TV Antenna Preamp - how it can help your Television Antenna Signal

[@ElectoneGuy]

Just bought a Televes dual antenna input preamp and my reception has never been better.

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

Awesome! Can’t go wrong with Televes.

[@jayvalentin5513]

@NorthcoasterHobby I recently removed my 4 antenna combination with the Televes dual input preamp and went to a 2 antenna setup. The reason for it was to get a more reliable signal for Metv toons. One antenna east facing and the other south. It's the only way to pick up rf10, s.e.direction , some 45 miles away, and a 1 edge obstruction, especially during the hot summer and bad weather. Happy with the result, nearly always good. The problem now is that I lost rf9 and rf11 to the n.e direction and rf26 to the sw. Need to turn rotor to get them. Thinking that the smartKom may be the answer to avoid using the rotor. The dual input preamp works perfectly with no issues capturing any channels it's pointing at.

[@thshoop]

Sir. I have campet van with an antennea outside the van. Magnetic. What would you recommend?

[@anthonymalovrh2912]

I have been using a Winegard LNA-200 Boost XT HDTV Preamplifier, TV Antenna Amplifier Signal Booster for about 7+ years now. The antenna on my roof is difficult to access, so I use the booster near the TV. Helps with a low-vhf channel (ch6) that otherwise is unwatchable most times. Ran about $40-50.

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

Good to know, thanks for the comment!

[@bobh.4580]

Another great video that goes to Great Lengths to explain exactly what a preamp can do for you and what it can't!

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

Thanks, Bob!

[@bjs2022]

Preamps can seem to magically get stations/channels that had no picture before because, after scanning, tuners store the data for stations/channels even though some signals are below the threshold to get a picture. You should also tell users to rescan after installing a preamp. From my (and one of my client's) experience, the GE preamp is a good low cost preamp. However, some of the highly experienced senior professional TV antenna installers in the FaceBook group probably have opinions about the noise level of the RCA and the GE compared to the gold standard/best/unique (and probably highest cost) Televés preamplifier models.

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

Good tip about re-scanning. I wish I would have mentioned that. I’m sure some people will have opinions about the RCA compared to other brands. But it’s the only external preamp I have right now, and yes, I’d say it’s a good performer at its price point.😄

[@bjs2022]

Another misnomer/wasted word. "Price point" is a statistical term for a location on a graph. Please just say price. @@NorthcoasterHobby

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

@@bjs2022 Noted.

[@dmo848]

​@@NorthcoasterHobbyi bought the onn brand. It does a whole bunch of nothing for me. Thought i needed it🤷.

[@mrkrasker9609]

One of the things that I feel should be stressed is keeping coax as straight as possible and don't make any sharp bends or kinks. I am old school I still use Antenna Mast Standoff rather then tape to prevent any induction from the mast pole and never run RG 6 parallel to AC power.

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

Fair point. Any measure to reduce noise or loss is worthwhile. I tried to loop the jumper down a bit to soften the radius on the cable. But yes, sharp bends should be avoided.👍

[@robertmason7013]

I have this model it stopped working after a few years luckily I had a extra one do thay still make this model if so where can I buy one.

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

amzn.to/46Dj1xY

[@zandig666]

Hey i had to go up and install another antenna panel and diplexer combiner and had to move my pre amp closer to the antenna however its close but on a 3' cable just wondering although i am getting good reception

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

@@zandig666 If it’s working OK, then no problem. Just try to keep the cable length between the antenna and the preamp as short as possible, but 3 feet is totally fine.

[@zandig666]

@@NorthcoasterHobby many thanks my last upgrade will be all new connectors in some spots at one point I cheaped out but hey its (free ) 😃😃 and I scanned 62 channels last night pointing at toronto, Rochester and Buffalo mostly over water and reception will improve once the leaves are off the trees

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

@@zandig666 Excellent! That area is awesome for OTA TV.

[@ronkeyes659]

Just to add, it's probably a good idea to weatherproof your outdoor coaxial cable connectors even if you don’t purchase an outdoor mounted preamp. RF Weatherproof Boots are incredibly easy to install as they simply slide up and over the connection. They slide back off of the connection just as easily, making them a great coax connector weatherproofing solution, especially when you are concerned about re-accessibility to the connection. There are different types of boots to match different connector and cable combinations, You can also purchase one that is IP68 rated should you choose to do so.

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

Good advice, thanks for sharing it.👍

[@Nicholas_Chris]

The antenna with preamps are suitable for places with medium to low or low signal. The good part is that you can use a classic splitter mounted after the inserter. Do not mount a splitter between the preamp and power inserter becuase you either have no signal or the signal is bad especially on UHF band. A classic splitter has between 4 - 10 Db attenuation, a diplexer has 2 Db attenuation. I rememeber one case where I had to install a UHF Yagi antenna with 44 elements with a built in preamp. And in order to connect to multiple TVs I also had to install a 20Db amplified splitter to have the signal strength between 80 and 90%. to connect to 3 TVs. The reason was the tower was more than 50 km away and lots of trees. No possiblity to install a satellite dish, otherwise it would have been much easier. The best part is that the preamp can be easily replaced. If you don't need the preamp you can mount an impedance adapter or matching transformer and use it as a regular antenna. Preamps can help you with DX-ing if you want to receive channels outside your area but you need an antenna with higher gain.

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

Good advice Nicholas, thanks.

[@rjsmith6698]

I’ve got a Channel Master 8 bay antenna on the roof with a 10 ft mast, and pre-amp mounted on the mast below the antenna. When it was installed, instead of running the coax straight from the antenna signal box down about 3 ft to where he mounted the pre-amp, he ran the coax up to the top of the mast, down the inside of the mast, and then back up to the pre-amp, adding about 10 feet to the length of the coax between the signal box and the pre-amp. Do you think I’d lose channels less often if the coax was run directly down the 3 ft from the antenna signal box to the pre-amp?

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

I’m not sure why the installer would do that. I would think that the coaxial cable run between the antenna and the preamp should be as direct and short as possible. All that being said, I don’t think it would affect the signal- 100 feet yes, but not 10. As long as it is decent quality RG6 cable, shouldn’t be an issue. Still an unusual way of doing it though.

[@rjsmith6698]

@@NorthcoasterHobby Thanks for your reply. I guess the installer thought it would look more professional that way.😄 Glad to know it doesn’t make much difference in my reception though, because I was thinking of going up and changing it. Not a great place for a senior to be, even if it is just a bungalow.

[@DXingSlovenija]

But the preamp will slso amplify the noise right? Will it maybe produce any extra noise on some part of the rf spectrum? Also do these things have any filters in them? I would like to use one of theese for SW band not tv, and I dont want it to filter any frequencies Also what happens if u feed the signal into it, will it pass the signal back to the antena I sometimes like to use my antena to transmitt signal so I connect a transmitter to its input and because its directional the signal can be received far away So if I put preamp in between will I still be able to do this or the amplifier block the signal?

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

The preamp should establish a low noise floor. Much lower than adding an inline amp down the line. A higher quality preamp like a Televes would do a better job rejecting noise as well as filtering 5G, LTE, FM, etc. too. But if you want to use this for short wave, you might want to check into an amplifier designed for that instead of a TV signal amplifier.

[@StephenStandridge]

Do I need a converter box are I just. Connect to my Tv

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

@@StephenStandridge you can connect your antenna directly to your TV as there is a built-in tuner. Or you can connect it to in digital converter box. After the antenna is connected, run a channel scan. Digital TV Converter Boxes Run a channel scan - Auto program for over the air antenna channels kzbin.info/www/bejne/pHKWkqmDgcasisU All TV’s - How to Run a channel scan (auto program) for over the air TV Antenna channels kzbin.info/www/bejne/pKfcdoWqn7iKrNk

[@ChewyChicken589]

What do you think about using a preamplifier and a distribution amplifier? Is it a good idea? Or is it overkill?

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

Use one or the other, not both.

[@ChewyChicken589]

@@NorthcoasterHobby gotcha. That makes sense. My preamp gets the signal through the whole house just fine

[@qtythandle]

If it runs thru your 'tv box',it ruins everything. Better connect the co aux cable to your tv set directly.

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

The DTV box has some features many TV’s don’t have. Either one will work fine.

[@unclefester6033]

If you run directly to your tv & have a rotor you limit your channels when hou change direction you have to re scan your tv. Having a box allows you to add channels without losing what you had

[@jayvalentin5513]

It worked well for 3 months 😢, now sitting in the box to remind me what not to buy!

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

@@jayvalentin5513 Power supply failure?

[@jayvalentin5513]

@@NorthcoasterHobby Yes,I believe a common issue with them.

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

@@jayvalentin5513 Unfortunately.

[@publicmail2]

IMO this one is junk, get a Maspro for about $30-40. Every connection is about -2db plus each split is -3.5db so it adds up. Usually you'll be good with a quality 20db amp.

[@NorthcoasterHobby]

Is Maspro sold in North America?