Signal Amplifiers (Amps, Preamps, Distro Amps) - See Chart in Post #1

[z0z0]

Originally Posted by z0z0

Does anyone know if there has been any technology improvements in Winegard preamps over the last decade? My buddy wants to sell me a vintage 1996 AP4700. I know that electronics are always improving and am wondering if preamps have been improved for HDTV.

I received the following response from Winegard

Dear Zed,

There have no changes. A 1996 model performs the same as a 2006.

Cordially,
Hans

[eliminator]

well i just tried an amplifier.... it made things worse... so im back to no amp now... looks like the weather cleared up a bit.... NBC is coming in stable at 65%... ABC is still unstable.... PBS has showed up in the channel list now but its unstable.... not very happy what can i say

[HDTV101]

Originally Posted by eliminator

well i just tried an amplifier.... it made things worse... so im back to no amp now... looks like the weather cleared up a bit.... NBC is coming in stable at 65%... ABC is still unstable.... PBS has showed up in the channel list now but its unstable.... not very happy what can i say

What kind of amp did you use and where did you place it? Was it a mast mount amp (up on the antenna) ?

[z0z0]

eliminator - same thing happened to me when I put on my first preamp. i thought that more was better but learned that more can be worse. Too much signal going into the TV overloads the TV tuner. I put on an attenuator and that fixed up the problem. An attenuator decreases the signal strength a bit.

[eliminator]

Originally Posted by HDTV101

What kind of amp did you use and where did you place it? Was it a mast mount amp (up on the antenna) ?

it was a satelite amp.... 20db low noise.... i connected the wire to 12v to power it up... i lost quite a bit of signal strength and it was placed near the tuner

[HDTV101]

Originally Posted by eliminator

it was a satelite amp.... 20db low noise.... i connected the wire to 12v to power it up... i lost quite a bit of signal strength and it was placed near the tuner

The in-line amps used for Satellite TV run on a much higher frequency band and in no way are compatible with off air UHF. And placing 12 volts onto the coax line to power the amp without having DC isolation blocks at the tuner and antenna could have fed 12 volts into the tuner and fried it along with cooking the balun up on your antenna too.

If you’re going to use an amp buy the right kind made for off air UHF reception. The amp should be placed at the antenna to compensate for loss over your cable. And don't use Rg59... use only Rg6

[eliminator]

the amp was rated for 200mhz-2.1ghz so thats in the uhf range... actually i have isolated the dc from the tuner as well... im not exactly an amateur... and how would rg6 help if the cable is only 7-8m long

EDIT: ok so lets say my experiment was a flop.... before i go and spend another $80 do you really think a preamp + rg6 cable would help a lot?.... sometimes stations like abc and pbs go down to like 15% reception... is it possible to bring those past 30% in such times with just an amp+rg6 cable?

[stampeder]

The problem could have been environmental as well (multipath, dead zones, etc.) so its possible the amp was doing just fine.

Nevertheless I agree with HDTV101 that a specific UHF TV amp would have been preferable in the hopes that it would have notch filters built in to eliminate possible cross-frequency problems.

It would be nice if you could do some tests with someone's tried-and-true gear for comparison.

[Yaamon]

eliminator I would say definately you cannot use a sat inline amp, pretty sure it has a high noise rating.

Normally RG6 cable has better shield and lower loss, but like I said with your short cable run I dont think you have any significant signal lose.

Rg59 only loses about .75-1.5db from 75'+ compared to RG6 and a little more over longer distance.

Its hard to suggest how to improve your reception without seeing how and where your antenna is mounted and how much of those trees blocking your signal.

Did you make up your own cable and put on the ends yourself ?

A important tip for readers here who are not experienced, make sure that you did not strip away the braided ground wires.

I pulled back the braided shield so you can see better.

Was the white center part(dielectric) of the cable butt right up against the inside of the cable connector and then you have atleast 1/4" of of the center copper conductor sticking out.




I have seen many installs that the person does not know how to strip a cable properly and stripped away all the braided wire and then the white dielectric was not butt flush with the inside of the connector.

This resulting is weak signal from the Buffalo stations and also weaker local 8bars on a Samsung 451 instead of 10 bars.

[eliminator]

ya i made the connections myself... well my dad did it since he's the experienced one... the cable is crappy quality though.. just a few wires for the ground... a lot less than the one in the picture above.... anyway if it helps... im gona go outside and take some pics of my setup and then ill show you guys on a map where i am exactly

[eliminator]

ok here are the pics.... the wall the antenna is mounted to is facing directly south

[eliminator]

these are the trees that the antenna is pointing to

[Yaamon]

eliminator I like the bracket that you used to mount it against the wall.

From the pictures that you posted it's hard to see the height but it does not look like the trees should be a big factor.

Question if you were to stand on the roof behind where the antenna is pointed how much of the trees is blocking the antenna?

If the braided ground/shield i snot very good, then I would as HDTv said run a new line using RG6, cant hurt and try and repeak again.

You should be able to get most of the Buffalo stations and the strong ones from the CN tower from your location.

[eliminator]

i think the trees nearby are about 1-2 meters higher than my antenna.... i guess i can try a new rg6 wire.. the toronto stations are coming in strong and stable (85-95%)... however the buffalo stations vary.... nbc was working good last night around 65%... now its 0-30%... pbs is like 5%

[Yaamon]

Nbc seems to be difficult to get a consistant signal for the average person here.

Pbs is normally a very good signal and from your location and should be fine for you.

Are there are tall condo or apartment building in front or front to the sides of you ?

What your closest intersection so I can look it up and give you a general idea where your antenna should be pointing ?

Please try a new cable using RG6 and let us know the results, so we can suggest from there.