[Mysteriouskk]

I have coax cables going throughout my house. There is a coax connector in my three rooms for getting a signal.


Right now I'm using Cox Digital cable and I'm looking into OTA HD signals, since Cox extremely compresses all of their HD channels.


I was wondering if I could get an HD antenna, put it in a room upstairs; connect the antenna to the coax connector in the wall in that room, and then get that OTA signal in my downstairs room using the Coax connector in that room.


Should the coax cables be connected together throughout my house, or are they separate somehow?


What is the best way to get a coax signal from my 2nd floor down to my first floor, if I have coax cable throughout my house?

 

[Ratman]

Coax does carry bi-directional signals.


No... you cannot combine OTA and cable over the same coax as many frequencies overlap.


Best option is to have a dedicated coax run for cable and another for antenna. And/Or... use an A/B switch.

 

[coyoteaz]

Cox is one of the companies that usually does not recompress local HD channels. Odds are you won't gain any quality by moving to an antenna, though you might gain a few subchannels that Cox doesn't carry.

 

[Rick_R]

If you have coax going through out the house there is some location where they all meet and connect to the external cable. This location usually is in the attic of the house. You need to find that location and then you can distribute the antenna or cable signal to what ever rooms you want.


Rick R

 

[Ratman]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick_R /forum/post/16914134


You need to find that location and then you can distribute the antenna or cable signal to what ever rooms you want.

"or" is the key word. Antenna or cable... but typically not both. As stated numerous times in many threads, you should not (cannot?) combine over the same coax feeds.

 

[txrose]

Does coax cable travel only one way?

It is a frequency thing. Any frequency band can only transmit in one direction on the coax. Generally the coax for cable TV is split into two bands at about 50MHz. Transmission back to the cable company, called upstream, uses the band below 50MHz. Transmission to the subscriber, called downstream, use the band above 50 MHz. Since OTA channel frequencies are the same as Cox channels they cannot share the same coax.


The Upstream direction is used for sending signals back to Cox for VOD and PPV and for Uploading in the Internet service.

 

[Mac The Knife]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratman /forum/post/16897709


Coax does carry bi-directional signals.


No... you cannot combine OTA and cable over the same coax as many frequencies overlap.


...

And even worse, you become a little micro-powered transmitter of Cox cable out of your antenna and can cause all kinds of interference problems if your neighbors are trying to receive OTA.

 

[txrose]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mac the knife /forum/post/16916080


and even worse, you become a little micro-powered transmitter of cox cable out of your antenna and can cause all kinds of interference problems if your neighbors are trying to receive ota.

+1