Stacklightning Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 I am in a situation where two units are serviced by a single antenna with a Kingray MHW34fs on the masthead. Currently the power supply for the masthead PSK06 14V is located in the other unit and the tennant having moved out has closed their electricity account for that address, subsequently we have no reception in our unit. I live in Clare SA, 135km north of Adelaide and digital TV is not possible without a masthead amplifier. What is the solution to the problem of electricity supply for multiple outlets without multiple antennas? Is there a masthead amplifier that can accept dual AC power injection? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I am not a duck Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 1 hour ago, Stacklightning said: What is the solution to the problem of electricity supply for multiple outlets without multiple antennas? To put in place a diode controlled splitter, eg something like this: and then each unit needs its own PSK06 DC power supply. 1 hour ago, Stacklightning said: Is there a masthead amplifier that can accept dual AC power injection? Not that I'm aware of, besides, there could be issues if the units are fed on different phases from the electricity supply. There are amplifiers that accept DC input on their outputs, eg Kingray SA164R: (***Note this unit is not protected against interference from non digital television frequencies, & would need pre-filtering so that it only passes the frequencies of interest. Your existing masthead amplifier would also suffer from this deficiency. If you have no problems due to this now, it may become an issue in the future.) *** Again, each unit would need its own PSK06 power supply. If there is common power to the units, this could be used to feed power to the existing masthead amplifier, & obviate the need for separate power supplies in the units. I have used all 3 methods mentioned above. Where does your signal come from? From the low powered transmitter that serves Clare on the water tank past the western end of Henry St? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacklightning Posted February 20, 2017 Author Share Posted February 20, 2017 10 hours ago, I am not a duck said: To put in place a diode controlled splitter, eg something like this: and then each unit needs its own PSK06 DC power supply. Not that I'm aware of, besides, there could be issues if the units are fed on different phases from the electricity supply. There are amplifiers that accept DC input on their outputs, eg Kingray SA164R: (***Note this unit is not protected against interference from non digital television frequencies, & would need pre-filtering so that it only passes the frequencies of interest. Your existing masthead amplifier would also suffer from this deficiency. If you have no problems due to this now, it may become an issue in the future.) *** Again, each unit would need its own PSK06 power supply. If there is common power to the units, this could be used to feed power to the existing masthead amplifier, & obviate the need for separate power supplies in the units. I have used all 3 methods mentioned above. Where does your signal come from? From the low powered transmitter that serves Clare on the water tank past the western end of Henry St? Nick Zezovski from GME just told me exactly the same thing Plucka. He said to get an 'all ports power pass' splitter and another psk06. I'm not sure if there have been transmitter upgrades over the lest twelve months, but intuitively the best signal does seem to come from the direction of western end Henry Street. This changes with the weather as you would expect and it seems like the southerly signal is stronger when it's raining (the channel combination alters). Thanks v much for your help, a relatively simple fix and affordable too. The only problem I might have is that GME Kingray seem to have discontinued their old product lines, in which case I'll have to put up with whatever replacements are available. Hopefully will be able to get the extra pieces necessary and complete a new installation. The cabling to the current splitter is a mess, so will try to tidy up the connection, this will probably include a joiner of some sort... Tarik Surmon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I am not a duck Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 1 hour ago, Stacklightning said: He said to get an 'all ports power pass' splitter Ensure this is a type with diode isolation to the ports. There are all port power pass splitters in the wild that do not have diode isolation. This can become an issue if someone plugs a non powered device into one of the splitter ports which then short circuits that particular port, causing reception to fail as the masthead amplifier operating voltage is bled away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacklightning Posted February 21, 2017 Author Share Posted February 21, 2017 Okay, I'll make sure I get a splitter with diode isolation. So if reception fails in the other unit it could be because someone turned the tele on, but left the power supply off? The solution is to replace the splitter. How do you check if the splitter is at fault? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I am not a duck Posted February 21, 2017 Share Posted February 21, 2017 59 minutes ago, Stacklightning said: So if reception fails in the other unit it could be because someone turned the tele on, but left the power supply off? After the re-arrangement, using a diode isolated splitter, as long as one power supply is on, reception should happen. I'm just advising that splitters without diode isolation should be avoided. 1 hour ago, Stacklightning said: How do you check if the splitter is at fault? With a multimeter, but if you are replacing the splitter, fingers crossed, it should all be good. (I have come across diode connected splitters where the diode is destroyed by current surges, hopefully this won't occur to you, I mention it in passing.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z2TT Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 What you need to do is install a mains powered masthead amplifier in the roof, that way tennants removing power packs will not affect other properties on that TV Antenna system. I had this issue in one TV Antenna installation in Perth that I did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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