I want to replace the knackered old dual coax socket I currently have, not least because the cables keep falling out as the socket is so loose but it also looks awful. I bought this http://www.screwfix.com/p/schneider-electric-lisse-diplex-tv-r-dab-socket-white/4449j but when I unscrewed the old socket I found it's got two cables attached to it, so I think the cable must run from the aerial to the flat above me, then down to me and then on to the ground floor flat below. So I need to maintain this or else I'll cut off my downstairs neighbour's reception but the socket I bought isn't suitable, as it just has a spring terminal to push the inner core into and I imagine most sockets will be similar. So can anyone tell me where I can get a suitable socket?
Wow...! That looks wrong. Is this a straight forward TV & FM set up? No Satellite? If so then this was installed wrongly, most proably an amatuer installation. We see plenty of electricians doing this type of lash up. Each socket should have only one coax connected. - You dont "loop" TV services. If you are really concerned about the "live" feed going off down through the next coax - Twist the main cores together - Twist the braiding together - then try to get it under the retaining clamp. Only a little has to be clamped down.
I can only guess it was installed like this when the flats were built in the 1970's. I guess each flat should really have it's own feed from a distribution amp connected to the aerial. You think this is bad, you should see the electrical wiring. I've got a plug socket with an extra cable going UP the wall from it to god knows where! Yeah, it's just a standard TV/FM dual coax socket. I'll see if I can twist the cables together like you suggest and still get them in the spring clip and cable clamp. It might be possible with the black outer sheath stripped back enough.
TV - Dab - FM, the socket will work ok. Even if you just catch the combined braid under the clamp it should be fine. Ive seen the two coax's in an electrical block before allowing them to be coupled & then a single as the output on the other side. Horrendous if you are an actual installer - although it can work...!
Sure it will. I was more thinking why buy that type? They are different sockets/plugs, so only useful if needed.
Why does that socket have two cable clamps if it ain't deigned for two cables? (I don't know - chust asking). And it ain't a plain socket - it has filters of some sort. Any idea what they do? ('cos I don't know that either...)
It could be a passive splitter to allow tapping off ... A single coax feed from aerial to A to B to C to ... and then at each location the faceplate has the equivalent of one of these http://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-19132r-s-2-way-metal-t-splitter/44534 that allows the user to tap off at that point. A model number of the socket installed could be useful. And rather than replace, the OP could five it a clean up and refurbish to carefully close up the sockets.
TV work doesn't have passive splitters from inside the socket. Its nothing to do with electrics its a UHF frequency. You never daisy chain a UHF frequency. Amateurs do, that have no training - Simply because they know no better. The amount of amateurs we strip out for and replace the TV set ups is alarming. The spec clearly says full sign off on completion. Then they want a sign off and we see stuff like this. Shouldn't moan I suppose "Long live the electricians". Its simply for whether the cable is being fed top or bottom of the back box & not putting a U bend crease in it. Any frequency carrying cable shouldn't have a crease in it. Most sockets have a TV or FM wording so the socket can only go that way round. No It is a "plain socket" quite an old version of a TV FM socket. The type of aerial socket that is fitted for tv and fm in the home has basic filter circuitry built into it. It contains resistors, and/or inductors and capacitors. This will 'split' the frequency range. (Of this I am no expert but an understanding I believe to be true)
I guess that would make sense if it's passing the signal through to the flat below. Not sure why the socket would have cable clamps top and bottom though, if it's completely wrong to daisy-chain from flat to flat like this.
I was told that if I wanted to install an aerial socket in the adjoining room I couldn't just attach an extra cable to the incoming one but would need to use a splitter like this http://www.screwfix.com/p/labgear-2-way-splitter-with-power-pass-all-ports/99105 so if that's true, I'm not sure how it can be OK for the cable to just be extended from flat to flat as it appears to be.
Who had the brilliant idea to make FM and DAB sockets different? Are we supposed to change our sockets depending on whether our AV receivers have FM or DAB tuners in them? The TV socket on that plate is male, whereas on my existing socket it's female so it seems the standard has changed over the years. Doesn't really matter, I just need a different cable or an adapter, same as with FM/DAB.
Using block will probably be easier than trying to cram both cables into the new socket. I'll try the latter first though as it will be a bit neater and I'm not sure there's room for block in the backbox anyway.
Hugh, that's in fact correct. I tell you why, the old way of connecting multiple tv sockets was to link the feeds together. So 1st, Aerial on the roof, fed down to the top floor flat, then a coaxial feed is fed to the next flat, then so on and so on. So you have a daisy chain effect. However, the downside, is that if anyone disconnects his feed it will brake the signal and the person below looses his picture. Also you will have less signal as everyone is sharing the same aerial, so normally there is fitted an amplifier somewhere. The TV socket that you have is a throughput socket which allows you to link both the flat above and the flat below. This system is not used anymore and the sockets are hard to find. Finding a solution might be to join both cables together and then put them into a normal TV outlet. I had and have the same problem, but as yet haven't tried to sort as I use SKY 100% of the time.
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