Using the RF-OUT Port On Your Decoder, How To

According to Wikipedia Radio frequency (RF) is a rate of oscillation in the range of around 3 Hz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals. In lay mans words it means what your TV interprets as an analogue channel. As of Valentines day, Nairobi and its environs there is no single TV station broadcasting in the analogue format. But in this post I will show you how analogue transmission can be of use and why its important.

For you to use the RF OUT port on your decoder, it should first be present. Read through your user manual or check at the back pod your decoder to confirm if the port exists.  The featured image is of the Thyword decoder and the RF out port is easy to spot.  Other decoders that have the RF OUT port are Technosat T-888 FTA satellite decoder and Gotv/Dstv decoders

How to connect

You need a coaxial cable that runs from the decoder to the Antenna or Aerial port at the back of your TV. The cable that goes into your TV looks like this, basically the normal Aerial connector.

The other side should have a Female RF connector. This cable is not easy to come by and so you have to make one using a length of coaxial cable and the two different type of connectors. It looks like this in the first photo and connected in the second photo.

Turn the decoder on and TV on and make sure that is no loose connection.

Search for channels on your TV in the analogue range, one channel will surely pop up.

Save the channel and you are done.

Applications of the RF connection

Connecting two TV sets to one decoder, picture the decoder in the living room connected using RCA cables and the second TV  in the bedroom connected using the RF cable. This method can distribute a TV station up to 50 metres away using the appropriate length of cable.

If the TV set to be used does not have RCA ports then this is the right method to connect those Black and white Greatwall TV sets to a decoder.

If a splitter is used, then more Television sets can be added to the same signal. This is the method used by pub owners to distribute a DStv channel to many TVs inside a club. Read more about connecting Dstv/Gotv decoders to more than one TV.

The other application is to free up a port on your TV. For example if you owned the TV in the second picture, this maybe how you use it. Home-theatre on HDMI port, DVD Player on the RCA port and what about the decoder? The answer lies in the RF OUT poet.

Drawbacks

You can only watch one channel at a time on all TVs connected to the decoder.

If the signal is split, the quality becomes poor. But this can be solved using an inline amplifier.

The picture is not as clear as when using a HDMI or RCA cable

Making the cable can be challenge, but contact me if you need one such cable

My decoder does not have a RF OUT Port

Use an AV to RF converter. This gadget basically turns a composite Video signal to an RF signal. Its not expensive