TV signal Amplifiers . What do u look for when buying one ?

True, although is seemed as if the OP already had a noisy signal at the antenna, so had no way to put an amp pre-noise source.

Reply to
Mark Lloyd
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The best way to do that is with a better antenna mounted as high as possible. Also, any amp needs to be mounted on the antenna mast as close to the antenna's feed as possible or you will be amplifying signal plus noise from the feed line. I'm a licensed Extra class ham radio operator who has talked half way around the world on 1 watt of power so I think I'm qualified to give expert advice on this subject :)

Reply to
Meat Plow

You're making assumptions. The OP never stated how much snow he had, exactly how weak the signal is, or even if it's VHF, UHF or both that he has a problem with. If he's watching just VHF, his reception could be different going to ATSC because in most areas it's in the UHF band, while existing major broadcasting is in VHF. And if he's got UHF with a bit of snow, ATSC could work just fine. ATSC has error correction, so it can produce a complete picture, even with some signal noise, where as with NTSC it appears as snow.

ATSC will work with a lower

NTSC is different. It slowly fades

Exactly my point. If he has a picture with some snow, ATSC could solve his problem and with the demise of NTSC, he has to do something about it in another year anyway. Also, an amplifier is not going to solve a signal to noise ratio problem. It just amplifies the total signal, noise included.

What's the problem with addressing the conversion to ATSC before screwing around with a system that is going away in a year?

Reply to
trader4

So, when did you see what his TV looks like that you know it isn't just slightly snowy? How do you know which band ATSC is on in his area? Is it UHF or VHF? For all you know, he has an old crappy VHF antenna and ATSC is UHF in his area, which means what he's experiencing now has little relation to what he will have when he transitions to ATSC.

And BTW, an amp won't fix a signal to noise ratio problem.

Reply to
trader4

It all depends on your tolerance for snow. You can get a watchable but snowy picture from a distant NTSC station that wouldn't even register on an ATSC set.

Reply to
clifto

He said: "Looking for a clearer picture from distant tv signals. Thanks ."

I assume he must be seeing enough snow to bother posting.

snip

Maybe he doesn't want to wait. Maybe he wants to gather some info about what to expect.

So you are telling him his snowy "distant tv signal" will magically clear up. I'm telling him that his former snowy picture will start to cut up unless he changes something.

Reply to
tnom

Wait for what? ATSC is up and running now. All I'm suggesting is before spending time and money trying to fix NTSC reception, he should at least be aware that it's going bye bye in a year.

I never told him his reception will magically clear up. However, depending on the location, it is possible he could receive ATSC OK and since he's going to have to do that in a year anyway, moving to digital now is an option. I've seen people online report that their reception improved and they have good reception with ATSC, where before they had snow, ghosting, etc..

And IMO, it's unlikely buying an amplifier is going to do any good. He's in a mobile home with probably a 10 ft cable from the antenna to the TV, not in a big house with 5 TV's. If the signal from the antenna was any good with decent SNR he should be able to receive it on a single set.

Reply to
trader4

What I was meaning to say, but didn't say it very well, is that the signal amplifier can really only compensate for cable/splitter losses.

It won't pull a good signal out of a noisy signal.

Only a good well-sited antenna can make a clean signal in the first place.

Ross

Reply to
RMD

A signal is only noisy in the context of how it is received. You have to look at the whole system - the antenna, the feedline and distribution, and the receiver. All of them contribute to the system noise figure. A properly placed amplifier (meaning at the antenna) can overcome the noise contributed by the rest of the system. But if you don't have enough signal to overcome the noise in the amplifier, it won't make any difference how much you amplify. The only solution there is to put in a better antenna, or get an amplifier with a lower noise figure. At some point, the best amplifier in the world won't overcome the lack of signal from an inadequate antenna.

I don't own any really new TV equipment - it's all 5-15 years old, but there are definite differences in the various units' sensitivity. I suspect that is true in current equipment also. For quite a while receivers have primarily been designed to work with the higher signal levels of cable or satellite receiver signals, with off-the-air use being secondary. A good amplifier will definitely improve these.

Very true. Put up the best antenna you can - makes everything else easier.

Roger Grady snipped-for-privacy@sbcglobal.qlfit.net To reply by email, remove "qlfit." from address

Reply to
Roger Grady

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