Channels thru PC TV Card..

[BGM]

Hey there,

At present we have cable tv and bb, we used to have 3x cable boxes but since i moved away to uni, my parents got rid of my STB. The cable running to that was split by ntl: to accomodate the bb a year or so prior to me moving away.

So, as it stands i am back for easter and am due to be living at home over summer.. seeing as i still have all the cables and such plumbed into my room everything still split just waiting for the box to get plugged back in. Would i be able to attach the free cable, which would have gone to my STB to a TV card in my PC?

I am not expecting to get any sort of encrypted channels, but i thought it might be possible to get bbc, bbc2, itv etc.. i dont watch much tv and this would be ideal for me as i dont have an external aerial.

I am just toying with this idea really... i noticed the free cable the other day. Also would there be any way to extend it if necessary without getting a call out from ntl: ?

Cheers for any info

[Tristan]

Yes, you would be able to get the terrestrial channels and probably a couple of others too, like News 24 and -- ooh! -- QVC. You might even be able to get some non-free channels. I have heard of people getting Sky Sports, or E4.

You'll have to go to Maplin and get yourself some approriate connectors, but other than that it should be relatively simple.

[BGM]

Superb, do u know what these appropriate connectors are?

and more importantly how do i make my cable longer so it reaches my pc ?

ta

[paulyoung666]

Originally Posted by BGM

Superb, do u know what these appropriate connectors are?

and more importantly how do i make my cable longer so it reaches my pc ?

ta

just extend it with some good coax and appropriate connectors , make sure the connections are good though otherwise you could cause problems

[BGM]

ok so there is nothing special about the cable its just ur standard tv coax you can pick up in b&q?

i just want to be sure before i go and order something...

[Tristan]

Get an F-connector to coax adaptor from Maplin.

You should use satellite grade coax cable for DTV and cable modem purposes, but for just an analogue hook-up, any old stuff from B&Q should suffice.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Similar question to the original poster....

I was thinking of hooking the cable up to my PC's TV card as well the cable modem (as long as it doesn't mess up the broadband connection), to get the standard analogue TV channels, but would prefer not to split the cable.

The coax cable that goes to the SACM comes from an NTL box on the wall, which has two sockets on it: one called "TV" (which has the coax for the modem connected to it), & one called "FM".

Even though the 2nd output is called FM, could I still hook that up to the aerial input on my TV card (using a normal coax aerial lead, with an F plug adaptor on one end to connect to the NTL box)?

[altis]

Carefully remove the cover from your white box and take a peek at what's inside. Chances are it's a VQ330. If so then you will only get the analogue radio service on the spare port - no TV. This is because the VQ330 splits the signal depending on its frequency. The TV signals, analogue and digital, and the modem signals are all emitted from the main port.

If it's a different device then post the number and I'll see what I can find out.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by altis

Carefully remove the cover from your white box and take a peek at what's inside. Chances are it's a VQ330. If so then you will only get the analogue radio service on the spare port - no TV. This is because the VQ330 splits the signal depending on its frequency. The TV signals, analogue and digital, and the modem signals are all emitted from the main port.

If it's a different device then post the number and I'll see what I can find out.

Cheers, altis

LOL, I'm not too keen on pulling the cover off. I can't get to it now, anyway. [The box is behind my wardrobe. I emptied it to get behind it & see the box, but I put everything back after 1st noticing the 2nd port was "FM", so it's completely stuffed again (clothes, and, erm...boxes & boxes of comics, lol)]

I may just assume it's a VQ330 as you say (it makes sense...FM labelled output is only FM etc), unless I can be bothered to get back there again.

OK...

If I split the cable instead - using a decent splitter & proper pre-made cables from Maplins - am I right in that the only way it would screw-up my BB would be if my connection doesn't have the power to be split etc, if it's already borderline or whatever. And if it did affect it, all I'd have to do to sort it out would be to simply go back to as it is now - cable straight to the SACM (& leave it like that!). So if I get the right bits, & maybe check my signals with rdhw's DOCSDIAG before & after, it should be easy enough...?

[keithwalton]

err just thinking about somthing from the original post here, is this analogue or digital cable ?
as digital aint gonna work as there isnt a tuner in the uk afaik for digital cable only sat and dtt (freeview)

K

[altis]

Originally Posted by Tezcatlipoca

If I split the cable instead - using a decent splitter & proper pre-made cables from Maplins - am I right in that the only way it would screw-up my BB would be if my connection doesn't have the power to be split etc, if it's already borderline or whatever. And if it did affect it, all I'd have to do to sort it out would be to simply go back to as it is now - cable straight to the SACM (& leave it like that!). So if I get the right bits, & maybe check my signals with rdhw's DOCSDIAG before & after, it should be easy enough...?

Sounds like you have the right idea to me but bear in mind that a signal can pass thru a splitter in both directions. I would be inclined to add a high pass filter in the leg to the TV(s). This is to help reduce any noise that your TVs might generate in the frequency band used for the cable modem's uplink path. I suspect, but don't know, that using a distribution amp will help too as its front-end may well be quieter than a TV's.

Originally Posted by keithwalton

err just thinking about somthing from the original post here, is this analogue or digital cable ?
as digital aint gonna work as there isnt a tuner in the uk afaik for digital cable only sat and dtt (freeview)

K

All signals: digital TV; analogue TV; digital radio; analogue radio and cable modem are carried on the same cable. They are separated using Frequency Division Multiplexing or, in other words, they're all carried on different frequencies.

[Defiant]

I have a threeway splitted which was installled by NTL. I think this is all they had at the time. I tried one of the spare sockets on my TV Card but just get static

[Tezcatlipoca]

Originally Posted by altis

Sounds like you have the right idea to me but bear in mind that a signal can pass thru a splitter in both directions. I would be inclined to add a high pass filter in the leg to the TV(s). This is to help reduce any noise that your TVs might generate in the frequency band used for the cable modem's uplink path. I suspect, but don't know, that using a distribution amp will help too as its front-end may well be quieter than a TV's.

Thanks again, altis

A high pass filter?

OK....*searches Maplins*

Would something like this be OK??

[altis]

*ahem*
Can anyone provide an FLD1080 for Tezcatlipoca?