Hi All,

I promised some members in the group I would let them know how I got on with
my installation. (UK based)

I have mounted a Diamond X50 just a few inches above a TV aerial on the same
mast.

Following the advice from my tutor (intermediate course) and some responses
from the group, I made a single turn in the RG213 coax just below the
connection to the Diamond, and ran the cable the other side of the chimney
to the TV coax.

I made another single turn after entering the shack (which is a straight
drop below - 35ft).

When transmitting at 10W maximum power on 144 -146 MHz on managed to wipe
out most of the TV signal!!

However, by fitting a TVI filter before my distribution amp, and remaking
some poor quality connections on the TV coax generally, I have managed to
eliminate it completely.

One other tip, I have removed the coax from the Sky+ RF loop thro', and fed
out from the box and mixed the signal with the TV feed using a high quality
coax mixer (maplins) before sending to the distribution amp thro the TVI
filter. This was a major improvement, it seems the Sky+ box was amplifying
the 2M frequencies well above anything else. I did try fitting the TV filter
before the sky box, but it was better to keep the RF out of the Sky box
altogether.

I will probably continue to improve things a little by reducing some cable
runs on the TV side of things.

The X50 works great at this position, I was chatting away last night, with
just a few watts, hitting repeaters 60 or 70 miles away with no problem. In
simplex mode I was able to get contacts over a similar distance.

I would not recommend fitting 2M on the TV mast, but if you have no real
choice, go for it, and be prepared to fiddle and you will make it work!!

Many thanks to all those that offered help and advice, it is what these
groups are all about.

73's

Paul
M3 PDY