Boost Analogue NTL Cable Signal

[raj_d_mistry]

I am an NTL Customer in Milton Keynes. I have 2 CFT-2100 boxes in my house and find that reception varies.

In my loft the signal from NTL comes in and is split using a 4-way splitter with 3.5dB gain. The TV in the living room is fine and I receive all NTL channels, the TV in the kitchen does not have great reception on the standard channels and the NTL channels are somewhat intermittent and the TV reception in the bedroom is poor and all I get is -E on the NTL cable box when I press F4.

I would like to try and boost the signal in addition to splitting it at the source. When I try a booster from Maplin SLx6 way booster and splitter the signal for the NTL boxes seems to be lost and all boxes get the -E sign when I press F4.

Is there a booster/splitter I can use that keeps the NTL signal intact going to my CFT-2100 boxes..

Please help.

[King Of Fools]

Conventional TV boosters are designed to boost terrestrial UHF signals and suppress non-UHF signals. Cable TV is transmitted in the VHF band, hence the loss of cable channels.

[MovedGoalPosts]

You are pushing the connection well beyond what is intended. Indeed if the splitter in the loft was not something created by ntl installers, you've probably contributed to your own poor signals.

The cable from the street should only be connected direct to cable boxes. One split might be introduced to allow service of two subscribed STBs, but the signal levels would need to be checked by the installer.

If you have a third split to send a signal to an TV only without the use of a STB, you need to remove that. Instead if one of your STBs has an analogue passthrough, feed the output from that to the third TV. However be aware passthrooghs are no longer supplied by Virgin Media so you should be looking at alternative ways of gettinig terrestrial signals bakc to your house, i.e. a roof top aerial.

Originally Posted by King Of Fools

Conventional TV boosters are designed to boost terrestrial UHF signals and suppress non-UHF signals. Cable TV is transmitted in the VHF band, hence the loss of cable channels.

Cable TV is broadcast in the VHF and UHF bands.
Most TV boosters work over a very wide range of frequencies (about 45 MHz to 860 MHz). They are designed to boost VHF radio & DAB signals, as well as TV.

The SLX6, however, has 2 inputs (1 for TV & 1 for FM) so it may be filtered on the input side (I cant find any specs for it). Even if it was, it should still allow the channels in the UHF part of the analogue cable to get through.