Cabling or amplifier

[elbryyan]

I have my GB-PVR machine all set up in my living room now and the wife acceptance factor is slowing increasing. I am seeking some advice as when I was playing around with the software on our office computer I was able to scan channels with better accuracy than with the connection that is dropped to our living room. Example, I live in houston and we have a local station channel 49 which also has 3 sub channels 49.2 49.3 and 49.4. In the office I can watch those channels with no problems but they show up as too weak of a signal in the living room. It is using the same anteana that I have installed in the attic split to each room in the hosue and using the same USB ATSC tuner. I was studying some articles and read that there are higher quality cabling the will reduce the signal lose either by interferance or distance. I am debating on what to try in order to preserve the signals, either run some higher quality quad shielded RG6 cable from the attic to the living room or buy an amplifier to see if it will resolve the issue as I do live about 33-38 miles from the broadcasting stations according to antenneaweb.org. Any advice?

[Ted the Penguin]

ok how many splitters do you have in the system? and what type. you might have fewer splitters on the line that feeds the office than the one that feeds the living room. (discussion of coax splitters below)

I would not suggest using an amplifier, I think your problem can be rectified by taking a good look at your cabling system, and making sure that all connections are clean.

On a 1->2 splitter there is a signal loss of 3.5db on good splitters, and it only goes up from there, however higher order splitters (1->8) are slightly more efficient so it will be a loss of 8-10db instead o the 10.5 that would be if you cascaded 1->2 splitters to get 8 connections.

That said, you will need to prioritize your connections, if you have 2 things to plug in that are more important, those need to be on the first splitter out of the antenna, which should be a 1->3 splitter, then everything else should be split off of the remaining connection. you want the lowest loss on your most important connections.

if I have confused you, let me know, I will be glad to help design your system :p

[elbryyan]

The splitter is a 1->4 splitter and the signal is only split once in the attic to all connections in the house. I'm not sure what type of splitter it is or it's quality but I will look into that.

[pastro]

The splitter is a 1->4 splitter and the signal is only split once in the attic to all connections in the house. I'm not sure what type of splitter it is or it's quality but I will look into that.

You probably need an amp in the attic. Put it before the splitter. There are amps that can be powered from the cable and don't require another cable for power. The splitter will need a least one port that doesn't block DC. A normal splitter will not work ( if you route power on the cable)

[elite]

Try to keep cable runs away from mains voltages (they cause interference) - try and cross them at 90 degrees if poss...

Always place any amplifiers near the source (aerial), otherwise you will amplify the noise + signal when you want to just boost the signal

[Ted the Penguin]

give all of your cabling a good look over, and if that does not turn out any problems, you may have to use an amplifier. I just said I dont suggest it above because you weren't having signal strength problems everywhere, and I was completely unsure of your setup.

[elite]

give all of your cabling a good look over, and if that does not turn out any problems, you may have to use an amplifier. I just said I dont suggest it above because you weren't having signal strength problems everywhere, and I was completely unsure of your setup.

Agreed, sounds more like a broken cable or dodgy connector/connection

[pastro]

Agreed, sounds more like a broken cable or dodgy connector/connection

Could be bad cables or borderline signals. Depending on your antenna gain, you are likely fairly low in signal strength at 30 miles especially with an attic mounted antenna.
Do make sure all connections are tight on your coax. Many times that is the sole cause of signal degradation.

An amp will buy you a lot especially with a 4:1 splitter in line and longer cables runs. Do you know the cable designation of your coax? How long are the runs to the two rooms?

You might try a 2:1 as a test and see if that change of 3 ish dBs helps. Also make sure the splitter is equal power on all ports. If the 2:1 helps then you are probably borderline in signal strength. If it doesn't then you have more to figure out.

[allsighs]

Also make sure that any of your unused jacks on the splitter are capped with a terminator. Depending on your signal to start, you could lose quit a bit more, especially if there is more than one not used or capped.

[Graham]

You could try painting the full length of all coax in alternating green and red stripes around the circumference of the cable. The stripes should be no more than two inches wide. Pale shades work best. This will only improve signal quality if you use oil based paint.