share the antenna

[jrpell]

I live in an area that is about 12 miles or less away from almost every antenna so right now I'm using an indoor antenna and it works great with a few minor pixelation issues from time to time. I get about 20 channels. It'll get expensive if I have buy one for every room though. My question however is in reference to sharing just 1 antenna with the entire house. I doubt that I can split the signal from an indoor antenna so yes I would want a good suggestion on an antenna, but next would be how would you go about splitting this? I have a cable box on one side of the house that is split to every room pre-wired for cable. I assume I'll need a more powerful antenna with a preamp and then can I run this signal through normal splitter or does it need to be a active/powered splitter? In the end I think it'd be cheaper to share one antenna than buy an indoor antenna for every single room unless you can prove otherwise. Plus, the wife doesn't like the cosmetics of the indoor antenna! I do have a nice sized attic that could be used. I also have a possible mounting spot on the outside of the house but I wouldn't be able to get a preamp powered out there...at least not protected from the weather.

I appreciate the help. Also, I'm in zip code 46234 in case you want to see the area I'm in.

[ProjectSHO89]

please-post-your-tvfool-com-results-when-posting-questions-t649.html

[jrpell]

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapp ... e0410d76e3

[jrpell]

Any suggestions on this? If I need to post more information, please let me know. Thanks.

[smp375]

When wiring a home to use a single antenna for multiple televisions you simply need to connect the antenna to a distribution amplifier, then distribute the feed to each television from that; you generally do not need to pick out a larger antenna to compensate. If you are going without cable, you can just connect the antenna to the old cable network, which probably used its own distribution amplifier, and based on the descriptions of amplifiers listed on the link below, you should be able to continue to use that. If you don't already have one, you can purchase a distribution amp for $10-25.

http://www.summitsource.com/antennas-ac ... 47_89.html

[jrpell]

Thanks for the reply. I will double check this but from what I remember, the cable box has a passive splitter inside it and it's of course outside the house. I'd really like to use the box as where I distribute the lines. So if I would put my antenna inside, whether in one of the rooms or the attic, then put a distribution amplifier on it, will it work to send a single line out to the cable box where it then gets split to each room in the house? I should also mention that when they ran the cable (before I purchased the home), one of the lines from the cable box splitter gets split again on the far side of the house and then feeds the living room and a bedroom. Will all these splits degrade the signal after I put a distribution amp on the antenna? Thanks.

[smp375]

Every split does degrade the signal somewhat; so yes, the fewer splits you have after your distribution amp, the cleaner your signal will be at each television. You don't want your distribution amp at the antenna, the ideal use for the distribution amp is the sole splitter to the house, so you want one line off the antenna wherever that may be mounted, traveling to the point where all the distribution lines for the house come together and that is where you want your amp. If you had a preamp, that would be at the antenna, but I don't know much about those, and they are only recommended with specific antenna models as far as I do understand. As far as the splitter between the living room and the bedroom is concerned, you probably won't experience an issue with that, but if you do the best thing to do would be to remove the splitter, install couplers on each line and feed two separate lines from that point back to your amp. When you do buy a distribution amp, just make sure you have enough outputs for your specific needs, and maybe make sure to have an extra output for that split line running to the bedroom.

[a.lee.hagen]

When I installed my antenna I also used a preamp and just hooked up to the existing cable companies wiring, saved time and money, it was already wired to each room!!!

[jrpell]

Every split does degrade the signal somewhat; so yes, the fewer splits you have after your distribution amp, the cleaner your signal will be at each television. You don't want your distribution amp at the antenna, the ideal use for the distribution amp is the sole splitter to the house, so you want one line off the antenna wherever that may be mounted, traveling to the point where all the distribution lines for the house come together and that is where you want your amp. If you had a preamp, that would be at the antenna, but I don't know much about those, and they are only recommended with specific antenna models as far as I do understand. As far as the splitter between the living room and the bedroom is concerned, you probably won't experience an issue with that, but if you do the best thing to do would be to remove the splitter, install couplers on each line and feed two separate lines from that point back to your amp. When you do buy a distribution amp, just make sure you have enough outputs for your specific needs, and maybe make sure to have an extra output for that split line running to the bedroom.

Ok, so if I did this the suggested way, my cable box where every line splits out is outside. I do have an outside outlet on that side of the house. How do you suggest doing this if I was to put a distribution amp where everything splits? Are there any of these amps that are rated for outdoor use? This side of the house also gets hit by rain any time a good storm comes through. Obviously I'm trying to use what's already in place without re-running a lot of lines and to use the existing cable box where everything splits. Thanks.

[smp375]

There are two ways I would go about this, they do not include mounting electronics outside your home. I can't speak for the idea of using a preamp, but distribution amps are a lot less expensive anyway. The first step is for you to determine where your cable feed enters your house, and where it is split to feed the cable outlets in your home. Once you know which cables do what and go where, either disconnect the cable going into your house and connect your new coax to that, then, inside your house connect that line to your distribution amp's input and connect the lines that go to your outlets to the distribution amp's outputs, or route the new coax directly to the point where the original cable lines are split, mount your amp and connect everything. If you don't want to open the cable box on your house, just cut the correct wire and put a new terminal on it, add a coupler and connect away.