OTA antenna to 3 TV's

[Ralph Kramden]

I installed a Winegard OTA antenna(VHF & UHF) antenna to my HDTV set a few months ago, and it has worked great. A couple days ago, I added a 3-way splitter to run to an analog set, and a front projector. The run from splitter to HDTV set is about 15 feet. From splitter to analog set & projector(with Dish Network 811 HD receiver) are both 50 feet. It appears I now need an amp of some sort to pick up all the channels I was getting before I split signal. I need some advice what type of amp to get, and it will be mounted in crawl space, so it will be inconvenient to adjust. Thanks for any input.

[Gregg Lengling]

First off when you use a splitter you usually are losing 3dB per port, rather than a line amp, I would use an amplified splitter.  I would stay away from the Radio Shack amps or splitter amps as too many of them create noise and IM problems.  Just do a Google on TV antenna line amps and find one that fits your needs.  For a 3 way splitter you need only a 10dB amp to bring things back where they were.

[Ralph Kramden]

Thanks Gregg. Is it a problem that the 1 TV is only about 15 feet from splitter, and the other 2 are 50 feet? Is there such a thing as a 3-way line amp, or do I need to buy a 4-way line amp and use a terminator for the unused one?

[mhz40]

Your best bet is a standard 4-way, which loses 7.5 on all ports... coupled with an amp that gives you 10 db of gain (on the input of the new splitter).  That way you will still have a few db left over for your cable runs...   Again, Radio Shack quality is asking for more trouble than it's worth.  Locally, you can try Marmax around 51st & Rawson I think.
If you are running your own coax, look into some prep tools and fittings there too.  Don't get your pliers out to crimp any fittings.