balm: I picked up the GE preamp today and I can't seem to get it to work, I hooked it up and the screen turns blank black, is that a symptom of tuner overload ? I have about 50ft of RG-11 running from my antenna on the roof down to my basement where it is connected to a 3 way splitter with RG-6 cabling after that. I tried connecting the power transformer of the pre-amp right before the splitter and no banana ! :(

Edt,

I assume you put the GE cylinder (amplifier) right at the antenna (balun), then the power injector right at the TV....


I know when I did it before, and again today, BANG, I lost most digitals - blank! I was told by more knowledgeable members it was OVERLOAD...

I was disappointed also,...I thought it would help me with CBMT, and CFJP, which I rarely get, but the TV shows its trying to get them, around 30-40%, will lock at 50%....

....very difficult because of the Mt-Royal blocking... but the signal seems to be bouncing (im sure thats not the correct technical term) off nearby buildings...I used to get CBMT with the antenna LOWERED to around 20ft...

Yuprules,

I'm confused, EdT mentionned a PRE-AMP (GE), but you referred him to a DISTRO AMP (PCT)...

balm: I put the GE amp at the antenna's balum and the power injector right after where my RG-11 cable enters the house before the 3 way splitter to 3 other TVs and once again after the splitter on one of the cables to one of the TVs, same results ! What I don't understand is if it is only 10dB why is it that my 10dB distribution amp doesn't overload the tuner after I placed it after the 3 way splitter ?

EdT

What I don't understand is if it is only 10dB why is it that my 10dB distribution amp doesn't overload the tuner after I placed it after the 3 way splitter ?

not sure I follow you, you have the 3-way, then where is the distro...

I picked-up two GE pre-amp(was planning to use one for my neighbour's set-up once I got my system going) today and its doesn't seem to work blank black screen ...tuner overload maybe ? :(

The distro is after the 3 way on one of the cable leading a one of my TVs, I meant even then it does not overload it, but the in-line overloads it before and after the 3 way without the distro inline.

I think I will have to draw up a schematic of my system soon for reference ...LoL

Sorry, I should be more specific, there is no need to buy the PCT distro amp, just the one with one output.

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/5215/ampe.jpg

I prefer the PCT amp (not the distribution one...just one in and one out, one for power).

what exact type of amp is this, not a pre-amp, not a distro, could this be option for me...its around 40$...???

How do you hook up these PCT amps ? there is no instructions or schematics on PCT's or CM's sites ! I mean you insert the ANT input to the "RF In/Out", then the output "RF Out" to the TV, what is the other port, looks like you can inject power through 2 of those ports ?

One port is specifically for power only.
You can also just leave that port capped off and inject power over your antenna feed.
But as the amp comes with a cable and adapter (with coax end), it's easiest to just use the coax port for power, assuming you have a plug within range.

I made my own cable for power just made a longer run of RG6 , if the one supplied is not long enough you can make your own cable run works great!

What I want to try first, is adding a pre-amp to my Antenna's Direct DB4, but there are so many to choose from. :confused: See Post #1216 in the Mississauga thread for my situation: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=36536

I'm currently looking at:

Winegard AP 8275
Channel Master CM 7778
Winegard AP 4800
Channel Master CM 7775
Channel Master CM 7777

Mostly because of the high gain they have. Any suggestions?

PCT International PCT-MA2-M is a Two-Way Cable Drop Amp.
Normally Drop Amps are powered from external AC-to-15VDC transformer,
but I see this one also works with a PCT MPI-1G power insertion module:
http://www.summitsource.com/15-db-distribution-amplifier-2way-ultra-mini-drop-multimedia-uhf-vhf-one-port-channel-master-3410-ultra-cm3410-signal-tv-rf-output-booster-amp-multimedia-542-541002-mhz-passive-return-part-pctma2m-p-7788.html?manufacturers_id=9
http://www.pctinternational.com/_products/northamer/amplifiers/ultramini.html

However Installation Instructions only describe external transformer method:
http://www.channelmasterintl.com/documentation/manuals/CM3410_CM3412_CM3414_CM3418_Amplifiers_200807.pdf

Specs are on PCT Catalog page 8:
http://www.pctinternational.com/_products/catalog/pdfs/Catalog_PCT_Amplifiers_20080803_rev.pdf

After trying the AP8780 preamp ,.. I threw away my 7777....

Since I changed amps, I"ve had no pixelations or dropouts on any of my regular channels :

2.1, 2.2, 4.1, 5.1, 7.1, 17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 18.1, 23.1, 26.1, 26.2, 29.1, 29.2, 35.1, 35.2, 35.3, 36.1, 49.1, 49.2, 54.1,54.2, 54.3 <-- all at 100%

NOTE: Other Toronto channels are still just fairweather channels for our area, but they are now coming in more frequently than before. ctv9.1,city53.1,global,omni 1 64.1, omni 2 44.1, suntv 15.1

Has anyone else compared these amps back to back ?

I prefer the 7778 over the 7777- I got better reception with the 7778- I believe it's less powerful. My coax length is not super long.
I will be getting a second pre-amp and was thinking of the Winegard HDP-269- not too powerful but will give you a boost- I'm afraid the higher powered amps will cause overload. And I'm a little leery of the CM amps that are made in China.

The Winegard AP8780 and both of the CM777x models' specs are shown in the chart in Post #1 for comparison.

I've happily used the preamps of both companies and still own a few of both. I don't have any experience with the newer CM models from after the big Channel Master ownership change, but for my own comfort-level I'm glad I hung on to the oldie CM0264 I've got. ;)

I've used the CM0264 [spartan] with a 300ohm twinlead input and out of desperation I've even used a CM0264 with an added 75ohm balun as a 75ohm conversion input . In both cases I found the CM0264 to be more stable than the 7777[titan models]. As far as I know the 7777 and the 7778 are essentially identical.

The older AP8780 amps had a power supply box similar to the traditional CMpower supply box. The recent AP8780 amps that I have recieved have the newer power inserter [diplexer style] with a separate power supply. Maybe Winegard has made some changes for DTV stability improvement.

Yuprules,


I live right next to you, and you benefit from preamping, yet I'm told in my case, its causing overload...what is it that im not understanding...(assuming we have similar set-ups..)