Labgear LAB32KIT User Manual

Troubleshooting

Analogue Terrestrial TV

Snowy Picture

A faint, grainy or snowy picture is generally caused by a weak signal. Normally the TV transmitter will be a long way away. A possible improvement could be made by reducing the aerial downlead losses, installing a high gain aerial and by adding a low noise masthead ampliﬁer or signal booster. In a small number of cases, a snowy picture can also be caused by a TV signal that is too strong.

‘Herringbone’ Pattern

‘Herringboning’ is generally caused by too strong a TV signal or by a local high power transmitter such as CB, amateur or taxi radio. Your TV sound may be affected as well as the picture. Using an attenuator will reduce the gain of an aerial signal and improve the overall picture.

Digital Terrestrial Television

Unlike analogue TV signals which can still be viewed under weak signal strength conditions, with digital terrestrial signals blocking/freezing and/or loss of digital picture and sound can be caused by insufﬁcient digital signal and carrier to noise ratio.

General Safety Precautions

To Prevent Overheating

The recommended clearances and other precautions given in the installation section of these instructions must be observed to prevent overheating. In addition, the ampliﬁer should not be ﬁxed where it is likely to become smothered by curtains or other fabrics, etc, or other thermal insulation materials in a roof space or similar building void. The unit should not be left resting on a carpet.

Cable Installation Do not install cable - Closer than 50mm to mains or

telephone wiring. Under carpets in areas likely to be walked on regularly. With sharp bends at corners.

Similarly blocking and even a completely blank screen with no sound can result if the input signal to the set top box is too high. The digital cliff refers to the rapid change from the picture and sound being perfect, to disappearing altogether. For speciﬁc help with DTT reception problems, log onto *www.digitaluk.co.uk/

No picture: Check all connections from aerial to TV. Poor picture: Check all connections from aerial to TV.

Check aerial is properly aligned to the correct transmitter. If the aerial has been loft mounted try mounting outside. Make sure new digital coax cable has been used throughout the installation. Check the transmitter signal is not obstructed by nearby trees or buildings. If in a very weak signal area or for long cable runs, installing a masthead ampliﬁer will improve the signal. If in a strong signal area the signal strength may need to be reduced by ﬁtting an attenuator. Intermittent Picture: Make sure all RF cable to connector joints are tight (both inner and outer) including all ﬂyleads and surface outlet connections.

Other Precautions

Apart from the aerial and cable all other parts of the kit are not waterproof and are for indoor use only. They must not be ﬁxed where they could be exposed to dripping or splashing water. Objects containing liquids should not be placed on or near the appliance. To prevent risk of ﬁre, no object with a naked ﬂame should be placed on or near the appliances or the wiring to them.

Fitted Mains Plug

The ampliﬁer is supplied with a standard ﬁxed plug already ﬁtted. In the unlikely event that you need to change the fuse in this plug, a 3Amp fuse to BS1362 carrying the ASTA or BSI approved mark must be used.

32 Element Digital Aerial with

Labgear

LAB32KIT/S

Introduction

Congratulations on the purchase of your aerial and distribution kit. The kit is designed to receive and distribute both analogue and digital terrestrial signals around your home to up to 4 TVs without loss of signal strength. This aerial has been manufactured to the standard required to get the best reception of digital terrestrial TV services (e.g. Freeview™). If the aerial is to be used for DTT reception check before installation at www.digitaluk.co.uk/ to conﬁrm that your home is in a coverage area and to ﬁnd where your local transmitter is. This kit contains all the items necessary for mounting the aerial to an existing mast or for mounting externally to eaves or a wall or mounting in a loft. This kit also contains digital type coax cable to ensure good reception.

Aerial assembly and mounting

Aerial Features

Wideband – suitable for all UK TV reception areas, covering UHF channels 21 to 68

•

Receives both digital and analogue TV signals

•

Perfect for use in the majority of locations although in very high strength signal areas an

•

attenuator may be required, or for very weak strength signal areas an ampliﬁer may be needed

The aerial requires some assembly - please read these instructions carefully before beginning.

CAUTION: correct equipment. Unless you are competent in the use of ladders and other access equipment, do not work outdoors at roof height. If in any doubt, refer to a qualiﬁed aerial installer.

A. Fitting the dipole assembly

1. The dipole clips onto the central boom. Ensure that the cable exit hole (from the terminal box) faces the rear of the aerial and that the locating stud ﬁts into the locating hole on the boom as shown in Fig. 1.

When mounting the assembled aerial, always observe safety precautions and use the

USER GUIDE

Customer Careline 08457 573479

4 Room Distribution Kit

rear of aerial

Fig. 1

locating hole

dipole

locating stud

central boom

For further information or any queries please contact

Customer Careline: 08457 573 479 (Local rate – UK only)

www.labgear.com

Waste electrical products should not be disposed of with household waste. Please recycle where facilities exist. Check with your Local Authority or retailer for recycling advice.

B. Rotating the aerial elements

1. Rotate the elements about the central ﬁxing clip until they ‘snap’ into an upright position as shown in Fig. 2.

element in upright position

Fig. 2

rotate elements

VHF

FULL

UHF

VHF

FULL

UHF

C. Fitting the reﬂectors

1. Using the reﬂector clamps, screw and large wing nut, ﬁx the reﬂector assemblies to the main aerial boom as

Fig. 3

shown in Fig. 3.

2. Check that the reﬂector clamp tabs locate in the holes of the reﬂector boom sections as shown in Fig. 4. Also ensure that the wing nut is tight.

3. Ensure that the reﬂector elements are facing towards the front of the aerial (convex surface forward).

D. Connecting coax cable

1. Before preparing and stripping the cable ready for connection, feed the coax cable through the hole in the terminal cover.

2. Prepare cable as shown in Fig. 5.

3. Feed prepared cable through the braid clamp and thread the centre wire through the hole in the central terminal as shown in Fig. 6.

4. Clamp the cable braid securely ﬁrst, then tighten the screw on the central terminal. Trim any stray braid that might come into contact with the centre wire or central terminal.

5. Replace terminal cover carefully and securely making sure that the cable is not trapped or kinked.

Fig. 5

10mm

braid

Fig. 7

reﬂector element

8mm

centre wire

5mm

reﬂector boom assembly

Fig. 4

engage tab in hole

Fig. 6

braid

clamp

reﬂector clamps

central terminal

Distributing the aerial signal around your home

Planning Your Distribution System - Choosing a Location for the Ampliﬁer

The 4-way ampliﬁer may be ﬁtted in any convenient position the most popular being either the loft or the sitting room near the main TV. In choosing a location, consider the following: a) The ampliﬁer needs to be plugged into the mains, so it must be near a socket b) You will need to run cables from the ampliﬁer to each outlet point c) You must be able to get the cable from the aerial to the input of the ampliﬁer (via the VCR or DVD recorder if you wish to distribute VCR/DVD signals)

Fixing -

The ampliﬁer is best ﬁxed to a wall or other suitable hard surface, using suitable screws and masonry plugs (not supplied). The ampliﬁer should not be left supported by its own wiring, nor should it be left resting on a carpet or other insulating and/or inﬂammable surfaces or other fabrics, etc, or thermal insulation materials in a loft. around the front and sides of the unit.

Locating the ampliﬁer in the loft

Power Supply

and must be placed where it will not be

A ventilation gap of at least 25mm should be left

UHF (TV ) Digital & Analogue

Locating the ampliﬁer in the main sitting room

smothered by curtains

UHF (TV ) Digital & Analogue

E. Coax cable routing

For optimum performance it is very important that the coax cable should be routed as shown in Fig. 7. PVC insulation tape can be used as shown to hold the cable in place.

F. Fixing to a mast

For best results the aerial should be mounted on an outdoor aerial mast and pointed in the direction of the nearest transmitter* making sure it is in a position where the transmitter signal will not be obstructed by nearby trees and buildings. If you are in any doubt about the direction in which the aerial should be pointing or the orientation of the aerial (horizontal for main transmitter, vertical for relay transmitter) check your neighbours’ aerials. If mounting on an existing mast check that the mast is in good condition and ﬁrmly ﬁxed.

1. Using the clamp supplied ﬁx the aerial to the mast - see Fig. 7 & 8 .

2. After the aerial direction has been ﬁne tuned for best reception tighten the bolts ﬁrmly until the aerial is securely ﬁxed to the mast. Alternatively for loft mounting, assemble the pole mount and mast clamp as shown below (ﬁgs. 8-10). The pole mount can be ﬁtted to a roof timber (use screws only) or to a suitably sound indoor wall surface.

mast clamp

Coax Cable Aerial Flyleads

PVC insulation tape

Fig. 8

Tilting Mast Clamp

aerial boom

Adjust aerial to horizontal before tightening bolts

Freeview™ Reception

Please note that the aerial will receive digital TV signals and the ampliﬁer supplied will distribute them but each TV will require a suitable set top box to view Freeview™ channels (unless the TV has a built-in Freeview™ digital tuner).

Wiring Coax Plugs and Coax Outlets

You will need to ﬁt coax plugs to the aerial lead and to each of the leads running to TV outlets so that they can be connected to the aerial ampliﬁer.

Unscrew coax plug housing and slide cap over cable.

2. Strip 23mm of cable outer sheath. Gather copper braid, wrap around outer

sheath, slide claw over braid and crimp.

3. Strip 18mm of inner insulation to leave 5mm exposed.

4. Undo screw on plug/clamp, slide clamp over inner wire & tighten screw.

5. Reassemble plug and trim inner wire flush with plug.

Fig. 1

5mm

Fig.9

Next run the cables from the amplifier to the outlet positions, if drilling

Fig. 10

Pole Mount

Alternative assembly

through walls use a 6mm drill bit and be careful to avoid pipes and other cables. Use the cable clips supplied to secure cables. Wire the screened flush outlets as shown below and mount in 35mm or deeper mounting boxes (not supplied).

braid

1. Prepare cable as shown in Fig. 1.

2. Unscrew the 2 screws on the terminal cover and lift lid. Feed prepared cable over the braid clamp and thread the centre wire through the hole in the central terminal, tighten the screw on the central terminal. Trim any stray braid that might come into contact with the centre wire or central terminal. Close terminal lid and tighten screws. (see Fig. 2)

3. Screw the faceplate into the mounting box making sure cable is not pinched or kinked.

Fig. 2

5mm

Cable Entry

centre wire

Centre Core

Fixing