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#1
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receiving fm via set-top box
I have a couple of good tuners - Quad FM4 and Leak TroughLine, and am
having touble getting an aerial to work with either (have no access to roof). I have heard that it is possible to utilize an existing TV aerial to receive FM broadcast via a (television) "set-top box" Any comments, folks? |
#2
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"SimoninEaston" wrote in message
... I have a couple of good tuners - Quad FM4 and Leak TroughLine, and am having touble getting an aerial to work with either (have no access to roof). I have heard that it is possible to utilize an existing TV aerial to receive FM broadcast via a (television) "set-top box" Any comments, folks? Depends. First, you've got to have analog, not digital cable. Or if you have digital, then you've got to tap off of a coax output following the decoder...not terribly likely as most tv's these days don't use a coax input from the cable box. But assuming you have a coax cable, analog input, no filters anywhere in the line (cable companies often install them at their junction box and will only remove them if you pay extra), then you can do it. You need an FM/TV splitter (not filter, splitter). This feeds the FM out on its own (usually coax) line and the tv on another. You'll need an extra cable. Finally, if the FM out of the splitter is coax and you have only a 300 ohm antenna input, you will need a conversion transformer/adaptor for the final connection to the tuner. But it can be done. I did it once, years ago. Reception was okay, but occassionally had a "gritty" quality that I've never had over the air. |
#3
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Harry Lavo wrote:
"SimoninEaston" wrote in message ... I have a couple of good tuners - Quad FM4 and Leak TroughLine, and am having touble getting an aerial to work with either (have no access to roof). I have heard that it is possible to utilize an existing TV aerial to receive FM broadcast via a (television) "set-top box" Any comments, folks? Depends. First, you've got to have analog, not digital cable. Does existing TV aerial mean cable feed to you? He perhaps is talking about aerials, meaning antennas. Not the cable feed. In any event, the cable feed carries both digital and analog channels. There is no cable feed that only carries digital. The cable feed contains signals from about 50 MHz to as high as 850 MHz in the US. Usually the cable feed does not carry FM (at least in the US). Or if you have digital, then you've got to tap off of a coax output following the decoder...not terribly likely as most tv's these days don't use a coax input from the cable box. But assuming you have a coax cable, analog input, no filters anywhere in the line (cable companies often install them at their junction box and will only remove them if you pay extra), then you can do it. Not sure if he's talking about cable TV feeds. You need an FM/TV splitter (not filter, splitter). This feeds the FM out on its own (usually coax) line and the tv on another. You'll need an extra cable. Finally, if the FM out of the splitter is coax and you have only a 300 ohm antenna input, you will need a conversion transformer/adaptor for the final connection to the tuner. But it can be done. I did it once, years ago. Reception was okay, but occassionally had a "gritty" quality that I've never had over the air. To the original OP, it is easy to get FM out of the existing TV roof antenna feed, unless the antenna only receives UHF channels. VHF TV antennas receive the 88-108MHz FM band. You can simply plug the roof-top TV antenna feed into the FM receiver. That works for me. In some cases, where there are very strong TV stations, you might need an FM filter between the TV feed and the FM receiver so that the TV signals are removed. But you probably were asking a different question. Is there any set-top box that has an FM output? I do not know of any in the US. But then you can just split the antenna signal so that one output goes to the FM receiver. |
#4
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Cor - sounds a bit complicated! The extra complication in my case is
that I don't use a television... I've got a TV aerial, with what I assume is analogue co-ax coming down from it, which at the moment is coiled up and hanging from a hook in the attic. Presumably the only way I could see the set-top box settings is by viewing the menu on a television, which I don't want to do (no licence, for starters) Do FM aerials ever work OK installed inside attic (in inner city surroundings) or should I bite the bullit and pay a professional to install an outdoor aerial??? Harry Lavo wrote: "SimoninEaston" wrote in message ... I have a couple of good tuners - Quad FM4 and Leak TroughLine, and am having touble getting an aerial to work with either (have no access to roof). I have heard that it is possible to utilize an existing TV aerial to receive FM broadcast via a (television) "set-top box" Any comments, folks? Depends. First, you've got to have analog, not digital cable. Or if you have digital, then you've got to tap off of a coax output following the decoder...not terribly likely as most tv's these days don't use a coax input from the cable box. But assuming you have a coax cable, analog input, no filters anywhere in the line (cable companies often install them at their junction box and will only remove them if you pay extra), then you can do it. You need an FM/TV splitter (not filter, splitter). This feeds the FM out on its own (usually coax) line and the tv on another. You'll need an extra cable. Finally, if the FM out of the splitter is coax and you have only a 300 ohm antenna input, you will need a conversion transformer/adaptor for the final connection to the tuner. But it can be done. I did it once, years ago. Reception was okay, but occassionally had a "gritty" quality that I've never had over the air. |
#5
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"SimoninEaston" wrote in message
... Cor - sounds a bit complicated! The extra complication in my case is that I don't use a television... I've got a TV aerial, with what I assume is analogue co-ax coming down from it, which at the moment is coiled up and hanging from a hook in the attic. Presumably the only way I could see the set-top box settings is by viewing the menu on a television, which I don't want to do (no licence, for starters) Do FM aerials ever work OK installed inside attic (in inner city surroundings) or should I bite the bullit and pay a professional to install an outdoor aerial??? As Chung correctly pointed out, I assumed you were talking about a cable tv cable when you mentioned "set top box". These to the best of my knowledge are only used for cable tv or satellite tv. And a rotor box is used for rotating a rooftop TV antenna. Other than that, I don't know what you mean by a "set top box". Do you have an antenna on the roof? Is that where the cable wire is coming from? If so, does that antenna have a rotor on the pole (underneath the antenna...looks like a big "bulge" on the pole)? More infor would help us give you guidance. Or were you in fact talking about cable TV? Harry Lavo wrote: "SimoninEaston" wrote in message ... I have a couple of good tuners - Quad FM4 and Leak TroughLine, and am having touble getting an aerial to work with either (have no access to roof). I have heard that it is possible to utilize an existing TV aerial to receive FM broadcast via a (television) "set-top box" Any comments, folks? Depends. First, you've got to have analog, not digital cable. Or if you have digital, then you've got to tap off of a coax output following the decoder...not terribly likely as most tv's these days don't use a coax input from the cable box. But assuming you have a coax cable, analog input, no filters anywhere in the line (cable companies often install them at their junction box and will only remove them if you pay extra), then you can do it. You need an FM/TV splitter (not filter, splitter). This feeds the FM out on its own (usually coax) line and the tv on another. You'll need an extra cable. Finally, if the FM out of the splitter is coax and you have only a 300 ohm antenna input, you will need a conversion transformer/adaptor for the final connection to the tuner. But it can be done. I did it once, years ago. Reception was okay, but occassionally had a "gritty" quality that I've never had over the air. |
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