# Will a preamp help my OTA reception



## cje2000 (Apr 5, 2002)

In an effort to make my OTA reception more stable, I moved my antenna into the attic. Its just a basic set of rabbit ears. I've never been able to get a signal for anything other than ABC and UPN around here. Now that the antenna is in the attic however, I'm seeing a signal from FOX, CBS and NBC. FOX and CBS seem to have a signal fluctuate between 15-50, even locking a signal better than 60 briefly. NBC doesn't seem to get any better than 20 or so. According to antennaweb.org, I'm 52 miles from all towers, except for ABC/UPN which are 14 miles away. Will adding a preamp help me to lock in CBS/FOX? I've also considered adding a ChannelMaster 3021 antenna.


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## btwyx (Jan 16, 2003)

A better antenna, and putting it outside would be the first thing I'd do. What sort of antenna does antennaweb say you need for the more distant stations?

Putting in a pre-amp can help marginal channels, it can stabilise channels with good reception (that's what it did for me). If the signal isn't there without the pre-amp the amp isn't going to help.

In Florida you're probably not having multipath problems (mountains, like round here, cause horrendous multipath interference), a pre-amp doesn't help with that.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

Check out the Local HDTV Reception Forum at http://www.avsforum.com and find the thread for your nearest major city. There you can ask folks in your neighborhood what antennas work best for them.


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## CCourtney (Mar 28, 2006)

Another thing to consider is if you have foil backed insulating pannels in the attic. This can cause major reflections and an Amp wouldn't help.

I'd go down to the local Radio Shack buy an amp. Try it, if it doesn't work, the Rat Shack has good return policy.

If it works, then I'd still return it and spend $40 at your local Home Depot / Lowes / Menards and get an attic antenna and put it up instead. You'll then have something stable (nobody bumping into the antenna and through it off), you don't have to worry about the amp burning out, etc.

CCourtney


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## gio1269 (Jul 27, 2006)

I am using a 120" Radio shack antenna (just the front end - UHF) and I get an amazing signal in the attic with a clay tile roof. I just layed the antenna on the rafters, slightly pointed it up and 20º of N. 

I am about 16 miles form the towers. I far are you? 

I asked Solid Signal what antenna would reccomend just in case I can get something smaller and they said nothing would work in my attic due to the roof.  

I was looking to get a square UHF one, that I can mount on a mini-dish mount pole in the attic.


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## btwyx (Jan 16, 2003)

CCourtney said:


> I'd go down to the local Radio Shack buy an amp. Try it, if it doesn't work, the Rat Shack has good return policy.


The Rat Shack pre-amp is reasonable, but there are better ones out there. If it helps, a better one may help even more, so its a reasonably cheap test to see if an amp would help.

What makes a pre-amp good is its noise figure more than anything else. The problem really isn't that the signal is too small, but its swamped by noise. The signal "strength" meter is in fact a signal quality meter, measuring signal to noise ratio. A bad pre-amp could intoruce more noise, and make the problem worse. If there's not enough signal to noise to be had, no amount of amplifying is going to help.

Good pre-amps are something like a channel master 7775. I cant provide a link as Channel Master have been bought out and their website is dead now.

A better antenna helps by providing more signal, while not picking up so much noise. Putting the antenna outside helps as a roof will usually attenuate the signal quite a bit.


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## Markman07 (Jul 18, 2001)

the Channel master website is up and running just fine (even though they are now known as Andrews) http://www.channelmaster.com


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## fasTLane (Nov 25, 2005)

Using a Channel Master 4228 with a Winegard amp picks up everything that the Atlanta market has to offer. 
8 channels, although some not worth the trouble.


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## btwyx (Jan 16, 2003)

Markman07 said:


> the Channel master website is up and running just fine (even though they are now known as Andrews) http://www.channelmaster.com


Oops, my web filter was killing the links, and all that was left was them trying to point you to the Andrews website.

The link to the amplifies is: http://www.channelmaster.com/pages/TVS/TitanAmp.htm

Its the 7777 which is the popular one, the 7775 doesn't do VHF.


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

btwyx said:


> A better antenna, and putting it outside would be the first thing I'd do...
> 
> Putting in a pre-amp can help marginal channels, it can stabilise channels with good reception (that's what it did for me). If the signal isn't there without the pre-amp the amp isn't going to help.
> 
> In Florida you're probably not having multipath problems...a pre-amp doesn't help with that.


I agree completely.

You are far enough away to need the best antenna and preamp available. Consider the 4228 in place of a 4221/3021. And the 7777/7775 is also about the best preamp, because it has the best noise factor, which means it can get marginal channels in better without adding noise to them that would prevent reception. A RatShack just won't perform as well.

The good news is that the 4228 has both a ton of gain, and high directionality, features which aid reception both when signals are low, and when there is a high multipath ratio.


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## BigBearf (Aug 18, 2005)

Any comments on a Wingard SS mounted in an attic. I notice that the offer a plain one and an amplified unit. I am about 17 miles from my most distant tower. 

I am moving and am running OTA lines and am trying to decide between the CM 4221,4228 and the SS-1000 or amplified SS-2000. 
Thanks for any input 
BigBearf


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

BigBearf said:


> Any comments on a Wingard SS mounted in an attic. I notice that the offer a plain one and an amplified unit. I am about 17 miles from my most distant tower.
> 
> I am moving and am running OTA lines and am trying to decide between the CM 4221,4228 and the SS-1000 or amplified SS-2000.
> Thanks for any input
> BigBearf


Try www.hdtvprimer.com, which has a wealth of antenna info, including in-depth info on all of these antennae.


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