Another Antenna Question

[hayes]

Hello,

We have an antenna in the attic, to far out for cable and to cheap for dish. We get every channel very clear but 2. Channel 4 is a little fuzzy and Channel 5 (NBC) gets really
bad at times.

I currently have a 2-way split in the attic to branch off to 2 rooms. yesterday in one of the room I put in another 2 way split and ran a cable through the wall to an adjoining room.
Now in the Adjoining room Channels 4 and 5 do not come in at all. The rest are clear.

Did I split 1 too many times?

Has anybody ever used an signal ampliphier(sp?)/spliter combination??? How well does it work? Where should I put it??

Thanks

Larry

 

[gws]

I would be more concerned about the cable. What cable are you using RG-6 or RG-59? How long from antenna to TV is the longest run? DId you put the cable connectors on yourself or use pre-made cables?
If your over or approaching 100ft of total cable legnth or if your using RG-59 thats your problem.
You might want to consider replacing the first 2way splitter with a 2 output preamp.

You may also have a poor or bad splitter, or if you terminated the cable yourself, you did a bad job.

 

[JohnMiller3]

<font color=blue>…Has anybody ever used an signal ampliphier(sp?)/spliter combination??? How well does it work? Where should I put it??...</font color=blue>

You usually put an amplifier as close to the source as practical… reason being…. That’s where you have maximum signal before loss accumulates through the cable… for best results, buy an “outside” amplifier and install up at the antenna mast itself…

An amplifier is dumb…/w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif It can’t tell the difference between a TV signal or noise… An amplifier does what the name implies… amplifies “everything” that passes through it…(according to its designed bandpass)

So… bottom line is if your signal threshold is weak or noisy… an amplifier may only make the picture worse (more snow(noise) than video)

When you have a “working” system, then add a splitter and now nothing or no output…mostly you have a bad connection, or a defective splitter… cables/wiring don’t go bad in the middle… it’s normally the ends… Disconnect what you’ve done and backtrack… get the system working as it was when you started… or you’ll only dig yourself a deep hole…

Good luck… /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[hayes]

I am well under the 100ft from antenna to the outlet. I am not sure what type of cable, I will check when I get home.
I did notice the cable the builder used was thicker than what
I picked up at HD. But the new cable only runs about 15ft.

I had to do the connectors myself, so I will also recheck to make sure they are good.

Do the channels on the lower end of the dial have a weeker signal strength? It puzzels me why 4 and 5 dissappeared, but the rest of the channels are clear.

Thanks for the ideas

Larry

 

[kevinro]

Having just gone through putting a system in my new house, I have a couple of tips:

1) If you can, try to get all of the cable outlets run back to a single multi-way splitter. Each time you split, you increase the load on the signal. You are far better off having a 1 to 6 splitter than having multiple 1 to 2 splitters.

2) Use RG6 if you can.

3) Get an amplifier for your main splitter. You should put it before your splitter, so the signal going into the splitter is as strong as possible. The closer the amp is to the signal source, ie your antenna, the better signal to noise ratio you will get out of it.

Kevin

 

[gws]

But if you move a connector to add a new splitter it could cause problems. Poorly connected cables can also be freq specific, bad at one channel and good at others as was noted here.

When you have a “working” system, then add a splitter and now nothing or no output…mostly you have a bad connection, or a defective splitter… cables/wiring don’t go bad in the middle… it’s normally the ends… Disconnect what you’ve done and backtrack… get the system working as it was when you started… or you’ll only dig yourself a deep hole…

Good luck…

 

[ddl]

the signal loss in one foot of coaxial cable equals the loss in 50 foot of twin lead in. When you split the signal, you divide the signal. You never ampilfy to make up for small signal. You only ampilify to make for loss in distribution cables. The reason lower number of channels, 2 through 6 have a lot longer elements then 7 through 13. You anteena maybe a high channel type antenna. Usually lower channels are recieved easier the the high band. Decide how many outlets you need and buy a power splitter designed for that number. Use flat lead in to run to the outlets if the signAl is weak. Never split after you have split the signal, it will not work.

Dan L

 

[hayes]

Thanks everybody for the help.
I tracked it down last night to a bad
connector that I did. Got rid of it
and it works now.

Larry

 

[dmccarty]

Hayes,

I think the advice from DDL is most likely the correct advice.
I really know nothing about this stuff BUT when I was 18 I
worked at a Radio Shack. We sold lots of TV signal amps. We
wrote up lots of refunds on TV signal amps...... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Sooo, that always led me to guess at the possibilities.
1 - The amps where junk.
2 - The amps boosted all the signals whether good or bad.
3 - The amps where installed in incorrectly.

I'm thinking what was happening was most likely 2 and 3. RS
sold some junk especially low end phones which after awhile I
all but refused to sell. But I always figured, right or wrong,
that the amps where so simple they could not mess them up.
/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Good Luck,
Dan

 

[gws]

As hayes said, his antenna is in the attic and his first splitter is in the attic. so your aready at the source. A preamp at this point is fine.


Most people put the amp at the TV side of the cable and all you do is amplify a bad signal.

As I noted in my first post, put the amp in place of the first splitter, use good RG6 cable with properly fitted ends and the additional splitters will be fine. You can also buy a 4way amp and home run all your drops to each room but sometimes thats just not worth the effort.

Having the antenna in the attic isnt the best since your loosing a lot of the TV signal being inside.