Amplifier Question

[bs95]

I have a SS-3000. I cannot install a outdoor antennna. All I'm trying to get is the basic channels. Here is tvfool's assessment:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapp ... c3fa3b4362

Our old cable provider came into the basement and then was split and then homeruned to the jacks throughout the home.

I have located the antenna on the second floor facing the towers to the south (most optimul position). I had the antenna cable routed directly connected to the main TV through the existing coax that was in place in our home. I used the second floor jack as the source for the antenna output, routed down to basement, (bypassed the existing cable splitters with a barrel connecter) and finally routed to first floor jack serving the main TV. I started the scanner and the TV recognized all the major channels that I was wanting (ABC, NBC, PBS, CBX, CW, FOX). However FOX, being the weakest comes and goes.

However I don't have only one TV, I have 3, so I replaced the barrel connector with a three way splitter (a 5--7dB loss) and connected the TV's. I rescanned and only got ABC and PBS. I figured it was the splitter loss, so I installed an amplifier (Rocketfish - up to a 4dB gain http://www.rocketfishproducts.com/produ ... G1179.html) rescanned and got all the channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, CW, FOX). However once again FOX, being the weakest, comes and goes.

Then I tried a preamplifier, Winegard AP8700, and installed it between the antenna and second floor jack. I tried both with and without the rocketfish amplifier and rescanning had the same results for both - non working FOX, recognized by the TV but not coming in steadily.

Any thoughts? I thought maybe a better quailty amplifier with a higher dB gain might do the trick?

Thanks in advance.

Ben

[winegard]

Good morning bs95 -

The problem is not with the amplifiers. Amplifiers can not pull in signal or extend the range of an antenna they can only amplify and build up the signal given to them by the antenna. In your case the signal is fading in or out at the antenna and to only way to improve on this is to install a larger antenna such as the FV-HD30 or HD-4400 with the AP-8700 preamplifier.

[TomV]

Your TVFool data shows only a few channels will be received reliably (those in the yellow band). Anything below -80 dBm of power is marginal at best, even with a good outdoor antenna.

Your SS3000 just will not cut it for the power levels you are seeing based on the TVFool analysis. If you can use the previously suggested HD4400 4 bay antenna, then that would be better than what you are using since it has at least 10 dB more gain (at least 10 times more power) before it goes to the amplifier section. I would suggest that the SS3000 offers you less than the HD4400 because the Signal to Noise ratio is not as good, and that is a critical parameter for the low level signals you are encountering.

I also have a problem with you putting a high-gain preamp at the output of the SS3000 since it has a preamp in it. You may be coming close to overloading the the AP8700, thus being why you do not see any improvement with it in the circuit. Using the suggested HD4400 would eliminate the possible amplifier overloading of the AP8700.

You do not indicate how long your runs are or the cable type (RG-59 or RG-6). A 100 foot run of RG59 from the antenna to the TV is about 10 dB of loss. Add the 7.5 dB of the 3 or 4 port splitter and you have about 18 dB to overcome from the antenna. The AP8700 has about 19 dB of gain, allowing for most accounted losses or TV sensitivity issues. I would also strongly suggest the HD 8800 antenna since that will get you the best signal at your site. You also have signal attenuation because of the building materials between the towers and your antenna. Going with the 4 bay HD-4400 may give you some drop-outs during bad weather (rain) that the 8 bay antenna will overcome for the stations you receive OK now, and will help with FOX when the weather is not bad. The extra $30 will be money well spent if you can hadle the extra size (twice as large as the HD4400).