Improving TV signal

MarkB

All i have the Shakespeare pizza dish think it's 10" or so. Also have the signal booster in the TV center.

Need to up the signal strength as I have frequent losses of signal (picture pauses for a second or so).  

I'm going to redo all the connections when I get the boat back from storage.

Was wondering if I should change components.  The boat is only 4 seasons old so it's not a question of age but rather if there's something better out there like a signal booster.

Also what is the trick with the in from the antenna going into the out of the booster??? I think Greg was saying something about that

Thanks. Mark. 

Michael T

Mark, do you presently have a signal booster?If so,  is your signal booster a 110v model? Can the strength of the signal be increased or decreased at the splitter -  usually by an adjustment screw? 

DanD2

I've got the same antenna and am not happy with it's performance. Gonna have to try something different this coming summer.

MarkB

MT I have a signal booster but I don't think it is 110V as the TV operates on 12V while underway.

JC290

Any one have a recommendation for a tv antenna as I am not happy with mine either. 

Handymans342

Is it the antenna, TV or that you just are not close enough to the digital signals? 

Handymans342

Try hooking up the antenna cable straight to the TV next time. 

Stodge

On my previous Rinker I made a TV antenna out of copper tubing, PVC and 300 ohm ribbon.  I had a 300 -> 75 ohm converter that plugged into the coax inlet on the side to feed the TV.  It worked fairly well.  I could get 25-28 channels out on the water.  The biggest thing (IMO) to check for is clean contacts on your coax at the antenna and every connection point.  On the 342 I made sure to wire the TV antenna pre-amp to 12V instead of shore power.  The TV is DC powered so it works out.  If the pre-amp isn't powered it will reduce any inbound signal.

Cableguy Greg

Digital signal has a very distinct cut off. If you are on the fringe of the signal, it either works or it doesn't. A digital antenna is a marketing gimmick. The digital signal is broadcast over the UHF band. As long as you have a UHF antenna, which the one that came with the boat is, you should be able to receive the signal. The major thing that I have found is the connections that Rinker puts on the boats are terrible. They are twist on connectors, which are junk. They also have the center conductor that is too long. The splitters are also junk. If you are not using the dock connectors, the backwards splitter can be removed and use a F-81 splice to connect the antenna straight thru. The backwards splitter is there to combine the signals coming from the antenna and the dock connections. By removing the splitter and changing connectors with compression fittings, I get decent pictures on my digital TV.

MarkB

Greg, I am on Lake Ontario close to Toronto. I get US channels on my TV.  So it's not a matter of weak signal. They are there, but every 2 mins it drops for 1 or 2 seconds, which drives the kids crazy. You are correct, it's either on or off, it does not get fuzzy. 

I have a 10" shakespear dish that came with the boat. I got the boat new in May 2012 (not even 4 years ago).

Here is a picture of my splitter to the top right (a bit cutoff) and the amplifier. I can see what you are saying about the splitter bringing 2 signals in reverse to combine to one for the amp.  The amp is an AC/DC amp, but set to DC. I don't think they wired the 110V to it, just the 12V.  I want to keep it working on 12V as the kids sometimes use the TV on the water, and I don't have a genset. 

So the easiest thing to do is to take that splitter out (I don't use the dockside cable) and connect Antenna to common amp feed via an F-81 splice. Then go after the connectors, looks like 6 need to be changed in total including the ones at the F-81 splice.  You mention compression connectors, do you need a tool to install these?? 

Handymans342

I am going to do the same thing. 

frenchship

Greg, here what mine looks like a real mess that is hard to follow. I would like to keep the amplifier and use a double splitter for the 2 T.V. What type of splitter would you recommended?
and what about the compression fitting that Mark ask about.

Handymans342

Paul, if you dont use the outside cable connection, you can use that amp and splitter.

JC290

Think I'm gonna have to chase some cables thanks for all the info

Stodge

Form what I could tell when I was tearing into mine when I moved the TV, they use a "splitter" to combine the cable and the antenna signal.  As a diagnostic you might want to disconnect the cable from the cable fitting and see if your antenna signal improves.

Cableguy Greg

I only have 1 TV on my boat, so I took the cable from the antenna ran it into the amp, then to the TV. I eliminated the backwards 4-way splitter and let the dockside cables hang disconnected. Since you have 2 TV's, run the antenna line to the amp, then to the 2-way splitter. That will give you better signal hitting the TV.

For the compression fittings, you do need a special tool. The last time I was in Lowes, they had a Snap N Seal compression tool and compression fittings for RG-59 and RG-6 connectors. The splitter needs to be a high quality 5-1GHZ with 120dB of isolation. Antronix and Regal are two really good brands. The Antronix one is available on Amazon in different flavors to suit your needs. http://www.amazon.com/Splitter-Broadband-output-capable-5-1002MHZ/dp/B008R3LOM0/ref=pd_bxgy_23_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0S60F9WMJKPV7SP1PA8E

Cableguy Greg

JC290 said:

Think I'm gonna have to chase some cables thanks for all the info

Most of them are marked, or they were on my boat. I believe the inputs were marked "Port" "Starboard" and "Antenna". The 280 had an optional aft cabin TV, which my boat didn't come with, labeled "aft".

Cableguy Greg

MarkB said:

So the easiest thing to do is to take that splitter out (I don't use the dockside cable) and connect Antenna to common amp feed via an F-81 splice. Then go after the connectors, looks like 6 need to be changed in total including the ones at the F-81 splice.  You mention compression connectors, do you need a tool to install these?? 

The worst connector that I had, and the most important one to change, was the one on the antenna. The center conductor was corroded and about 1/2 inch too long. I would start with changing that one and go from there. Most compression connectors need to be properly stripped, usually 1/4 inch center conductor and 1/4 inch jacket. You can usually do it carefully with a utility knife if you don't want to purchase a jacket stripper.

frenchship

Thanks for the infos

Handymans342

Greg, anyway you can send a nice crimping tool and a bag of fittings so we can send it around to other members to use? 

MarkB

Greg a guy I was speaking to said the amplifier could also be the problem and to consider by passing that as well with a F81 splice. What are your thoughts? 

Cableguy Greg

MarkB said:

Greg a guy I was speaking to said the amplifier could also be the problem and to consider by passing that as well with a F81 splice. What are your thoughts? 

It is worth a shot. You could also be having a problem with too much signal. If that was the case, then the amp would cause the "tiling" as we call it. Some TV's will show you the signal strength if you press the info button on the remote. It will usually show poor to good. Some even have a little bar graph. If your TV has that, tune to a channel and check it with and without the amp connected. If it is in the good range with both, then I would disconnect the amp.

Cableguy Greg

Handymans342 said:

Greg, anyway you can send a nice crimping tool and a bag of fittings so we can send it around to other members to use? 

That could be possible...

Handymans342

You could send it to me first. I know how to use it. Then I could mail it to the next person. Make sure you send the connectors rated for outside use

TonyWalker

That is interesting about the TV hook up.  I looked many times at the engineering that went into the coax connections for the TV.  Instead of using the device as a splitter, it was used as a combiner.

MarkB

So just to close the loop on this. I redid the terminals on all the cables and by passed the splitter. Signal is crystal clear. Works like a charm now. I'm sure I was losing lots of signal across the splitter.

Cableguy Greg if you see this I had 3 wires connected on one side and 2 on the other side of my splitter. One was definitely the cable from the amplifier.  One was going to my TV. The other much be going to a point I can add a 2nd TV in the mid berth.  That's 3. I figure the other 2 are from the Shore Choice cable TV input. 

Funny thing is on the one side it seemed it was a shore choice input with the two TV outs and the other side was the signal amp input as well as another shore choice (I have one on port and athe the stern).  Do those splitters work bidirectionally?

Cableguy Greg

All splitters work bidirectionally. When it is wired in reverse, it combines the signal rather than splitting it. If you aren't using the shore choice, I suggest eliminating that backwards splitter all together. It will improve your signal. Glad to hear that you have better pics. 

MarkB

Greg I did. I don't use the shore power so I basically went from the radar arch via the amplifier direct to the TV. Basically I by passed the signal combiner/ splitter.

Cableguy Greg

That is exactly what I did.

Bayrunner

make sure your splitter is at the right frequency fir digital signals. Make sure it's not an analog signal splitter.

Cableguy Greg

Bayrunner said:

make sure your splitter is at the right frequency fir digital signals. Make sure it's not an analog signal splitter.

There isn't such a thing as an analog splitter. Over the air digital rides on the UHF band. As long as the splitter can handle the VHF/UHF bands, it will work. The splitter is just dividing the signal. It doesn't care if the signal is analog or digital. Digital splitters are a marketing gimmick. I do think that the splitters that Rinker puts in the boats are not of the highest quality, but the ones that I have seen from the factory are 5-900 MHz splitters.