Rooftop TV antenna hookup (1 Viewer)

[Carl Johnson]

I just moved into my first house (happy happy joy joy) and it came with this attic TV antenna connected thru these four pronged circular jacks (: that are in every room. At Radio Shack they didn't have anything that would connect directly to the jack so I got a $2 converter which has two leads on one end and a coax connecter on the other. I opened up my bedroom TV wall jack and experimented with wiring the $2 connecter directly to 2 of the 4 avalible leads and I don't get a very good picture but it is marginally better than the piss poor performance of this pair of $35 amplified rabbit ears. Before I hardwire the whole house to the attic antenna I thought I would ask is there any substantial risk of electrocution or damaging my equipment by using this method? I would feel pretty stupid If I were to fry every TV in the house trying to pick up three snowy channels.

 

[Phil A]

If the antenna is inside and there is nothing electrical connected, it does not sound like a potential problem. Is what you bought a 300 ohm to 75 ohm converter? Is what you have now from the antenna 300 ohm flat 2-conductor wire? Is it a combined (VHF/UHF) antenna with a single 300 ohm output? If if is 300 ohm wire you can do a couple of things. They used to make a wall plate with just 2 screws attached that you can wrap the bare wire around or use spade lugs. If Radio Shack does not have them you can look at places like www.winegard.com or www.channelmaster.com. Winegard may even have a good glossary on their site as I recall. The other thing to try is to take a small TV up to the attic and see what kind of reception you can get. If it is crap you may want to take a step back and think about redirecting the antenna or replacing it. If reception is decent you could also drop 75 ohm wire from the attic to at least the upstairs. If the antenna is pointed properly (you may wish to get a compass and look at roof mounted ones nearby and then go to your attic), you may need an antenna preamp or distibution amp it is split many times. I am wondering if they just daisy-chained 300 ohm wire with some type of terminal block at the current plates you have which does not sound like it could help the signal any.