TV Over the Air Channel Problem

[Neal]

This may sound like a dumb question but how do you "terminate" a port. Is there like a plug to buy? Is it a permanent fix? Sorry! Asking for a friend!

Amazon.com: F Type 75 Ohm Terminator - 10 Pack: JUrban

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[jagpot]

Amazon.com: F Type 75 Ohm Terminator - 10 Pack: JUrban

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Thanks Neal. Just ordered them. Don't have issues but I will plug them anyway!

 

[Bob K4TAX]

Yes, there is a screw-on cap that looks like a hat with a little center pin coming out the bottom. It is a 75-ohm termination. With an open line, unterminated, there will be signal reflections in the line. These reflections add to the primary signal to cause ghosts and in some cases the cancellation of signals.

Bob

 

[PdMeehan]

First, what’s a telavator?
Are you adjusting the antenna for maximum signal?

I usually just tune the TV in living area, so I’ve never compared the three…

@Dan_Frisbie, the Televator is a lift with a TV mounted to it. The Televator typically resides behind a couch and when the proper switch is hit the Televator rises upward to expose the TV screen. The travel position for the Televator is down. In our coach the Front overhead TV, Televator TV and outside TV are on the same Coax feed. The bedroom TV stands alone.

 

[Just George]

This may sound like a dumb question but how do you "terminate" a port. Is there like a plug to buy? Is it a permanent fix? Sorry! Asking for a friend!

@jagpot I think installing the port terminator is a good move. You might consider replacing splitters with more outputs than you need with splitters that just meet your need, i.e. no open ports requiring a terminator. You do need to make sure any splitter you get is rated for the frequency range you will be running through it. In my case I replaced what appears to be the Newmar standard 4 port splitter with 2 port splitters. I don't have a way to measure actual signal strength but I believe the less ports the less loss.

 

[jagpot]

Yes, there is a screw-on cap that looks like a hat with a little center pin coming out the bottom. It is a 75-ohm termination. With an open line, unterminated, there will be signal reflections in the line. These reflections add to the primary signal to cause ghosts and in some cases the cancellation of signals.

Bob

Thank you Bob

 

[jagpot]

@jagpot I think installing the port terminator is a good move. You might consider replacing splitters with more outputs than you need with splitters that just meet your need, i.e. no open ports requiring a terminator. You do need to make sure any splitter you get is rated for the frequency range you will be running through it. In my case I replaced what appears to be the Newmar standard 4 port splitter with 2 port splitters. I don't have a way to measure actual signal strength but I believe the less ports the less loss.

Thank you for the info. I don't have issues but I only use Direct TV. Coach is in storage but I will look to se what I have when I take it out. 4 port splitter with 2 port splittes? pic if you can. Do the mhz's matter? 5/2000?

 

[Bob K4TAX]

Jaagpot et al;
Yes, more ports equal more loss. It is that simple. Unused ports even though terminated will be part of the total loss.
It is like a pie. That represents the entire signal coming from the antenna. Cut the pie in half (2 ports) and you have two pieces that are smaller than the whole pie. Cut those 2 pieces into 4 pieces and you have 4 smaller pieces of the original pie. etc etc So, do you prefer the hole pie or one of the 4 pieces? Just depends on how much pie you want.

I don't advise putting in more ports than actually needed. Of course, one can always add a booster ahead of the splitter to make up for splitter loss. All of this gets messy and with digital TV, one has enough signal for the system to lock or it doesn't lock and one has a pixellating picture or no picture. More signal strength won't make for a better quality picture. In the digital world, you either have a picture equal to the display quality of the TV or you have no picture. That is the 1's and 0's of the digital world.

My biggest problem with HD digital TV there are very few programs with content worth watching. Period.