ARIEL CABLE PROBLEMS

Afternoon, seeking help...
I've included a picture, this is how the Ariel cables look, I'm struggling to get a good signal, and have know idea
which cables are the right ones to connect to the booster, plus unsure to why there is so many?
Any advice would be very helpful.
Thanks Steve[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The first thing to say is that AS don’t have a good track record in running and terminating coax cable. Coax requires attention to detail when making up the connectors; all it takes to prevent the signal reaching the TV is just one tiny strand of screen wire to short across to the inner core of the cable when making up a connector.

Secondly, AS do not include any coax connection diagram in the handbook, so you’re left having to puzzle it out by using a multimeter to check cable continuity and thereby establish which cables go where. Someone on here may well have drawn up their own diagram which might help you. 

Your picture shows a white coax connected to the antenna (ANT) socket of the booster. In theory this cable comes from the roof mounted antenna. If you have a separate coax cable then use it to connect the TV to either the TV1 or TV2 sockets on the booster. Check the booster is on, it’s red LED is lit, and turn up the gain with the rotary control. Tune your TV and if successful then at least you know the antenna and booster are working. If not successful then check for a short in the connector that’s plugged into the ANT socket of the booster. It’s also possible that one of the other cables is from the roof antenna, in which case try the others.

If you can get the TV working with this temporary set up then you can move on to determine what the other cables are connected to. I must say I’m slightly suspicious of the black coax, which suggests to me that a previous owner has made a modification. I’ve only ever known AS to use white coax but others may have a different experience.

To guide you further it would be helpful to know what coax sockets outlets you have in the van and confirmation that you have an external coax socket.

Tim

Having looked at the picture again I can see that the black coax has a F-type connector. This most likely comes from the equivalent connector on the external socket, which can be confirmed by checking continuity with a multimeter.

Tim

I have same cables and booster box on my Sussex (Warwick Marquis Duo) , I'll check out connections tomorrow  and let you know.

I had a similar set up in a previous van. You first need to establish which white cable goes to the aerial and attach it to the right hand socket as shown in the photo. If you get that right, the other two cables will connect to the two remaining sockets to serve two outlets in the habitation area. Can you trace a cable on the other side of the panel going to the aerial? The grey cable is a mystery but may be to a free-standing external aerial or service post, as suggested above. In which case it replaces the right hand white cable in the photo,
Keith

Hi, thanks for your input fellow travellers...
I can not be sure if the cable connected to the box is right, plus some of the other end connections are loose, so could of been swapped around by last owner.
Just out of shot, above the booster is an original ariel socket, not sure why it's hidden away in a locker?
Plus on the outside of the van is an ariel connection for onsite use, so one or more must come from that, I guess I will have to dig out the multi meter.

You need to check the outside connector to see if it has one or two connectors in it (mine only has one). I'm one of the few that gets great results from my Teleco aerial. I was at Delamere site this week which is listed as poor for TV, I got 97 programmes on my Avtex.

Here's photos of my booster and power/aerial connectors.

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So looking at your set up, I guess cable comes down from ariel, connects to the booster and then a cable runs to the ariel socket, which then runs to the tv.
I've been ignoring the upper socket, thinking it's unused.
Thank you for your pics, will have a play this afternoon.
Cheers Steve

Yes. On the top socket you'll notice the upper connection has an F connector in it. It's really for satellite but I don't use satellite,  the F connector converts it to a coax socket for use with the outside socket which also is a satellite socket into which I have another F connector to use with aerial lead to site boosters on CAMC sites (and others), as I only have one connector in my outside socket box.

Just an update, took the outside box off to take a look at the set up, 2 feeds going in, traced them to inside the locker, the black cable is the feed to the upper aerial socket, cleaned all the connections and made it look neater, we now have a tv signal, seems to work fine now, but we are away next month, so will test it properly then....
Thank you for your help and pictures.
Steve