TV DISTRIBUTION

only 8 metres between buildings, cable run goes underground and so is about 30 metres. would prefer to put another amplifier on the aerial rather than another aerial on the house if I can - if not then we would install another. we are in a bad area with mountains behind, but the current aerial has an amp on it and it all works fine.

30m plus is not too far. I would just try coax splitters first and see if there is any issue before worrying about amplification.

Yes but it sounds like you don't need a box. What else do you want to do besides distribute TV signals??

Yes, but what exactly do you want to distribute and to how many rooms?

For FTA, just use an n-way spitter (how many rooms do you want to provide FTA to?)

For Foxtel you have two choices:

Distribute the (cable? satellite?) signal over coax and put a box/boxes in the room/rooms - To do this you will need a multi switch if more than one room on satellite or a simple splitter for cable

Locate the Foxtel box centrally and output its signal to the various rooms using either an HDTV digital modulator or an HDMI over IP system

The advantage of the first approach is simplicity and you can watch different Foxtel channels in different rooms at the same time
The advantage of the second approach is a lower monthly Foxtel bill but you will have the same channel in all the rooms. It is also a more complex to set up.

A 9-way split of your FTA antenna (plus whatever you already have in the shed) means that you will need to look at your signal strength carefully. Depending on what is already in place, you will probably need a bigger mast-head amplifier at least.

You probably don't want to have to go patching things just to watch TV in a different room.

For Foxtel distribution, something like this: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Supernet-DVB ... SwOfxXA09J can work. It simply multiplexes the output of your Foxtel box into your existing FTA antenna signal and you get another channel on your TV.

The downside of this is that you need to use some form of remote-repeater to change channels on the Foxtel box and there is a couple of seconds delay between input and output, so fast-forwarding and using menus can be a bit tricky.

The other option is some sort of HDMI-over-IP boxes; http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_from ... P&_sacat=0 Some of these include IR remote repeating, but compatibility with Foxtel remote controls can be troublesome as they use slightly different frequencies. If the HDMI over IP box uses multicast (many do) then you can have one transmitter on your network and multiple receivers.

For remote control, the Logitech Harmony smart remotes are what I use; they have a Wi-Fi connected hub that you put near the Foxtel box and then you can use an app on your smart phone as the remote.

Another option for Foxtel is to simply move the box from room to room as required; you can just have a splitter set up so that there are live coax ports in the rooms.

With regard to "boxes" to put this sort of stuff in, I find that coax cables work better against the wall than in racks due to their limited bending radius.

Here is my satellite distribution in my garage (I don't have FTA here, but if I did, it would look similar; a wall mounted splitter with coax in/out)

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