TV Aerial

[toshiba tony]

Iv'e had water in the coax for years now and I have tolerated it, but today lost everything. Someone's coming tomorrow, what is the normal policy these days, if it's just the coax do they do a rerun or is it normal to do a new installation?
The Yorkshire in me is coming back, I'm tight!
Ta anyone.

[G6Tanuki]

If water's got into the coax it will mean the dipole-to-coax connection on the antenna has failed its waterproofing and the terminals are likely to be so corroded that it won't be possible to unscrew them to attach new coax; even if it was possible you have to think 'how did water get in, and can it be kept out in future' - the plastic cap that seals the junction will be cracked-or-missing.

These days the expensive bit is the callout/trabel-charge and the labour; the antenna and cable are cheap in comparison. Get the fitter to replace the lot - coax, antenna, mast, lashing - and then you know it'll all be good for the next decade.


"Do it on the cheap, do it twice".

[toshiba tony]

Thanks g6, where do you get your name, not the philps g6?, anyway please dont take this the wrong way, i have dementia so it probably pay's to get a new install. However the aerial will see me out. Im hoping my landlord will cop for the bill.

[G6Tanuki]

Originally Posted by toshiba tony

Thanks g6, where do you get your name, not the philps g6?,.

No, my name comes because I've got a G6 ham-radio callsign and the Japanese "Tanuki" or raccoon-dog has a reputation for being a cunning trickster-character, rather like me.

I hope you get your antenna-situation solved in the next few days; I'm waiting for some antenna-work here too but the fitter won't work when everything's iced-up like it is at the moment!

[Nuvistor]

I have seen water in the coax from damage to the outer sheath by rubbing on roof tiles or on the gutter if it’s not secured properly.
If the aerial has been up a while even if the water is not in the dipole connector it will probably be corroded and not in good condition.

It will be a re-install, at least all the runs and holes are there already. Worth replacing the aerial with a log periodic (wideband) as the new digital station plan is prone to large frequency plan shifts (this is recommended by satcure http://www.satcure.co.uk/ I am but a very satisfied customer and their website worth a look).

[Nuvistor]

Out of interest which Freeview transmitter do you use?

[Welsh Anorak]

I agree - aerials aren't that expensive so it would be a false economy not to replace it together with the lead while he's up there. The main thing you'll be paying for is the labour which is expensive because of the understandably high insurance costs. Even if the cable rubbing on a slate is the cause, it's not good practice to just chop and put in a new length.

[1955APREN]

Hi Tony
Hope your tv or vcr are ok , over the years I have seen lots of problems like this water a leaked into the unit . Just to give out a couple of examples A ctv (possible A finlux Peacock) complaint tv burning water had leaked from aerial lead into set and found it way to the 12volt reg burn up around the pins . Next one a vcr Logic 945 with green slime all over the tuner and the mech. Water leaking down aerial was very commoner snowy pic problems, some times hard to convince customers that this was problem unit you run your hands down the cable and squired water cross the living room.
Looking at you address I would think that your tx is WH but I might be wrong about this. I have a maplin flat panel amplifed aerial in the loft facing Wr south but this also is able to pick up from the north WH and gives a good signal
Hope you set is ok and new aerial is thats required
Kind Regards
Derrick

[Welsh Anorak]

On a lighter note, it's surprising how many innocent cats were banished outside after a damp patch was found behind the TV!

[Refugee]

I was once asked to fix a tape that was stuck in a VCR.
The guy had got the aerial and down lead fixed and the VCR replaced.
It turned out to be an adult film and it was snapped.
I had to copy the two halves onto another tape and transfer the reels into the original tape shell.
The VCR was full of green spot especially the RF side.
It did work for copying with a bit of manual help loading tapes but was otherwise BER.
It was scrap once I found another that fully worked.

[cheerfulcharlie]

Originally Posted by toshiba tony

Iv'e had water in the coax for years now and I have tolerated it, but today lost everything. Someone's coming tomorrow, what is the normal policy these days, if it's just the coax do they do a rerun or is it normal to do a new installation?
The Yorkshire in me is coming back, I'm tight!
Ta anyone.

If you are that tight

Then the cable maybe the old cheap type which the core insulator was not solid but had air holes, and the water then travels down these air tunnels .. you could attach a pump of your own making and ingenuity to the cable and either blow the water back out the top(tends to work best when the Sun is about and it can evaporate quickly)...or a pump on suck where you can draw the water out.

[Station X]

The pump dry desiccated air into the cable!

[Skywave]

Originally Posted by toshiba tony

Thanks g6, where do you get your name?

Originally Posted by G6Tanuki

My name comes because I've got a G6 ham-radio call-sign and the Japanese "Tanuki" or raccoon-dog has a reputation for being a cunning trickster-character, rather like me.

Thanks for that snippet; something I've always wondered about.

Al.

[Graham G3ZVT]

Originally Posted by Station X

The pump dry desiccated air into the cable!

The white powder that jams the coax plug on when the moisture dries out is more like desiccated coconut!


It's the semi air-spaced, usually brown so-called Low Loss cable that conducts the water by capillary action, better foam dielectric cable is less of a problem.

In the past when I have seen water dripping from a coax plug, as a (literal) stop-gap I have used a male/female flylead to extend the cable.

[dglcomp]

Another good practice is to make sure there are drip loops, at least where the cable enters the property if it's run outside as it allows any water that does run down the outside of the cable to drip on to the ground rather than finding it's way inside.

[Spec-chum]

I knew an elderly gent that had this problem back in the analogue tv days. Water had got into the aerial socket of the tv and gave symptoms of fuzzy/poor reception. He was renting his set at the time and when the repair man came to look, he first sorted out the water ingress in the aerial socket. Then he bodge fixed the coax by putting a loop in it with a small hole in the bottom of the loop in the coax, and then placed the looped coax part into a bowl. Occasionally the elderly gent had to empty the bowl if there had been a lot of rain, but he told me he used it for years like that and never got water in his aerial socket again.