" Exactly the picture I had once were I had to go out and "water" the aerial with a garden hose to get a good picture back, this only lasted 20 minutes or so before the aerial dried off, It only happened on TV1 and I fixed after replacing all the bolts holding the aerial elements. |
ERR (8231) | ||
| 377481 | 2005-08-03 22:05:00 | I did try upending water on all the bolts, but it made no difference, but then again it probably didn't get the best soak, so will look at replacing the bolts as regards the connection box, some of the bottom connections were actually corroded right off (well they were sitting there but the y looked cracked right off), these are I am assuming some form of earthing? for the cable sheath so would that have much of an effect the signal or not Cheers |
Morgenmuffel (187) | ||
| 377482 | 2005-08-03 22:15:00 | to state the bleeing obvious here.....the UV combiner has had water in it, its stuffed throw it away and get a new one. also the cable may be stuffed to tho if the water hasn't gotten to far down it you can simply shorten it. aerial.... take it down, cut the bolts off on the connecting bars, clean the bars, install new bolts and new bauln. |
tweak'e (69) | ||
| 377483 | 2005-08-03 22:45:00 | That is terminally stuffed Nigel! (pardon the pun). You will need to replace all of the rusted/corroded bolts, and it is almost certain that water has entered the coax sheath so that should be replaced as well, all the way back to the set. It is not possible to see from your photo whether the balun (transformer that matches the elements to the cable) is intact or even if it is intended to be an integral part of that model of antenna, but with that level of corrosion I wouldn't waste time on it. It would probably be cheaper, easier and faster to get a new antenna and coax downlead, but take care to get the correct type for your location. If in doubt, take advice or try to get one that matches the appearance and complexity of the average aerial in your neighbourhood. Your RFI symptoms are possibly due to cross-modulation effects caused by signal rectification in the corroded contacts or the coax. Copper oxide is a good rectifier so the coax would probably be the prime culprit. Personally speaking, if TV viewing is important to you I'd get quotes on a new installation. Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 377484 | 2005-08-03 23:27:00 | Damn, i didn't really want to replace it, is there a way to jury rig the combiner to see if that is the problem, as the actual aerial itself doent look bad at all, there is only minimal rust on the bolts, as to the combiner, if i clean it and resolder the connections, would that allow i to work (temporarily), so I can see if it is just this and the Coax that need replacing or the whole damn aerial and everything Cheers How much do new aerials cost, couldn't see one on DSE and how much do combiners cost thanks |
Morgenmuffel (187) | ||
| 377485 | 2005-08-04 00:13:00 | You can try cleaning the combiner, but the corrosion on the screws is quite extreme, so personally I think you would be wasting your time . They are not that expensive . I can see the corrosion on the coax, and in my opinion (and experience) you would be wasting time and energy on that too, trying to save it by shortening . Capilliary action will have dragged moisture well down (and up) the cables . Even if you jury-rig the combiner the cables will still be a major problem because the screen will be high impedance . Coax is not that expensive so buy good quality and replace it all . Repairing the aerial is OK, but take care not to damage it when cutting off the bolts . You are unlikely to be able to undo the nuts with the likely corosion levels . The elements are often stress-hardened and brittle or cracked adjacent to the screws too, so you need to be fairly careful . Having said all that, my current antenna is a log-periodic (Hills EFC 5, the most complex for connections) and is over 25 years old . I have replaced the bolts twice and it is still OK, but due for replacement soon, it won't survive a third attempt . Cheers Billy 8-{) |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 377486 | 2005-08-04 13:21:00 | This won't help your problem, but may be of some use: TV tuning guide (www.med.govt.nz) |
Greg (193) | ||
| 377487 | 2005-08-07 23:25:00 | well i jumped up on the roof over the weekend and shortened the cables back to where there was no corrosion soldered everything back up, and one is a lot better (it's not perfect but it is ahell of a lot better than it was, even with all the dry joints in my terrible soldering), as are prime and maori. So thank all GREG thanks for the tuning guide the interference i am getting now, is the same as the very first picture on the second page of that PDF under the aerials heading, but everythings now watchable so its all good |
Morgenmuffel (187) | ||
| 377488 | 2005-08-08 07:21:00 | Why does something so obvious and simple get turned into a complicated technical discussion. It was suggested about a week ago to check the connections at the aerial, it is always the first place to check when having reception problems. |
Safari (3993) | ||
| 377489 | 2005-08-09 01:04:00 | well rather stupidly, until i got up on the roof it never occured to me there was a connection up there (yes I know, wally of the week material), so i had checked every connection including the one coming from the roof, just not the one actually on the roof. As a side note, all channels are better now, except 2 which is really grainy and almost unwatchable, it's really quite strange one is now as good as two was last week and two is nearly asbad as one was last week, but anyway I watch one more often than i watch 2 so not a biggie, just grumpy kids |
Morgenmuffel (187) | ||
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