I have 2 tvs and my tablo I’m connecting. I am looking for advice on which splitter to use. I am going to put my tv antenna in the attic. I don’t know if I need one that boosts the signal yet or should I get one that does it just to be safe?
I can’t say that it’s the best but I have the same setup, antenna in the attic, split to two tv’s and the Tablo.
I mention it here:
I put a 75Ω terminator on the 4th terminal of the splitter
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Splitting always results in signal loss. So it’s only beneficial where signal is “too much” which is rarely the case.
So generally speaking you’ll want an amplified splitter and as @MotobikeMan has stated, buy 75ohm “terminators” for any unused.
I’ve used several. If you don’t do online ordering, Channel Master splitters are usually out there in stores somewhere, and they work fine.
My primary junction box splitter is an 8way amplified splitter. But I needed more ports at my study, so I added an amplified 4way there. Realize you don’t normally want to keep on splitting, because nothing is “perfect” and so there isn’t a perfect amplify-split -> amplify-split -> etc thing you can just keep on doing. But for my purposes, it worked out ok.
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I have always had excellent luck with Radio Shack Antenna amplification. My current 4 way amplifier has to be over 15 years old. They also are adjustable if too much gain becomes an issue. You can still get their current model 1500473 on line. I have tried several other brands over the years thinking they may give more boost and they never quite lived up to the old RS amps.
I got the radio shack splitter you suggestd. It is doing a good job. I only have it split to 2 tvs and put the 75ohm terminators on the empty ones. With my antenna in the attic of my new place I get abc, cbs, fox, cw. Nbc is a hit or miss as the tower is in a different place. All in all I’m happy with what i get as I was only shooting for the stations.
I was wondering if a preamp could be used along with the radio shack splitter to boost the signal just a little bit more.
The pic is the antenna I have in my attic…
I tried other ones but this worked the best.
I was considering trying this one http://antennadeals.com/HD8008.html?utm_source=300x250popup
All my stations where I am are uhf,(unlike when I was in philly and channel 6 was vhf
this is the distribution box I have from radio shack. 1-In/4-Out Bidirectional 3GHz Cable TV Amplifier
You kind of get into the “higher risk” category when arbitrarily doing amplifications. It all depends on the layout of everything.
The problem is feeding amplification into a mix of un-amplified and amplified devices. You could over amplify end points off of a secondary+ distribution amplifier, right?
Usually you’d see a preamp in a situation where there’s loss caused by run length or other to the distribution point (or if you feed into a distribution point that is not amplified). Usually, not the case in a mast on the house itself, but you never know.
My layout is that antenna pictured in my attic. The cable from the antenna runs down the the radio shack amp. From there it goes to the tablo, tv1 an tv 2. Tv1 is right next to the amp. Tablo is with tv1. Tv 2 is connected by 100 feet of cable. All cable is quad shield. I’m far away from any towers and there are trees.
The closest tower to me is about 28 miles away. NBC is about 38 miles away
The signal strength I’m getting is low but it is watchable. It pixelates and freezes during bad weather. There is plenty of room for improved signal strength.
I was also thinking of trying out making my own antenna or antennas. All antennas are in the same general direction except for NBC
I have a preamp at the antenna and a distribution amp 100 feet away feeding 8 devices (including Tablo). No ill effects and no lost signal strength even after the split.
The important factor is the NF (Noise Factor). If the combined NFs from each amp is less than the noise floor of the tuner, the signal will be good.
My preamp has a NF of 1. The distribution amp a NF of 2. The combined NFs (3) is well under a tuner’s noise floor.
The key is what NF each amp has and what the final combined total is. For example an amp with a high NF (say 6) when combined with other amps can send the total above the noise floor of the tuner and thus nullify the signal.
People who purchase an amp should check from the specs what the NF is and then determine how many amps can be chained together in series.
I make my own antennas (for under $20) and they all outperform $100 antennas.
I have made 4 bay bowties (using simple coat hangers), VHF loops, Gray Hovermans and even a C4 with materials from Home Depot or spare parts lying around the house in the basement. Each one cost less than $20 and the C4 mockup was made entirely from pie plates.
There are many videos on YouTube and websites that have instructions for making these. What helps with the DIY is that if you need multiple antennas for different directions, you won’t wind up spending $200 or $300. I made two C4s, combined them into a C8 - all for the cost of 8 pie plates from WalMart.
Is there a certain video you like about doing this? I pretty sure I want to do two c4’s and combine them. All my stations where I live are uhf
There is no video for making a C4 - I just made my own looking at pictures inside and out though there are videos making C1s (pietennas). C4s are a bunch of C1s wired together.
There are many YouTube videos for making 4 bay bowties and Gray Hovermans. The GH is probably the easiest to make and may have the best performance.
I have always used both antenna pre-amps as well as amplified distribution with never an issue of too much gain. And my RS amps have always been turned up to maximum gain. My situation is about half the towers are 45 to 50 miles to my north the other half about the same distance to the south. And they are all located in close clusters only a few degrees from each other so aiming in the middle of them yields great reception. But yes leaves in spring and summer and the varying elevations of Wisconsin do pose challenges with a few channels in the warmer months. But all available channels do come in some at 100% most about 80 to 100% and only a few have challenges at times. My 2 Televes (awesome) antennas are outside on the roof using their own integrated amps being further distributed to 5 TVs plus Tablo with help from the RS dist amp. All TV’s plus Tablo get the same quality strong signals. I no longer use the RS antenna preamp seeing as the Televes antennas have their own built in. The cable run from the antennas to the distribution amp is about 75 feet. The longest total cable run to the furthest away TV is roughly 125 feet.