Hi everyone,
I was long waiting for an outdoor HDTV antenna setup and just did last week.
With dry run, i was able to catch 20 channels with direct connection from antenna to TV.
Was pretty happy.
But guess what!!!
As soon as I connected to my hub in the basement with grounding/splitter, only got 2~4 channels,,

So yesterday, I bought a Channel Master amplifier 4 channel product and replaced a splitter with this amplifier and was able to get 12~14 channels back.

Is there anyway that i can get back close to 20 channels I used to have?
Or did I do anything wrong.

BTW, I live in central Oakville area between Niagara falls and Toronto.
And my house is 2 story detached house and currently 3 TVs connected.

Thanks in advance!
Cheers,

Best bet, you need at pre-amp at the antenna and then either pad rf signal down somewhat before the 4 way amp, or just use a passive 4 way splitter instead of the amp.

Also remember that some channels come in one day and not the next!

Hi Nueatit,
I will try pre-amp, I was reluctant to install cause of upstream power but it looks like one cable does both, sending power up and sending signal down. Coool~
I will come back soon,
Cheers,

Please make sure that the pre-amp you buy or try passes and amplifies the VHF band too, otherwise you may not get chn 9 or 7 which are still on VHF upper band.

Also, if the preamp can trap out FM, trap it out. FM stations often have, collectively, much more power than TV stations, and they can overload the amp even though you're not tuning them in.

Having the amp at the antenna is definitely the way to do. If you put the amp in the basement, the signal will have decreased from the cable run and there will be more noise in it than at the antenna. You amplify a stronger higher quality signal when the preamp is at the antenna.

I'm puzzled that you were reluctant because of upstream power. Antenna preamps tha don't work will be returned, so it's more likely that something we don't understand will work than that it won't. I've use the same cable to send satellite signals down from a roof, then put channel 3 on the same wire, sending it almost all the way back up to the dish, then splitting it out to go to a TV. Wire doesn't care which way the electricity goes as long as you're sure to load, or not load, the cable properly for the frequency you're passing (frequency includes DC, which is zero Hz.)

Hi guys,
I found and installed "RCA TVPRAMP1R" last weekend, pretty happy.
I was expecting some hidden channels to show up but this didn't happen.
However I feel signal's got stronger and TV doesn't lose signal like before from time to time.

Now I have a mystery.
Instead of getting stronger signal, i lost one of my favourite channel, 19 TVO.
This channel is one of very easy to catch even with rabbit ear.
I used to watch this channel without any scramble but now mostly scrambled and losing signal.

When I checked from TVfool, this channel shows the strongest in my area.
Any clue why this happens?

BTW, now I have RCA preamp on the antenna and also have one Channel Master 4 ports amp.

Cheers,

Could be an overload of the rf signals, try by by-passing the 4 way splitter amp. If that does not work check a slight shift of the antenna.

Thanks Nueatit,
I've re-adjusted and it's working back.
And I think information from TVfool is not that accurate in term of signal strength.
Cheers,
Happy OTA,