# Newbie Question..Coax vs Composite



## otnipj3s (Jul 20, 2008)

Just upgraded from two 301 recievers, to one 722 dvr tv1 hd, tv2 sd coax connected. How much of an improvement of video quality using composite line? I asked the Dish installers and they didn't know.


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## Radio Enginerd (Oct 5, 2006)

otnipj3s said:


> Just upgraded from two 301 recievers, to one 722 dvr tv1 hd, tv2 sd coax connected. How much of an improvement of video quality using composite line? I asked the Dish installers and they didn't know.


Composite is basically base band video. Coax is base band video modulated to be recieved on a TV tuner (normally channel 3 or 4). With that modulation comes potential noise.

If you have the option, use composite. Both are analog but composite looks better IMO.

Are you using component or HDMI for TV1? Not being totally familiar with a 722, is it TV2 you're asking about?


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## otnipj3s (Jul 20, 2008)

Yes, I am using a HDMI connection to TV1. TV2 looks a little worse than when I had a direct connect with the 301.


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## Radio Enginerd (Oct 5, 2006)

otnipj3s said:


> Yes, I am using a HDMI connection to TV1. TV2 looks a little worse than when I had a direct connect with the 301.


How far away is TV2 from the 722?


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## CABill (Mar 20, 2005)

Nobody can give you a "how much of an improvement" w/o knowing / seeing what you get on TV2 now. You'd probably see an improvement using composite, but you can't go a long distance w/o some issues. The installers would have picked some UHF channel to modulate TV2 on - and you watch that channel on the TV2 TV(s). The longer the coax run to the TV(s) and the more splitters used have a large effect on the coax quality. It is pretty easy to see if you get a better picture by just changing the channel that TV2 (and optionally TV1) are modulated onto. Depending on what you might have for OTA channels (or cable coax leakage?), you might get a lot better picture changing TV2 to UHF channel 21. I'd just keep trying channels sequentially to see what gives you the best TV2 picture via coax. Whatever channel was picked could be near a channel used for OTA digital channels in your area.


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## otnipj3s (Jul 20, 2008)

I have tried channel 21, and it doesn't work. Only channel 73 works. The distance from the 722 to tv 2 is about 40 feet. The only way I can compare is by running the composite and looking at it on the tv. The distance the coax is actually longer . I will post my results after trying the composite.


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## CABill (Mar 20, 2005)

The higher the channel (frequency), the more loss you will get. It isn't too surprising that 21 doesn't work for you - you need to either try all channels individually, or look to see what frequencies are active at your location. www.antennaweb.org or www.tvfool.com would list analog and digital channels you'd want to avoid (including channels next to them). ONLY being able to use 73 would surprise me.


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## otnipj3s (Jul 20, 2008)

After switching my tv to air instead of cable, rescanned channels and came up with channel 22. Channel 22 seems better than cable channel 73. The lower number idea seems to work better.


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## fredinva (May 10, 2006)

There is no air ch 21 option.
The lowest air ch available is air 22.

Cable 73 frequency is almost identical(very close) to air 22.

We have found that air 22 does in fact improve most tv2 issues.

fred


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## CABill (Mar 20, 2005)

I totally missed that 73 is only a choice when you select Cable, not Air. 73 is above the available Home Dist range of 21-69. Ch 21 IS a choice on my 722 receiver, but the picture is quite poor for me because that frequency is used for the digital 31.1 ATSC signal.


> Dual-Tuner, Two-TV Receiver with Remote Control Antenna Combined with Home Distribution (Ch 21-69 or 73-125) Output


I was thinking otnipj3s was using a channel at the END of the Air range. Cable 73 is very close in frequency, but the TV may have also been setup for HRC / IRC??

OTA 21 513.25 MHz
OTA 22 519.25 MHz

EIA/NCTA, Standard , HRC , IRC 
73 , 517.25 , 516.0258 , 517.2625

Cable 73 should work nearly as well as OTA 22 as far as being a lower frequency (my original intent). If there is something OTA on channel 21, Cable 73 would be closer to it than Air 22. Here, there doesn't seem to be a good choice anywhere in the 20s, but an open channel in the 30s is better than an open channel in the 40s, which is better than one in the 50s. otnipj3s could get a better picture on higher channels if there is something in use in the lower frequencies - just takes experimenting.


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