We are near the end of a culdesac which is the lowest part of our road. So relative to much of the rest of the neighborhood, we’re lower elevation and closer to those trees. But it’s not like they tower over us. Here’s a photo from our bedroom window. The antenna is probably 8 feet above this vantage point and 10 feet behind it.
What kind of cable run is there from the antenna to the Tablo? How long is cable run? Is it one single cable or multiple cables? Is it RG6 cable or RG59 cable? Older RG59 has higher signal loss per foot of cable run.
I just confirmed with the installer that he only uses RG6. I paced off approximately 75 feet in the basement. From there, there must be 30 feet (give or take) running up the side of the house and into the office to the Tablo. From the antenna to where it enters the basement, I would guess 30 to 40 feet (I’ll modify tomorrow if necessary when I have daylight to inspect outside). So, approaching 150 feet. And I think it’s a total of 5 cables. There’s white cable from the antenna (#1) , but it’s black where it enters the basement (#2) . That goes immediately to the amplifier, and black cable #3 then goes across the basement to a splitter. From there a white cable (#4) exits the basement and goes up to the second floor office. Cable #5 goes from the jack on the outside office wall to the Tablo.
I’ve been able to confirm the following connections are tight:
The connection to and from the amp (joining cables #2 and #3). This goes through an LTE filter on the input to the amp.
The connection to and from the splitter (joining cables #3 and #4).
The connections of cable #5 to the wall jack and the Tablo.
I was not able to inspect the connection of cable #4 to the backside of the wall jack. I can’t seem to pry the wall plate off. And I’ll have to go outside tomorrow and look for the connection between cables #1 and #2 (presumably somewhere near where it enters the house). Finally, I don’t have a ladder tall enough to get on the roof to look at the connection at the antenna. New house for us, and our ladders are sized for the ranch house that each of us came from.
Cable from antenna usually goes into a grounding block outside. If the “amp” is a preamp it should be mounted outside right where the antenna is. Very short cable from antenna to amp and then cable out of amp. Not sure what we’re calling an amp but there should be a power inserter for it and normally that’s before any splitters.
At 150 of cable before any splitter, you would seem to be a candidate for a preamp, but, again, a preamp goes up there with the antenna. You want it as close to the antenna as possible. Mine has an 8 inch cable from antenna to preamp.
How many times are you splitting? And is your splitter amplified (I use a four way distribution amp to split the incoming cable to 4 device locations) or is it a simple splitter. If you have an amplified splitter… a distribution amp, and if your preamp is too close to it (in cable feet) it can cause some odd phasing issues. Not sure if “phasing” is the correct term. But it’s an anomaly sometimes encountered when amping an already amped signal.
If you can, get a name off the amp and model if it’s accessible, and also any information on the splitter.
At 150 of cable before any splitter, you would seem to be a candidate for a preamp
150 feet total (estimated) from antenna to Tablo.
Black split goes to living room TV. White goes to Tablo. This is the only split other than the Tablo tuner splits.
This could be your issue. That is a really long cable run, lots of signal loss.
Also a pre-amplifier should be as close to the antenna as possible, most recommend you actually mount it outside on the antenna. Where your preamp is now so far away from the antenna you’re basically amplifying “garbage” signal.
I would also remove any splitters, that is instant signal loss.
See this link below for my previous post.
Do you also have other things running in this cable run like your cable internet modem?
I suppose the easiest, quickest thing I can do is to bypass that splitter and see if that (+3.5 dB?) makes a significant difference to the Tablo. If the Tablo is working well, I don’t really care about that direct feed to the living room TV anyway.
This still begs the question of why it would work so well for many months last year and only start failing when the leaves started falling. The cable run was always that long and the splitter has always been there.
The Antronix amp shown is for CATV (cable systems) typically for use with cable modems. So is the Commscope splitter. These all seem to be equipment from a previous cable system. Did you buy these or were these sold to you by the antenna installer?
You cannot mix CATV and OTA signals.
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No, when we moved in we had the cable company use the existing cable to provide us internet only. Then the antenna guy came and ran his own cable to connect the antenna to the living room (TV) and upstairs office (Tablo).
The Antronix amp shown is for CATV (cable systems) typically for use with cable modems. So is the Commscope splitter. These all seem to be equipment from a previous cable system. Did you buy these or were these sold to you by the antenna installer?
CATV signals can overlap with OTA and cause problems. The antenna installer made a mistake pure and simple. He should have known better!
Replace the amp with a proper OTA amp like the RCA one in my link.
These were all provided by the antenna installer, as was all the cable described above. The cable company is providing internet service using the pre-existing cables.
You cannot mix OTA with CATV - these signals overlap and cause problems. Get the right OTA equipment as theuser86 said.
So the type of amp matters even if it’s not mixing OTA and CATV signals?
Yes, it matters. The circuitry inside is different. Also get an OTA splitter. I wouldn’t mix Internet with OTA on the same coax.
That’s what I was trying to say above, but maybe not well enough since I’m pecking this on my phone. The internet is not on this cable. This cable, this amp, and this splitter are dedicated only to the OTA signal.
But it isn’t OTA equipment - it is CATV. Different circuitry. May work for awhile but also can run into problems. There are good $20 to $40 preamps for OTA. The amp you have is also a high noise amplifier. These days OTA preamps are a third of that noise factor.
Ok, thanks. That’s what I wanted to clarify… that this is a potential problem even without mixing the signals. I’ll start shopping for the recommended OTA versions.
Also this Antronix is 15 db which may be low for over a hundred feet of coax. Winegards and RCA preamps are 20 db and up. LNA-100, LNA-200 or TVPRAMP1Z.
An alternate configuration is a preamp at your first coax join and a distribution amp near the Tablo\TV such as the Channel Master 3412 or 3414 (with multiple ports out) instead of a splitter. The additional amplification can help the Tablo’s internal split (especially if you get the 4 tuner model)
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