I'd like to know that too.some ports seem to give more signal than othersIf its a dollar-store special with bare copper wire inside then I'm stumped about what's causing a difference, but if its a printed circuit board splitter my hunch is that there may be something electronic unintentionally going on inside it having to do maybe with some ports allowing DC Power Pass and others not, or perhaps some having a return path and others not.

I have found that some of the more expensive splitters seem to be somewhat more directional and resistant to signal flow when using them in reverse.

For reverse orientaion splitter use I stick with using the budget priced Channel Master 2-way splitters. I've always encountered mind boggling issues when using 3 or 4 way splitters in reverse.

well, being ticked that my channels from fringe stations had not been visiting for quite a while I took out a Winegard 4 way splitter I recently installed and replaced it with a Channel Master 2 way splitter, and voila.
My stations were back. the extra 4.5db loss from the 4 way was killing the signal just enough for reception not to come in.
I just firgured the preamp would make up for the difference but in my scenerio, not the case.
happy again in London
Mark

Mark, not sure if you tried this, but a distribution amp might even be better than the splitter.

What make and models of splitters were you trying?
2-way is a Regal and an Antronix.
3-way and 4-way are Nexxtechs.

Mark, not sure if you tried this, but a distribution amp might even be better than the splitter.

well I do own a Winegard HDP 200 dist. amp.
So if I have this right, there is a run of 20 feet from the pre amp to where the it goes to its powered connector portion inside. Is it from here; after the powered portion of the pre amp that I would introduce the distr. amp then feed to my 4 ways splitter.

I would like to introduce my third television in the loop again.

Yes I do know that there are decent three way splitters out there so I am searching a supplier local to me to get one.
I know of a Rogers tech whom might have a decent one I might be able to buy off him.

let me know if I have this right?

That just sounds wrong. With so little coax, the pre-amp should be enough.

Are you *sure* the pre-amp actually has power ?

:)

Indeed the pre amp has power and is working fine.
I neglected to mention that after the splitter is a 60 ft run to one television, 10 ft run to tv 2 and 15 ft run too tv 3.

Mark, I tried 3 different pre-amps (hdp-269, 7778 and kitztech) and two caused major overload, while the hdp-269 was not bad, but fragile with lightning. Now, I'm running the CM 3414 distribution amp (w/o a pre-amp) and life is good- I have 3 TVs running off this, and the open port is capped. Using a regular 3-way splitter always resulted in less signal, while the CM 3414 boosted signal on many channels, and gave me a solid lock on two more channels that were flakey.

thanks goforit,
indeed I need my pre amp, but it appears now I need a distro amp to make up for the losses of the splitter.
merry christmas
Mark

Does anyone reading this have experience with HLSJ's?

I thought I could use one to mix the output of an STB (channel 3 or 4, my choice) with that of a 4228HD (8, 13, 31, 42, all analog). When I try this, everything looks terrible.

Did I just get a bad HLSJ? It's a "Tru-Spec". A straight line from the antenna to the TV looks good enough and the channel 3 or 4 output from the STB is very strong and clear even when split. But it all looks awful through the HLSJ (STB lo, antenna hi).

I haven't resorted to trying the splitter in reverse yet as with the analog signals, I don't want to introduce degradation. I have two lines so for now I'm using an A-B.

Yep, there are several previous posts about them - just use the Search This Thread tool and put in HLSJ as your search term.

Does anyone reading this have experience with HLSJ's?

I thought I could use one to mix the output of an STB (channel 3 or 4, my choice) with that of a 4228HD (8, 13, 31, 42, all analog). When I try this, everything looks terrible.

Did I just get a bad HLSJ? It's a "Tru-Spec". A straight line from the antenna to the TV looks good enough and the channel 3 or 4 output from the STB is very strong and clear even when split. But it all looks awful through the HLSJ (STB lo, antenna hi).

I haven't resorted to trying the splitter in reverse yet as with the analog signals, I don't want to introduce degradation. I have two lines so for now I'm using an A-B.
I use the HLSJ to separate FM from my 4228s, never tried it as a combiner, but it should work.
I suspect that you have way too much Ch4 output from your STB. The Bell (Dish) PVR's come with an attenuator. I think it's 12dB. Try putting that before the joiner. You may need to amplify the antenna signal.
What you probably didn't expect is the signal from the STB is going up the line to the antenna and transmitting.

Does anyone reading this have experience with HLSJ's?

I thought I could use one to mix the output of an STB (channel 3 or 4, my choice) with that of a 4228HD (8, 13, 31, 42, all analog). When I try this, everything looks terrible.

What do you mean "everything looks terrible?" Both from the STB and the antenna? Are you using a pre-amp? I am thinking one input is significantly stronger than the other and is causing the AGC in your TV to dial back the first stage amp, but that would cause only the weaker input to look bad.

(STB lo, antenna hi).

Are you sure you have it the right way around? Try it the other way arround in case it is mislabled. What happens when you only have one input connected to the HLSJ?

I haven't resorted to trying the splitter in reverse yet as with the analog signals, I don't want to introduce degradation

I wouldn't reccomend that option for a bunch of reasons, including the signal degradation you mentioned.

An alternate solution for you is to use an RF modulator that has an antenna input. It should automatically switch between the STB and antenna when you power the STB on and off.

What you probably didn't expect is the signal from the STB is going up the line to the antenna and transmitting.

Not likely. The HLSJ should be attenuating any signal reflected back to the antenna by at least 20 dB (more likely 30 or 40 dB). If he has an amplifier on the antenna line it should also block signals from being fed backwards.

Not likely. The HLSJ should be attenuating any signal reflected back to the antenna by at least 20 dB (more likely 30 or 40 dB). If he has an amplifier on the antenna line it should also block signals from being fed backwards.
I think you're 20 (or 30-40) is way optomistic. I suspect more like 6dB.
There are filters with 30 or 40 dB, but they cost hundreds, not 1.99

I think you're 20 (or 30-40) is way optomistic. I suspect more like 6dB.
There are filters with 30 or 40 dB, but they cost hundreds, not 1.99

I highly doubt that. 6dB would be useless for a Band Separator-Combiner. Unfortunately there isn't a datasheet for the HLSJ, but the UVSJ datasheet (http://200.78.236.213/specs/UVSJ.pdf) says it provides >30dB rejection on the VHF port and >42dB rejection on the UHF port and it costs about the same. I would assume the HLSJ would be similar.

What is a UVSJ and a HLSJ?

UVSJ = UHF VHF Separator/Joiner (Separates or Joins VHF and UHF)

HLSJ = Highband & Lowband Separator/Joiner (Separates or Joins VHF-LO and VHF-HI)

See Post #16 in the OTA FAQ (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=675713&postcount=16).

in several tests with several of these UVSJ's to attennuate strong VHF HIs with NMs in the 30s dBs, barely any change was noticeble on those channels, still very clear... so I wouldnt believe those attenuation data - ;)