Global Comms Loftbox & TVLink - is this system a turkey?

[Bruno Prior <bruno@xxxxxxx>]

Has anyone got the TVLink system working with a Loftbox (or any other
distribution system)? I've been playing with them and my conclusions are:

1. TVLink won't travel the 30m or so from the Sky+ box to Node Zero,
where the loftbox is. This may be because of the length of cable, or
because there are cable connectors (e.g. the wallplate or joints in the
coax) in the run. I tried this connecting direct to the cable that would
normally connect to UHF2 on the loftbox, so there's no interference from
the loftbox or any other booster. The LED was lit, but I could get no
response.

2. I need to put a booster after the Sky+ box on the run to UHF2, in
order to get a decent quality signal to distribute at the loftbox. Of
course, this would screw up TVLink even if I could get it to work over
that distance.

3. Attaching the TVLink to a cable on the room-feed side of the Loftbox
results in the LED not even being lit.

4. Global Comms' own wallplate screws up the TV signal royally. I get
the best results without a wallplate, and reasonable results using a
different type of wallplate (bought from Maplins). I've got the Global
Comms. wallplates (the duplex types for TV and FM) in several rooms, and
they all destroy the signal. It is definitely the wallplate and not the
cable, as I have disconnected the wallplate and connected a simple coax
connector to the end of the cable and the signal is fine.

5. TVLink was even fairly temperamental in the least demanding of
situations. I made up a four metre coax lead using the connectors
supplied with the TVLink and connected a second TV via the TVLink dongle
straight to the RF2 feed on the Sky+ box (that would normally run back
to UHF2 on the loftbox at Node Zero). With the original remote that came
with the Sky+ box, I had to hold it within a couple of feet of the
TVLink IR receiver and do slow, sustained presses for it to work, and
even then it was intermittent. On a whim, I tried the second remote I
had bought to go with TVLink, which is identical to the original remote,
but a little newer. This one worked reliably. The only difference I can
think of is that the batteries are a little newer on the second remote,
but the first remote is only a couple of months old, hardly used (as we
haven't moved in yet) and works fine with the Sky+ box.

I'm pretty sure I've got this setup right, or it wouldn't work at all.
I've enabled the 9V output on RF2, as per the instructions. At the
moment, it just looks like the Loftbox and TVLink are turkeys. Looks
like I should have gone for a nice, cheap 8-way distribution and booster
system, and not bothered trying to get remote satellite channel-changing
working.

So, has anyone got this to work, and if so, what is the secret?

Cheers,

Bruno