Hannibal

I had a fairly large Radio Shack antenna installed yesterday. I have good line of sight to the towers, but the cable run goes all along the length of my house, it has to be close to 100 feet long. My RCA F38310 has a built in meter for digital channels, I am not sure how accurate it is, but it shows the local PBS, CBS, and NBC digital channels all having a strength in the 65-70% range. The ABC channel is not working at all, its strength is about 30%. The stronger digital channels are coming through well, but not ABC. Also the analog channels further down the range are pretty snowy. Since I believe I have a good antenna which is aimed properly and a good signal at the antenna, I guess I need an amplifier because of the long cable run. I can get a cheap, but probably not very strong amplifer at Radio Shack for about $15. Will this be enough amplification, or should I go for a more powerful one? Will this add noise to the signal? Is there another way to solve this problem? THANKS!

kevinw

You may need to use an antenna mounted amp. You need to amplify the signal at its strongest source, which is at the antenna. Also, are all the towers in the same place? How far from the towers are you and what size RS antenna did you put up?

Hannibal

I have the Radio Shack vu-90-xr, which is pretty big, about 7 feet in the box. It is a medium sized antenna rated for both yellow and green areas. I can see the transmission towers, they are on a mountaintop about 25-30 miles away, and I have the antenna pointed straight at them. All the important towers are in the same place. I may experiment a little bit with it. According to the chart at antennaweb.org, I live in a yellow area. I think my problem is the length of my cable, but I am extremely reluctant to try to amplify at the antenna, which would be very awkward. The only signals I can't get that interest me much are the ABC signals, and to be honest I seldom watch ABC. Of course I would watch more if I could get HD signals for them. Thanks for your response.

kevinw

Is the antenna roof mounted or attic? How high off the ground? The long feed may be a problem. Try the indoor amp first because Radio Shack has a leniant return policy. But from past experience antenna mounted is the only way to go.

Hannibal

My antenna is on the roof, and on a five foot mast, so it is pretty high, and has a direct line of sight to the transmission towers, no trees, no buildings, etc. I am pretty sure the only problem is the long cable run under the eaves all long my house. Thanks for your response.

kevinw

I probaly is the long feed, I use a VU-160 and I am about 40-45 miles from the towers in Atlanta. My antenna is about 55-60 feet above the ground. Mast mounted on the roof. I use the 25db RS antenna mounted amp. I get between 90 and 100% signal. 3 sations are UHF and 1(NBC) is Vhf. My cable run is no more than 75 ft. I have founf=d that the inline amps are worthless. Yopu can try it but not sure it will be of much help. At least you can return with RS.

Hannibal

I bought a 10 DB inside amplifier for $15 yesterday at Radio Shack, and installed it last night. It worked pretty well. I now get all the digital channels, including the previously unavailable ABC, just fine. The signals are much stronger on the internal meter. The analog channels which had been very snowy are now coming in much clearer and are watchable, although not as good as they are on cable. I would give the digital signals a solid A now, and the analog signals a C+. I also saw that Radio Shack has an amplifier that can be mounted on the antenna, but which can be powered from inside through the coax cable. I have no idea how something like this would work, but I would have been trying it had the simpler solution not been acceptable. If I ever dump my cable and just go OTA entirely, I will try the latter solution for better analog viewing. Thanks to everyone for your advice.