Will MS-2002 work w/o amplifier?

[e5c4p3artist]

Will the MS-2002 used without the amplifier, work just like the MS-1000?

Please don't over-think my reasoning. But basically, I had narrowed down my decision to an MS-1000 because I have no source of power nearby where the antenna will be mounted. But I found a good deal on an MS-2002, better than any price I can find for an MS-1000. So can I buy the MS-2002 and use it without the amplifier with as much success as if I were using an MS-1000?

[TomV]

The 2002 has a built-in preamp that uses the external power supply that is feeding the DC voltage up the coax cable. You do not power the antenna at the antenna location (roof, attic) but at the TV side. The external module is a power supply, the preamp is inside the antenna housing. If you have a spare power plug at your TV, then you plug in the antenna power supply module into that. It connects into the coax cable using a power inserter/injector (looks like a coax power splitter).

Mounting a 2002 and then not using the power supply will not work. The preamp does not pass the TV signal when it is unpowered.

What is your zipcode? TVFool can be used to predict if you can use the 2002.

[e5c4p3artist]

I am checking TVFool now. My zip code is 52328. At first glance, it confirms what I already thought I knew. Namely that half the stations I can receive are SE of me and the other half are NW.

Thus, my research into omni-directional antennas.

I am not able to spend too much time and effort mounting and fiddling yet. So I figured an MS-1000, mounted on the pole which formerly held the DISH Network dish and plugged into the coax the dish used would be a fairly effortless solution.

However, I found a good deal on an MS-2002, which prompted my question. At the time I posted this, I had not bought it yet, but now I have.

What you say about plugging the power injector in on the inside of the house makes sense now that I think of it. I have plugged the MS-2002 into the TV inside the house to test it (using the power injector), and it seems to work. Now I will take it outside, and try my "dish-replacement" mounting idea and see what happens. Wish me luck!

Thanks for the response! And if you see an obvious hole in my logic, please feel free to offer any other advice. Thanks!

[e5c4p3artist]

I did think of a question, maybe someone can answer.

If the antenna lives outside, and the power injector resides inside on the cable that goes from the wall to my downstairs TV set, will the antenna work for a second TV located upstairs simply by running a cable from the wall to the second TV? Or will the second TV also need a power injector or something?

[e5c4p3artist]

Okay...... so THAT didn't work.

I took the MS-2002 outside and hooked it up to the coax that formerly ran to the DISH network. I ran a cable from the wall plate (that formerly went to the DISH receiver) to the power injector connector labeled ANT. I connected the supplied 6-ft coax to the power injector connector labeled PWR on one end and plugged the other end (the one with the supplied AC adapter) into the same power strip that the TV is plugged into. And I ran a piece of coax from the power injector connector labeled TV to the coax ANT connector on the back of the TV.

No signal at all.

Any suggestions as to what went wrong?

The DISH was working fine before, so I tend to rule out the coax between the antenna and the house, as well as the wall plate. The light on the injector comes on, as well as the fact that it was working when I had the antenna connected "directly" to the TV. So I tend to rule out the injector.

Not sure where to go next...

[TomV]

Is there a splitter between the power injector and the MS2002 on the roof? If so, then it may be blocking the DC voltage from the power injector ANT port to the antenna and the antenna is unpowered.

A special splitter is available, one that passes DC on a port used for the antenna for situations like this. Or you remove the splitter between the antenna and injector ANT port and place it in line with the short cable feeding the TV from the injector. The splitter output ports go to TVs (answer to your second question about other TV connections) and the input port connects to the injector TV port. The injector TV port blocks the DC from the TVs.

[e5c4p3artist]

There is not a splitter as far as I am aware.

Here is my latest test, which I also believe eliminates that from the equation. I took the antenna outside, near a power outlet on the outside of my house. I plugged the cable that comes into the house (formerly used by the DISH) into the TV connector on the injector. I plugged the antenna into the ANT connector. I plugged one side of the supplied coax for the power injector into the PWR connector and the other (with the AC adapter) into the power outlet on the outside of my house.

Then I plugged a cable from the cable wall outlet behind my TV (where the DISH receiver used to plug in) into the back of the TV.

Okay, so the antenna is not on the roof, it is sitting at waist-high level. But I should be receiving some signal at least. The TV signal meter shows absolutely 0%.

Does DISH use some kind of special coax cable that can only be used by them? If so, do I need to re-wire the cable that comes from the antenna into the house coax wiring? I'm not even sure where that goes. I can see that the cable from outside the house comes into the house through a hole that has been drilled. But I'm not sure what it connects to inside the house.

The desired end-state here is that the antenna runs into the house using a coax cable that supplies signal to all the wired coax connectors in every room in the house.

Am I misinterpreting how this works?

[TomV]

I can see that the cable from outside the house comes into the house through a hole that has been drilled. But I'm not sure what it connects to inside the house.

If your setup works indoors but not out, the remaining stuff that you do not see may be the culprit. The cable from outside gets distributed to various indoor outlets. With that said, the outdoor cable must go through some type of splitter. Satellite signals are not in the same band as OTA signals. Sat = 900 - 2200 MHz, OTA = < 600 MHz.

There may be a hidden (to you) splitter/combiner that is out of the bandwidth of the OTA signal but works fine with Dish. You may even have a distribution amp in the circuit.