Receiving TV channels without an aerial connected

[theamilien]

Hi

Ive just moved into a new house and have an aerial in the loft, which is connected to an 8 way splitter, which splits the signal to ports in various rooms of the house. Ive been trying to label the cables so I know which goes where, by disconnecting them one at a time and waiting for the signal to be lost on the tv. However, the tv is picking up channels even with no coax cables connected in the loft (I even disconnected the cable from the aerial that goes to the splitter to be sure).

I have two TVs in two separate rooms that im testing, one a very old one which picks up 10 DTV channels, and one a very new Samsung KS7000 which picks up over 100 (including HD channels).

How is this possible? Do TVs have inbuilt antennas that can pick up channels ?

 

[SoggyTissue]

smart tv on wifi?

yes most tvs have an 'internal' ariel if you can call it that ... the socket wire connection to the main board is a 'small ariel' but is normally shielded to stop interference. so technically yes, but practically no.

my suggestion is that new tvs have signal boosters built inside to compensate for (speculated) - lower powered broadcasting to save energy bills for the broadcasting company and/or poor reception areas. though, generally you require a high gain ariel for poor areas; perhaps youre in an area that has very strong signal.

 

[americanaudiophile]

When your disconnect the wire from the splitter the wire itself can act as an antenna if the signal is strong.
You can use a vom to label the leads. Disconnect the lead at the TVs one at a time and measure the resistance of the leads at the splitter. The disconnected one will read open.

 

[theantennaguys]

Go to your local Antenna supplier and buy a cable 'toner'. It is about $10 - you connect it to either end of the cable and you will hear a tone when you get the right cable. You can figure out all of your cables in an hour.