Sensarpro Signal Meter

[stereocraig]

I was thinking of mounting this in a case w/ a gel cell battery, to help aim home antennas.
Is it capable of powering mast mounted amps like an AP 8725?
I am aware of the problems I may encounter, if I use it on a balun, so I won't

Thank you!
Craig

[stereocraig]

Maybe I'm in the wrong place.

[stereocraig]

I suppose I may have posted to the wrong category, but to completely ignore a guy that has purchased many Winegard products over the last 30 years, is pretty rude.

No wonder, people are purchasing products from these sites that claim 150 mile reception.

Good luck, folks!

[TomV]

Your question is essentially "Can I power the AP 8725 with the battery I bring up on the roof?"

I have a portable TV at home that I can use off a car battery for emergencies. I have an amp on my TV antenna that I planned on powering with that battery. I had a Channel Master 7777 that worked with the 12 VDC. It failed on me recently and I am now using the AP 8725. I have not tried it with 12 VDC but will try it tonight and get back to you.

[TomV]

I just tested out my AP8700. The power injector that comes with the unit has a voltage regulator for 15 VDC and that was used as my reference. When I used 12 VDC I noticed little difference in the reception I had. There were a few weaker channels that were slightly weaker, but most of the stations came in at about the same signal quality # posted on my TV. This means that you should be able to use it on the roof with 12 VDC without a problem and use it for the AP8700 series preamps. With any luck, since they share the same instruction manual, you can use this setup for all the Chromstar 2000 units.

You could stack a couple of 6 VDC Panasonic 2CR5 for 12 VDC (a very high capacity 1400 mAh).

If you can calibrate the Sensarpro for power you can have a nice inexpensive meter that can be used for measuring cable and splitter loss as well as using it to compare against TVFool power levels. I work with radios and can do this with our lab equipment. If you are interested in this I can do this for free, generating a cal chart for each frequency through the 1 through 100 power level output by the Sensarpro. I am thinking of building this unit for my own home use.

[stereocraig]

Thank you for the knowledgeable response and the kind offer, TomV!

I'm not so much concerned w/ absolute numbers, as I am w/ aiming and peaking some distant channels.

You are correct, this would make a nice 100 step meter, w/ AV out to boot.

When I get around to it, I will report my findings.

Craig