Hi there - I hope this is the correct place to post. Please redirect me if I have mucked it up.
I live in Canberra. I am about 7 KM from Black Mountain (line of sight). My antenna (sorry - not sure exactly what sort) is cabled with RG6 to a series of splitters.
My Topfield picks up the the SD/HD signal no problems as does my Panasonic TV (its a CRT with an inbuilt digital only SD tuner). My TViX does not pick up SBS very well - signal drop out. The other channels are OK.
Now, My question is this: is there a difference between the splitters that are rated as either:
5-900 MHz
5-1000 MHz
5-2250 MHz
Is one preferred over an other? These all have F connectors. Different brands: ANTSIG or MMT.
The cable run to the TVIX/Panasonic is approx 20 m
Would it be best to split the antenna lead near the antenna into two. Have a single 20 m run to the TVix and with the second port of the splitter, run that into a or six port splitter for all the other TVs?
Any advice most gratefully received.
Oh, the cable I use is off the shelf prefab runs of various lengths with the F connectors attached at the factory.
Regards
A.

SBS Digital Canberra Black Mountain is on channel 30, 543.5MHz, and it's the highest-frequency digital channel on Black Mountain. The lowest-frequency digital channel on Black Mountain is Prime on channel 6, 177.5MHz. So all the Black Mountain digital (and analog channels, some of which are on somewhat higher frequency channels than SBS Digital) are well below 900MHz.

In general digital TV is licensed for channels 5A (140.5MHz) to 69 (816.5Mhz), so the 5-900MHz splitter should be just fine for free-to-air digital TV anywhere in Australia. It's also fine for analog TV and FM radio. FM radio goes down to 88.1MHz.

The splitters that can operate at higher frequencies may be needed for satellite, but they will also work for FM radio and both analog and digital TV.

In general, the higher the frequency rating for a splitter, the (generally) better quality it would be. So those designed for satellite frequencies would be a 'premium' grade device. They would be fine to use for normal TV frequencies (as prl showed).

You seem to have a good few splits that you want to do. Bear in mind that each time you split the signal, you reduce it by (roughly) the number of splits. 2-way, it is halved. 4-way, quartered etc.
Without measuring the signal levels you have off the antenna, it is difficult to know what you have got to play around with.

Re the TVix, does this receive SBS OK on any outlet? Are you suspecting it is a low signal level causing the problem? Move it to a better outlet maybe to test.

You could arrange your splits by using a number of smaller units. An initial 2-way, perhaps feeding some 3 or 4-way units. Odd numbered splitter outputs will often have one of the ports giving out a higher level. eg. on a 3-way, the signal may be split internally to one output, then this signal split again to the other outputs. 3 total.

There is an insertion loss each time you use a splitter, as well as the split reduction. So splitting once will reduse th cumulative insertion losses, but perhaps give you more cabling to do.

All those splits might be too great for the signal you have available. You may need to use a booster or powered splitter perhaps. But you would need to be careful of unwanted channels (like ABC analogue and FM radio) causing overload.

Thanks folks for the advice. Much appreciated. Black Mountain is about 3 KM away - I live in Weetangara and can see the mountain - so it's line of sight.
All other devices connected to the antenna pick up the digital stations no problems. It was only the TVIX - and I tried it - even with a direct quad cable to the antenna.
But that is a moot point - my TViX died on Christmas eve and it was one months out of warranty. It is a known design flaw - the power supply / fan. So, I'll ditch it and use something else. I am not happy right now. More like Grumpy.

Thanks for the info on the splitters - and the way that one outlet can have higher output etc.
Regards
A.

PRI,
Channel 5A is a unique channel to Australia worldwide. There will be no new allocations to it for this and other reasons.
Digital channels start at channel 6 through to 69.

AlanH

If it died from a known design flaw then I would be chasing them up even though it is out of warranty. I and a lot of others got our 60 inch lg rear projection lcds replaced out of warranty due to the fact one of the components was known to be of dubious design.