How much does a TV cable "diplexer" cost?

LegacyUser

The sky installer called to my house this morning, and I asked him could he wire up the front room without bringing the cable along to the front wall of the house (I want to keep NTL analogue).

He said he could, but he'd have to put in what I think he called a diplexer and face plate behind the TV, and run the cable from the satellite into a cable box on the gable end of the house that feeds cable TV.

Can anyone tell me how much a diplexer (with face plate) costs, and where I can get one.

watty

Bad idea.

You really don't want to put the NTL and Sat signals down one cable (A diplexer is a frequency dependant splitter/adder where the Y ports are UHF and VHF). The cable TV is basically VHF and the Satellite feed from LNB is basically very high UHF (Regular UHF is 470 to 890, a Satellite signal from LNB is 700 to 2000 approx).


You need two dipexers (good ones are about 12 Euro to 25 Euro each). one to combine to one cable and an identical one in reverse to split the cable.

A face plate is not needed. Reduces signal, but they vary from 5 to 20 Euro with F-Connector and standard TV connector (Belling lee). Most are horrid quality with screw terminals / connection schemes that date from 1950s Radio and TV and no good for UHF TV / Satellite.

Just use a separate feed cable for LNB. Save money, bother and trouble.

Paint the cable (makes it last longer )


Put NTL cable into Digibox RF in and feed any RF sokets from the two Digibox RF outlets (both will have the NTL analog cable).

If there is an NTL analog set top decoder put it before the Digibox RF TV out.

The Digibox SCART will only have the Digibox channel (as in diplexer case too), but the Digibox RFout 1 & 2 has Digibox on Ch68 plus whatever is fed inot the RF in.

Services 4 0 1 Select for "hidden" installer menu for RF to change the RF channel out (68 is usually not ideal!).

Cable TV coax is usually rubbish at UHF / Sat IF frequecies.
Cable TV can have "noise" that might do in your LNB on the dish.

Face plates and diplexers can easily reduce strength and quality of Satellite signal.

I might just possibly consider it for a UHF TV aerial, but even for that, old cable TV cable is often to bad I'd be inclined to have a single diplexer at RF in on Digibox or VHS to simply combine the separate Cable TV and UHF aerial feed.

I have a mast amp for VHF and UHF that uses tow separate aerial inputs. If I wanted to put a Radio aerial or DAB Aerial (Optimisim and very big mast / aerial) I would have to use a diplexer in living room to "split" the UHF TV and the VHF-FM (Band II) radio or VHF DAB (BandIII) to dirve the different equipments.

If combining Cable or VHF TV aerial with UHF TV aerial, then only a diplex at the aerial is needed as the TV has a single input (but in my case the Mast head amp has a built in Diplexer).


Probabily more explination than you wanted.

Our local hardware store has the "cheap" Diplexers with TV type sockets. You'd want Hills, Maplin's, Peat? (Dublin), Radionics / RS maybe to get the "better" kind with F-Connectors.

LegacyUser

Thanks for the detailed reply watty, but, I've decided to cancel, as you'll see here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=95881