[freeetv]

Hello everyone I’m about to finish my basement and want to make sure I do everything right before I close up the walls. I have an antenna in my attic and am getting 60 channels right now. I live in Canada Ontario belle river. I’m currently looking at channel master products and don’t really know what to get.

I see two 8 port splitters one is amplified and the other has a -10.5 db signal loss per port. I’m guessing I should buy the amplified one?

I also see two different boosters

I see two kinds of filters, ones for fm and the other for lte, can I use both?

I want to keep the antenna I have right now but everything after that I’d like to make sure I do the best I can.

Any advice is much appreciated, thanks to every

 

[James Thomas]

Hello everyone I’m about to finish my basement and want to make sure I do everything right before I close up the walls. I have an antenna in my attic and am getting 60 channels right now. I live in Canada Ontario belle river. I’m currently looking at channel master products and don’t really know what to get.

I see two 8 port splitters one is amplified and the other has a -10.5 db signal loss per port. I’m guessing I should buy the amplified one?

I also see two different boosters

I see two kinds of filters, ones for fm and the other for lte, can I use both?

I want to keep the antenna I have right now but everything after that I’d like to make sure I do the best I can.

Any advice is much appreciated, thanks to every

My first suggestion would be to run a Signal Search study on RabbitEars>>

RabbitEars.Info

RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.

www.rabbitears.info

Drag the map pin to your address, fill in the antenna info below the map and run the Signal Search. It will generate a link to the report at the top of the page, which you can post here. Others can then make practical suggestions, based on what your reception is. You can also bookmark that Signal Search page for future reference.

Jim

 

[freeetv]

Thank you very much for the response Jim, here are my results.

RabbitEars.Info

RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.

www.rabbitears.info

 

[freeetv]

this is a better one, pretty much. The same but more accurate.

RabbitEars.Info

RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.

www.rabbitears.info

 

[Red Knave]

Making the assumption that you are adding 1 TV in the basement and you have 1 TV elsewhere I would just get a 2 port distribution amplifier and run one line to each TV. If you don't have any trouble with your TV signals now, no sense buying filters or boosters. If you are having issues or you are not getting some stations that you really want then let us know.

 

[freeetv]

I would like to get a 8 port splitter and run 8 tvs in my house, I won’t be using them at the same time (maybe just two or max 3) but I would like to wire my house for 8.

so pretty much if I’m not having any problems don’t buy filters or boosters?

 

[jlcinc2]

If you are going to send signals to 8 different tvs you may need a distribution amp like this

Ultra Mini 8

The Channel Master Ultra Mini 8 distribution amplifier boots TV antenna signals, increasing the overall signal strength for distribution to up to 8 locations throughout the home.

www.channelmaster.com

I probably wouldn't purchase it until you tested a non amplified splitter and see if you have any problems, with most of the signals being so strong you may not need amplification.

John

 

[freeetv]

Ya I was looking at that one.

they have two boosters do you believe I should purchase one of them? Ones for short range and ones for long range.

 

[ExDilbert]

A preamp and unpowered splitter might be a better choice. Most preamps have a greater than 10.5 dB gain, some much more, and do not require an added distribution amp. Using both could cause overload issues.

 

[freeetv]

Ya so a preamp and a 8 way splitter might be the best to keep the gains close to 0db

 

[majortom]

That is what I do here. Preamp is up on the roof near the antenna.
Holland HR-S8 splitter is in the basement where the downlead comes in, and signals get
distributed from there.

I used the satellite splitter because I wanted to ensure the DC power and the control signals for
my antenna rotor would pass in one direction. My preamp gets it's DC power fed from the rotor.

In my experience the 4 way and 8 way distribution amplifiers are like a barn door, with no filtering, as they are generally designed more for cable tv systems where filtering unwanted
signals isn't a concern. In family/friend's homes where I may have used them distro amps, have had to add my own external filtering.

 

[freeetv]

That’s exactly what I would like to do, put a amplifier near my antenna in my attic and run a wire to my basement rack and put the 8 way splitter there and run wires all around the house.

sticking with channel master, what would you recommend for a amplifier to a 8 way none amplifier splitter?

 

[freeetv]

So I’m guessing this would work good for my situation

MicroAmp Indoor Antenna Amplifier

Channel Master MicroAmp Indoor Antenna Amplifier (CM-7776) increases the signal strength from any indoor TV antenna while enhancing channel reception and signal quality.

www.channelmaster.com

Splitter 8

Our Splitter 8 is an eight-way TV Splitter (CM-3218HD) with power passing capability and cleanly distributes and splits your digital TV, HDTV, cable TV, satellite TV, off-air, analog & digital RF signals.

www.channelmaster.com

this will leave me with a -.5 gain signal to my tvs. Would this be good or should I go with their other amplifiers that give out a gain of +16 and use the 8 way splitter to reduce it down by 10.5db for a total of +5.5db.

 

[ExDilbert]

That MicroAmp Indoor Antenna Amplifier appears to be a low quality product with not enough gain and far too much noise. I would look for a something better.

 

[freeetv]

Something like this

Ultra Mini 1

The Channel Master Ultra Mini 1 (CM-341o) distribution amplifier boots TV antenna signals, increasing the overall signal strength for distribution throughout the home.

www.channelmaster.com

or this

Amplify Adjustable Gain Preamplifier

Official Channel Master Website - Learn more about the Channel Master Amplify (CM-7777HD) and buy direct from the manufacturer.

www.channelmaster.com

Also I see pre amp and amps what’s the difference?

 

[freeetv]

this was the response from channel master customer support. I guess if I don’t have a booster a simply booster shouldn’t hurt anything?


Hello,

If you have a good signal experience to all locations today and want to extend or add locations the 8-way distribution amp will be very helpful to ensure you don't lose more signal strength. It would be the only thing you need from the sound of it.

If you have issues on channels already then using a Pre-amp at the antenna in the attic may be necessary to boost those signal levels before you send signals down to your splitter.

Either way I suggest using the amplified splitter (CM-3418, 8-way distribution amp) or the pre-amp (Amplify CM-7777HD) or both may be used as well.

Thanks,

CM Support - Adam

 

[ExDilbert]

The advantage to a preamp is that it amplifies the signal before any line loss occurs. The CM-7777HD is a good amp but, due to it's high gain, it is best suited for locations without strong local signals. The CM-7778HD may be a better choice if very strong local signals are present. CM-777xHD preamps are in short supply at the moment so it may be necessary to select another option. There are some suggestions in the preamplifier thread. (It's long and a bit dated but still a good place to ask questions and get recomendations regarding preamps.)

If line losses are not an issue, which may be the case with an attic installation, then just a distribution amp may be sufficient. It will require that the coax from all receiving devices be run to a central location. A preamp may still be a better choice if that is an issue as smaller splitters could be placed in less central locations to make wiring easier.

In any case, I recommend against using both a preamp and distribution amp unless it is indicated which doesn't seem to be the case here.

 

[freeetv]

Ya I plan to keep my antenna in my attic and have this 8 way splitter in my basement and have all the wires coming there. I have a unfinished basement so I want to run lots of wires before closing up the walls.