Recently purchased Antenna Pros High Gain Digital Outdoor HDTV Antenna AX-909G2 Stealth. I tested it with the 30' cable that came with it and got 20 channels perfectly from Orlando (I'm in Palm Coast) So I installed it on a mast and wired it in to the coax already installed in my home which added another 30' or so of cable to the TV.
With the extra cable run I now get some pixelation and some channels don't come in at at all. I think that if I could boost the signal a little more it might solve the reception problem.
Here's the specs on my antenna
VHF 40-300MHz 28-32dB
UHF 470-890MHz 32-35dB
Noise less than or equal to 2.5dB
Max output level 105dB microV
I have the amplifier installed at 30ft. with the gain al the way up. Can anyone suggest what I can add or do different to boost the signal. Thanks.
W/O "knowing" the nature of that old, existing House Coax, start anew!
Buy an un-spliced, 50' or 75' coil of RG-6 Quad Coax from any number of On-line Sites!
Leave that 'amp' in your tool box & now, run that new Cable from the antenna to the threaded RF input of your TV set.
Might improve your situation dramatically, for under $10.00
eli
p.s. = sounds like you have also "bought into" that Vendor's advertising nonsense RE: Their Super-Dooper Antenna! ...all that's needed IS either an UHF ..or.. VHF Unit, depending upon your Market. Those of ~25 -35 years ago STILL get the job done, very well! Here is one such Antenna for Orlando's ZIP Code =
..at those ~ 30 feet in the air, That Mast will become a magnificent Lightning Rod!
Hopefully, you DID adequately-earth-ground it ? .... or, the very next time there is a local Thunder storm, the reason for that will become readily-apparent!
Very-critical to do so & sooner rather than later!
eli
@ eliwhitney My wiring is new RG6 and so is my home. I think I need to boost the signal due to the extra wire length. The reason I say this is because on another TV which has an even longer length of cable the signal is even worse. So I'm concluding that the main problem is the cable length but since I can get a good signal on 30ft but not as good with the longer lengths my problem is signal strength. This is the antenna I bought. http://www.antennahub.com/long-range-tv-antenna909.aspx
I'm aware of the lightening problem and plan to ground the mast and cable. My antenna is only on a 5' mast. When I did the initial testing I had it temporarily set up 4' lower.
Sorry to disagree, but, I still feel there are other, more significant problems than another "AMP.."
Depending upon the actual location of each, You are @ ~~79 miles between Broadcast Towers & your Antenna Mast!
For "UHF" broadcast frequencies .... that's simply beyond the "Curvature-of-the-Earth" limitations! ..OR.. you WILL need that entire 30 feet of Mast to overcome, NOT ~ 5 feet!
"AMPs" simply enlarge 100% of everything that they "see" as well as the incoming TV broadcast signals - - E.G. - -electronic "noise." That antenna unit is not the best one for your situation, either, in my experiences!
Disconnect all-but-one TV set, too! "Splitters" cause signal losses!
Thanks for your advice, especially regarding the earth curvature. Although my amplifier has two outputs I primarily only use the one with the best signal. Even though I'm not watching the other TV I will disconnect it and see if that helps. The reason I thought more amplifier would help is because I get a signal. Usually in the morning I can get a signal with little or no pixelation then later in the day some of the channels aren't even watchable.
With that being said are you suggesting I have a different problem to deal with. If my cable is new what would you suggest?
At that "distance" there is little chance of 100% / day-in / day-out dependable reception of OTA digital signaling!
Our old days of VHF reaching very long distances depended upon "bounce" many times! .... "UHF" does NOT "do" that phenomena .... must have strictly "Line-of-Sight" between the source & antenna in question!!
During your frequent, very heavy downpours, almost-hurricane-like-storms and the like, constant OTA signals will be beyond your reach!
Certainly, every "Once-in-a-While!" .... but, NOT dependably!
eli
eBay has that Channel Master 4228 / 8 unit assembly @ ~~$80 + freight =
Thanks for the link but at this point buying another antenna under the circumstances is out of the question. What I really need to know is if I can get a clean picture with the antenna I have and what to do to make it happen.
I suggest that you specifically Email "Richard" herein .... He's the resident, certified & licensed expert, and literally has "forgotten" more than all-the-rest-of-us COMBINED! - - - Use "feedback" or look under "HELP."
State you air-distance & that you'll be trying to get ..UHF Broadcasting between Orlando & yourself ....
Curiosity, please? ... "how come" you elected to go to all-of-this-appreciable-cost rather than just surrendering to your local cable's offering?? You can NOT record anything in 'HD' by yourself anyway & with conflicts in simultaneous "HD" Programming and / or while you are sleeping, etc., strictly O.T.A. quickly becomes more of a Novelty than anything else!! ... and, I "DO" have an outside antenna, by-the-way because I'm only ~ 11 air miles away from my Towers! ....{had ONLY O.T.A., without any cable, for the past ~ 28 years, in fact!}
When I moved here I decided that I was tired of paying for infomercials and extensive repeat programming, not to mention all the commercials. Instead I bought a Roku box and subscribed to Netflix for $9 a month. I couldn't be happier. Tons of shows to watch on-demand without any commercials. I watch what I want when I want as many times as I want. Plus the Roku box has a lot of other programming that's free. Agreed that I have to have Internet service to it get but I would want Internet regardless.
However I don't get any local news & weather. And I like some of the OTA programming as long as I don't have to pay for it even if it has commercials as long as it's free. Back when I was growing up and there was only 2 TV stations, cable was just an idea. It was first proposed that you pay for it but you won't get any commercials. Well not only has that not happened but over time the actual minutes of programming has decreased significantly. I use to be able to watch a TV show that had one sponsor announcement in the beginning 15 second, one in the middle 10 seconds and one at the end. Fast forward to 2011 and a 30 minute program might have 18 or 20 minutes of show and the rest is commercials. The greed of the broadcasting industry just keeps increasing with less value delivered.
Yes you get 150 or more channels but how many do you actually watch and how often are they replayed and repeated during the course of a month. That just rubs me the wrong way for the price they want you to pay for it. They can do it because there wasn't any other choices until Netflix came along. The bigger cable companies see Netflix as a major threat to their offer and would put it out of business if they could. They're trying everything they can to prevent Netflix from getting more of their market share. As of this post they have already lost a significant portion of their subscribers to Netflix and they're not at all happy about it.
I realize that a significant impact on their pricing that they don't have much control over is due to what they have to pay to get the programming. If I had anything to suggest to them I would say don't fight Netflix, join them. Offer more on-demand programming and put pressure on Hollywood and other programming providers to be more competitive. Traditional TV advertising is almost dead anyway. Look what the DVR has done to it. They need to change their business model if they want to survive or they'll become another Eastman Kodak who once had over 60,000 employees and now less than 6,000 world wide. The digital photography market has all but put the film industry out of business. The Internet could do the same thing to the cable Industry.
I certainly appreciate you taking so much care in explaining your "how come?"
You have really done a magnificent job of fully "exploring" the available options - - FAR better than have I, for certain!
I have a coupe of different TVs {split-level house} ... each one with a 500Gb Cisco dual tuner 8642HD set top box, "rented" from COX, of course! ... I haven't viewed Live TV in so long that I have no concept of actual show content verses real time .... 100% is recorded & "played back" commercial-free.
MOST weirdly {even I realize that!}, I also thoroughly-enjoy "recording & listening" to those ~ 40 Music Choice Channels, in 5.1 Dolby.
Thanks for your Interest in sharing!!!
Good luck w/ "Orlando" too ..... hopefully, Richard may "read" our exchanges before you even have a chance to Email him ??
