Use faceplates or not? Would really appreciate some advice.

[elsmandino]

Hi there,

I have got a freesate dish and an external aerial that I am using to watch all free channels on a computer using DVB-T and DVB-S2 cards in my living room. Unfortunately, the living room is the only place where I can get a signal into the house - which is via a double face plate.

What I am hoping to do is distribute freesat and and freeview to my bedroom and just freeview to my spare room and the kitchen.

The best why I have found for the freeview would probably be to put a masthead amp on the side of the house and run coax to each room and then with the satellite dish, it would just be a case of buying a double LBN and running another coax to my bedroom.

BUT ... my question is this: I have read online that although many people add a faceplate to the point that the aerial enters throught the wall, this loses quite a bit of signal and that it is preferable to keep the coax going all the way to the TV. Now, if there was no signal loss, I would definitely consider a faceplate everytime - it looks neater and is more practical - if you move the telly to another place in the room, you can just buy or make a new fly lead. But you can't just do this with a continutous coax coming out of the mast head.

Does anyone have any experience of whether the loss from using faceplates is great enough not to use them if possible or whether avoiding them really is for enthusiasts who want that extra 1% of signal (is there perhaps also difference depending if you are using freesat or freeview?).

Thanks

 

[Lazarus]

You really should have no problem using Faceplates .............. Freesat is a pretty big signal even with a small dish, so any loss at the Faceplate will be irrelevant.

But I do suggest you use a good quality Faceplate (not a B&Q cheapie) that maintains full screening throughout as cheap ones don't and create a weakness that can be exploited by stray RF from DECT phones, leading to problems with certain Transponders. Like anything else, you get what you pay for and the extra couple of squids will be well worth it.

 

[davemurgtroyd]

The best compromise with minimum signal loss is to use a blank wallplate drilled to accept a back to back f connector

 

[fergyc]

I just prefer to use the wire as I'm a tightwad ;) The faceplate will be fine though.

 

[Robbo]

One more thing to connect up, and one more thing to go wrong, but if you must use one then it would be fine if its good quality. Loss is minimal.

 

[elsmandino]

Thanks v. much for the advice - very much appreciated.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Signal transfer aside, a faceplate has other disadvantages

1)To look good, it should be ideally placed at the same height as the other sockets (mains and telephone) in the room.
2) Unless you have hollow internal walls, there is little chance you are going to make a neat job except by putting it on an outside wall.
3) You have additional costs of the bolster work and a back box, plus the additional connectors on the inside.

Each of these issues is more or less eliminated by the use of one continous cable, moreso if the cable can be left slightly longer in the first place (if you wish to move things round) and the excess left under the floorboards, which should not be difficult to achieve within a first floor bedroom.