Are you moving to or from a house? Here’s a moving hint!
Some houses have TV RF masthead or distribution amplifiers that are powered by small plug pack units that plug into TV sockets. These send a low voltage signal up the TV cable to power the amplifier which boosts TV signal strength. They are often used in areas with weak reception.
If you are moving out of a house, be sure to leave this power supply unit behind! It’s all to common for people to accidentally pack it up with all their other AV cables and TV gear. The unit itself is just a power supply, so completely useless in a house that doesn’t have an amplifier, which is most homes. Leaving it behind means the new tenant or owner will be able to use the TV immediately.
If you are moving in to a house that seems to have a fairly new TV aerial and you have no signal, one quick easy check is to at the pole that holds the antenna. If it has a grey box on it, it will usually be a masthead amplifier. Search the house for plug pack with a small wire going to a box that has TV PAL BG plugs on it. You may have to try each socket individually though as usually only one socket is able to supply power to the amplifier.
If you can’t find an amplifier power supply you may have to investigate further as different amplifiers require different types of power supply. I’ll discuss that further in another article.