antenna(s) for coastal area zip 19930

[ProjectSHO89]

Hmm... Diplomatic!

When I've been asked about that antenna and others of its ilk, I just refer to them as crap or junk...

Guess I'll never be a diplomat....

[tony sweeney]

Another question about the single antenna lead cable to the TV. I ran this same cable to my prewired 4 rooms four way splitter (1 input 4 outputs). After connection to the input of the splitter I went to one of these rooms with a TV connected to the wall plate. Using the auto channel scan on this TV I received four off air channels (DTS). But only one was viewable the other three displayed weak signal on the TV. What type amplifer would you recommend to add at the splitter to boost this signal to all four rooms? Would I still use the preamplifer at the antenna location to shore-up my reception?
Tony

Stick with your DB-4: don't EVER use an omnidirectional antenna. You can use an AntennaCraft TDP-2 or a Channel Master 9521a rotator: both use 3 conductor rotator cable, which is easy to buy: the AntennaCraft rotator is available from Radio Shack.

[tigerbangs]

Tony, there are two ways you can proceed here: A preamplifier mounted at the antenna, with it's power supply mounted in the line between the preamplifier and the splitter will definitely improve your reception, since you have introduced splitting and line losses into the system by running the signal to 4 rooms that the antenna alone cannot overcome. Good preamplifiers for your situation would include Winegard AP-4800 or the AP-4700. As an alternative, you can use a distribution amplifier like a Channel Master CM3414, which includes both a splitter and amplifier in one housing, or a Winegard HDA-200 distribution amp, which will use your existing splitter. My preference would be to go with the preamplifier, since it will also overcome the line losses incurred in the cable between the antenna and the splitter, something that the distribution amps won't do.

[tony sweeney]

Can you use both the preamplifer and the distribution amps together? Example: use the preamp at the antenna location and the distribution amp at the splitter location.The coaxial cable run between the antenna and splitter is over 100 feet.

Tony, there are two ways you can proceed here: A preamplifier mounted at the antenna, with it's power supply mounted in the line between the preamplifier and the splitter will definitely improve your reception, since you have introduced splitting and line losses into the system by running the signal to 4 rooms that the antenna alone cannot overcome. Good preamplifiers for your situation would include Winegard AP-4800 or the AP-4700. As an alternative, you can use a distribution amplifier like a Channel Master CM3414, which includes both a splitter and amplifier in one housing, or a Winegard HDA-200 distribution amp, which will use your existing splitter. My preference would be to go with the preamplifier, since it will also overcome the line losses incurred in the cable between the antenna and the splitter, something that the distribution amps won't do.

[tigerbangs]

You could, but it won't improve your TV reception at all, and can lead to some undesirable side effects: remember, there is no advantage to over amplifying a digital TV signal: once you reach sufficient signal strength, there is no advantage, and the additional noise introduced into the system can actually damage reception.