I am shortly going to fit a TV into the caravan(I've no choice I'm under orders) am I correct in believing the shorter the co-ax the better Thanx ... Gary
TV co axial cable
- Thread starter toad a caravan
- Start date
- Mar 14, 2005
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Yes, but on the scale of a caravan it probably won't make any notice difference.
- Nov 30, 2022
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Not sure it is that important, we use a 40metre one on our sat dish, I do find the digital/satellite cable performs better than the traditional co axial cable, it is available on line and comes in various colours
- Dec 27, 2022
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- Nov 11, 2009
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Your caravans tv amplifier will add a second string to your bow in boosting the signal.
Remembering that amplifiers will boost interference as well as the signal.
I've found that when a site provides a TV point, the strongest signal is by feeding our 25m co-ax cable in under a window seal and straight into the TV - using the entry point in the battery box and boosting with the amplifier gives a poorer signal.
- Nov 16, 2015
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Just a thought, have you tried feeding the signal in through the connection in the battery box, but switching OFF the amplifier.
Spent a good hour a couple of weeks ago tunning in the TV, only to find I/SWMBO, had not fully pushed in the coax connector on the wall.
I am Not brave enough to blame Mrs H.
- Nov 11, 2009
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There are amplifiers with variable gain and filtering so if the OP doesn’t already have a built in OEM unit he could look at Maxview or Visionplus. But if signal to noise isn’t good then as you say even filtering may not help much. Time to get the cards out I seem to remember my last van (2012) had one with two gain levels but it wasn’t something I ever adjusted, but I did carry a tv pole, external aerial and a long coax as fallback.
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Well T, yes you are correct per the size/quality/length of the cable does matter but there are many other items that need to be considered - but don't be frightened, its all simple stuff.
First decide on the aerial and where you are going to fit it. The simplest answer is a small multi-beam wideband aerial on a pole, and said pole can be stuck into the ground adjacent to your jockey and held vertical by zips or Velcro straps around the jockey shaft You need a wideband (that is frequency wideband) to be able to get all of the used frequencies. You could also push it into the ground and zip to one of the front grab handles. You can either use a multibeam aerial (one of those criss-crossed types) or a log periodic which just has 'prongs' of different lengths. The log periodic usually has a lower wind loading which you have to consider.
You will then need to get some cable and connectors and find a method of getting the cable into the van. More on this later.
Finally it is a good idea to get a small simple variable gain signal amplifier in case the transmitter you will use is a bit distant.
Cable: The old type TV cable, usually brown covered, is (thankfully) no longer available. Today you will get ??100 cable where ?? is two letters such as WF or NX by manufacturer choice. DO NOT buy CT100 if it is offered as the braid and foil inside the cable are usually aluminium and will corrode if they get wet; the other cables are all copper throughout. I would suggest a 25m and a 10m reel, a pack of F-type (also called satellite) plugs and a pack of ordinary (known as Belling-Lee) TV plugs. To get the cable into the van, the fact that you need to wire it suggests it is older so will probably have an external battery box which may also have the mains connector inside. If that is the case then there will be a gap in the door frame of the box to get the mains cable in and there will be room to get the TV cable alongside it. You can get a 'barrel' adapter to connect two cables with F-type plugs on them. Search a bit and you will find a barrel but one that is a bit longer than others and has a nut on it so that you can fit it through a panel. You can then run a length of cable fixed inside the van from the barrel to the TV or aerial amp location. Now when you get to site all you have to do is erect the aerial on its pole and connect the other end of its cable to the fixed connection in the battery box.
The reason for 10m cable and 25m cable is so that if you are on a site that has TV fed from the power pillar you will have a long enough cable (25m) to get from the pillar to the battery box. Note that pillar signal strengths are usually significantly higher than from an aerial so a second barrel so that you can by-pass the amp is a good idea. The 10m cable? Well, you have a wiring job to do and it is always better to have too much cable than too little!
I would recommend Toolstation or Screwfix (in that order) on prices for your bits and pieces.
Per fitting TV/F-type connectors, there is plenty of on-line help in how to fit them. There are also plenty of apps for your mobile phone to show you which way to point your TV aerial.
Finally another thought. Have you considered getting yourself a Freesat box as a signal source? Yes you will need a dish and small tripod on which to mount it but you are pretty well 100% certain to get a TV signal which you may not be with terrestrial TV. If you select this route, download (Android) an app called Satellite Director which will show you exactly where the bird is in the sky (sat signals don't work too well through trees!) Freesat will also work in parts of NW Europe should you go that way.
Good luck.
First decide on the aerial and where you are going to fit it. The simplest answer is a small multi-beam wideband aerial on a pole, and said pole can be stuck into the ground adjacent to your jockey and held vertical by zips or Velcro straps around the jockey shaft You need a wideband (that is frequency wideband) to be able to get all of the used frequencies. You could also push it into the ground and zip to one of the front grab handles. You can either use a multibeam aerial (one of those criss-crossed types) or a log periodic which just has 'prongs' of different lengths. The log periodic usually has a lower wind loading which you have to consider.
You will then need to get some cable and connectors and find a method of getting the cable into the van. More on this later.
Finally it is a good idea to get a small simple variable gain signal amplifier in case the transmitter you will use is a bit distant.
Cable: The old type TV cable, usually brown covered, is (thankfully) no longer available. Today you will get ??100 cable where ?? is two letters such as WF or NX by manufacturer choice. DO NOT buy CT100 if it is offered as the braid and foil inside the cable are usually aluminium and will corrode if they get wet; the other cables are all copper throughout. I would suggest a 25m and a 10m reel, a pack of F-type (also called satellite) plugs and a pack of ordinary (known as Belling-Lee) TV plugs. To get the cable into the van, the fact that you need to wire it suggests it is older so will probably have an external battery box which may also have the mains connector inside. If that is the case then there will be a gap in the door frame of the box to get the mains cable in and there will be room to get the TV cable alongside it. You can get a 'barrel' adapter to connect two cables with F-type plugs on them. Search a bit and you will find a barrel but one that is a bit longer than others and has a nut on it so that you can fit it through a panel. You can then run a length of cable fixed inside the van from the barrel to the TV or aerial amp location. Now when you get to site all you have to do is erect the aerial on its pole and connect the other end of its cable to the fixed connection in the battery box.
The reason for 10m cable and 25m cable is so that if you are on a site that has TV fed from the power pillar you will have a long enough cable (25m) to get from the pillar to the battery box. Note that pillar signal strengths are usually significantly higher than from an aerial so a second barrel so that you can by-pass the amp is a good idea. The 10m cable? Well, you have a wiring job to do and it is always better to have too much cable than too little!
I would recommend Toolstation or Screwfix (in that order) on prices for your bits and pieces.
Per fitting TV/F-type connectors, there is plenty of on-line help in how to fit them. There are also plenty of apps for your mobile phone to show you which way to point your TV aerial.
Finally another thought. Have you considered getting yourself a Freesat box as a signal source? Yes you will need a dish and small tripod on which to mount it but you are pretty well 100% certain to get a TV signal which you may not be with terrestrial TV. If you select this route, download (Android) an app called Satellite Director which will show you exactly where the bird is in the sky (sat signals don't work too well through trees!) Freesat will also work in parts of NW Europe should you go that way.
Good luck.
My son has been round and installed the aerial, (I'm not one for ladders)...I'd already done the internal wiring,next to fit when I get chance is a TV bracket, the aerial has about 600mm coax with plug fitted thus enabling ease of removal...thank you for all the advice..
- Jul 18, 2017
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My used a free standing satellite dish feeding the signal into the Sky+HD box which had an RF out. I then disconnected the signal from the aerial amp box and connected the RF out on the Sky box to the splitter in the caravan to feed the other points in the caravan. Worked for us!
- Dec 27, 2022
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One thing to consider re Freesat is that as Sky moves on line rather than using a satellite link mainly due to the satellites reaching the end of life and it's just not financially worth adding new ones.
Sky have said 2029 at a minimum but could be anytime after that.
I have just ditched all my sat stuff at home and gone on line/ terrestrial whilst there is still a market for the set top boxes.
The same will happen to Freeview leaving us with little choice but to use on line services.
Sky have said 2029 at a minimum but could be anytime after that.
I have just ditched all my sat stuff at home and gone on line/ terrestrial whilst there is still a market for the set top boxes.
The same will happen to Freeview leaving us with little choice but to use on line services.
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TV satellite transmissions are guaranteed until 2028, the satellites themselves reaching end-of-life in 2030 - we've had our Freesat receiver 15 years so I don't feel a need to get any money back for it.
I don't think there's any plan for areas which don't get terrestrial TV and where fast internet would be too expensive to roll out - just the sort of places we like to go caravanning!
- Jul 18, 2017
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I would think that there is a several or more years before everything moves Online. Many people still do not have Internet access probably because they have no interest or it is unaffordable to them.
- Dec 27, 2022
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As has been said the EoL of the satellites is 2030, Sky have guaranteed broadcast until 2029.
That's less than 5 years away.
Terrestrial TV will stay for a bit but BBC director has said it will be all on line in the 2030's whether that is the beginning or end of the decade who knows.
That's less than 5 years away.
Terrestrial TV will stay for a bit but BBC director has said it will be all on line in the 2030's whether that is the beginning or end of the decade who knows.
- Jul 18, 2017
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Just like a certain type of cars that was supposed to be phased out by 2030, but has now been moved back. Same will happen by 2030 as probably hundreds of thousands of people still will not have access to the Internet. Again same with FM broadcast which will still be with us for the next decade or more. In some areas DAB will not work, but FM will. Just driving to our place and we are not far from town although rural area, we constantly use DAB. This also happens in town areas when between tall buildings.
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