I hope somebody can help with this problem.

I have had a terk 44 arial put on top of my direct tv dish , i do not subscribe to direct tv any more.
in the directions for the arial it has one cable splitting into the direct tv reciever which i think
powers the signal?.
i have just the one cable going to an accurian hdtv reciever.
will a 25db signal
amp get me a strong signal?. my indoor powerd rca anntena did not bring in much. i'm in NJ in a two
storey colonial. thanks for your help. ps i did call around to get this installed by a pro, but the cost
per hour was more than i payed for the reciever and arial{ no offence). thanks

Nicolas,

Here's some free advice from someone that charges $65 per hour. Terk antennas are bandaids at best and amplifying crappy signal (ie reflections & low db) is going to give you amplified crappy signal.

Here's my best advice from someone who's installed several thousand real antenni over that last 17 years - because you asked:

Call around to the various smaller AV companies in your area. Ask them if they have any experience getting a consistant HDTV signal in your area and whether they can guarantee it. Guarantees are hard to come by because antenna signal reception has quite a few variables - so don't be surprised if there are few that will tell it like it is. When you've found someone you think you can trust to make things right, ask them for a ballpark price.

I'm suspecting the law of diminishing returns kicked in at about 17.99 for the cheesy Radio Shack amp. If it didn't, go to work at what you do best, save up, and if it's still important to you, have the pros do it.

Fortunately for you, you got a great deal from companies that take full advantage of 3rd world labor rates (so technically you did "pay" for it, although I think it was more of a steal). But so long as you live in a country where people don't poop in the street, paying to keep humans civilized isn't such a bad idea.

ok, call me a chump.