Just reaching out to everyone that’s added a booster to their set up. I have a two tuner set up right now thinking about getting the four tuner because I get so many conflicts in recordings now. But my question comes to the booster. Does anyone have one they recommend that made a night and day difference? I’m using no hardware booster right now and I’m getting about 100 channels and I think adding a booster I might be able to strengthen up my weak ones.
Reception is key. Amplifying a bad signal just means more bad. Amplifiers are, however, very useful in situations where due to very long runs or distributions (splitters) you are causing loss. So, for example, in my case, my antenna runs to an 8-way distribution amplifier splitter with those runs going out to the individual tuners (TVs and devices with tuners). I also terminate unused taps off the amplifier.
Not saying there aren’t “cases” where you’ll get (mixed) results by amplifying “trash”. But, it’s not really the best answer to anything. Work on getting good reception and then things like amplifiers become a good tool for your own known loss cases.
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cjcox is right. However, if you have an outdoor antenna, an amplifier might help. The best place for an amplifier is at the antenna. An amplifier at the antenna will preserve the signal that the antenna receives. It will not get you reception if the antenna does not receive the signal (will not get you extra stations that the antenna cannot receive). An amplifier near your tv will amplify everything, including the noise and interference that is on the wire. The signal degrades as it travels along the wire, so the longer the wire from the antenna, the more the signal degrades.
I have an outside antenna with an amplifier outside, right at the antenna. I have the Tablo internal amplifier shut off, because the signal is already amplified. The Tablo amp is unnecessary and might even cause signal overload. I use a Channel Master CM-7778HD, which has separate inputs for UHF and VHF (or can be used in combined mode), a switchable FM trap, and adjustable gain.
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I move things around and ended up repositioning the antenna in the attic. Reception seems the same, but the pixelation has disappeared. Saturday Night Live finally recorded, though the audio was off finally making progress. I don’t think I’m gonna get a booster after all. It’s all about the position in my situation.
You need a filter, not an amplifier.
The issue isn’t signal strength, it is radio reception quality. You don’t need to amplify the incoming signal. You need to filter out the garbage radio signals around you from other radio-based devices, like routers and cell towers, before they reach the tuner. I fought with my OTA setup for YEARS. It would work fine one day (if I was REALLY lucky), then be pixelated, glitchy, unwatchable garbage the next for no apparent reason. Even after several moves, both in the city and out to the suburbs, it was always terrible. Once I realized it was radio interference I looked online for a filter. 30 seconds later I found and bought the “Philips LTE Filter for TV Antenna” on Amazon for $9.99. It arrived the next day and I screwed that inline between the antenna and the TV using a short coax cable. The picture was perfect and not a single glitchy pixel. To really test it, I moved it to the attic where all of the cable wall outlet coax lines converge. I split the signal from the OTA antenna (after the inline filter) to 8 different in-wall outlets using an 8-way passive splitter block. Still perfect. Once the Tablo arrived I added that to the setup using yet another cheap, generic 2-way passive splitter. Everything runs perfectly, all because of this simple little $10 filter.
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You must know the exact location of the broadcast towers from your location. When you put in your address, location it shows what stations are good for reception, and which ones are fair. I use an amplified antenna in the garage attic. I’m 25 miles from the local tv towers. They all come in perfectly. Good luck.
There was a thread on pixelation a little while ago. I discovered that there were 2 megawatt chans on the same tower transmitting on adjacent frequencies. The second case involved transmitters on different towers about a mile apart. The FCC really screwed up by allowing transmitters on adjacent frequencies so close together.
The last thing I did that helped some but didn’t cure the problem was point my antenna 30 degrees off axis. That reduced the strength of all chans and dropped strength of the channel adjacent to the one that I am tuned to below the point where it doesn’t drive thru the intermediate frequency amplifier as much and might not be detected.
Take a look at the thread.
Tablo has a built in LTE filter.
…”We also have FM and LTE filters on the inputs to improve performance when there is interference, but this also causes a slight reduction in the signal.”…
From Tablo helpdesk … not sure why they don’t advertise this more.
Anyone from Tablo want to confirm here?
The tuners on all Tablo devices are designed to balance the elimination of noise and interference while avoiding reducing reception sensitivity. However, folks who live near LTE towers or other potential sources of interference might benefit from an external filter with the expectation that it can also reduce signal on desired frequencies.
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I ordered the Philips filter as I’m near an lte tower. Will report as time permits