New to hdtv, in Sheboygan area.

[bradsmainsite]

The preamp you choose is another very! important aspect to your system.
With strong local signals from Fm and TV you can easily overload any good
quality preamp.  You must choose a very good preamp with a very high input
capability.  If not you will make things worse than without, but with the right
one it can make a huge difference!!!

Good Luck!!!

If you have more questions please fell free to contact me on make and model
numbers.

I have been doing antennas in the Sheboygan county area for more than
20 years!

[dlhoppe]

Just so you know, there are different models of amps and pre-amps with different amounts of gain. You can't just pick one randomly or the one with the highest gain. You really need to know just how much additional gain you need.  You can easily overdo it and end up worse off than you are now.  I recommend you talk to someone who does antenna installs and knows how to calculate/estimate the amount of gain you might need. My guess is that you'll want a fairly low gain amp given that you can already get most of the stations. The guy that I bought my tower from helped me out tremendously just with a couple of phone conversations regarding amps.  Here's his web site if you're interested in calling him.  Very friendly and helpful.

http://www.tvantenna.com

[dlhoppe]

Brad,

I didn't see your post before I posted mine.  Glad you piped up with that info.  Although you didn't mention anything about the amount of gain he requires in decibles. What's your take on what you think he needs in gain?

[MrSuzuki]

I offered some bad advice...sorry to all!

I had a perfect picture, due to a radio shack amplifier...and after only a few days...it failed.  I am now a proud owner of a Channel Master 7777 amp.  Bought it from Warren Electronics...via the web, and the picture is even beter.  

I did mention in a previous post, the radio shack amp was "very good"...and it was, until it failed after a week.  My recommendation...avoid radio shack amps.

Mind you, I am only 20-30 miles from the towers...with a 51 element antenna, and without an amp, there are a few digital signals I can not receive.  Therefore, I don't know what distance from a tower, would prevent an amp from giving you a better signal?  I only know, an amp gives me every channel...and I am pretty close to towers, with "fringe" equipment.

[dlhoppe]

The 7777 is a 26 db pre-amp.   That's a high gain preamp.  You must have a long cable run or enough splitters to knock down the gain enough to prevent overloading your ATSC receiver.

One thing to note for those considering a pre-amp.  Preamps DO NOT increase the ability of your antenna to receive a signal.  They only provide a boost to push the received signal through the wiring to your sets.  That means you MUST start out with an appropriate sized antenna. Use an amp to overcome the loss in wiring and splitters.

Here's a little blurb from Winegard documentation:

"NOTE: Preamplifiers and/or amplifiers only amplify the signal your antenna receives. They cannot extend the receiving range of an antenna or help pull in signal. Also, DO NOT use the higher gain models within 35 miles of your transmitters."


Here's a list of the Winegard preamps:

http://www.winegard.com/offair/pdf/Chart29.pdf


Here's a list of the ChannelMaster preamps:

http://www.channelmaster.com (go to the products/amplifiers page)

[bradsmainsite]

To continue on the choice of preamps being on the south side of sheboygan
you will need a low gain hi input capable preamp offered by winegard which
by the way I don't think is advertised yet!  It is a HDP-269 made especially
for HD digital off air signals.  I do have several of these in stock and your welcome to call me for a price!

I have used several of these in the sheboygan area and they work terrific!!

My phone number is 564-6030.

Happy HD viewing to all!!

Brad

[bradsmainsite]

:OnAir:  I would like this opportunity to tell you also that the most important
factor in an antenna install is EVERYTHING!

What do I mean by this:  Well to begin, Everything you do can make a difference
if you mess one thing up it can screw up everything.  Often I find its the small
details that really make the difference between getting that weak signal and not
getting it.  I have tested and tried about every antenna that Channel Master has
made, and also Winegard, Antenna craft (RCA), Delhi (Jerrold) Radio Shack and have found
that the biggest difference maker in any install is like real estate, location, location
location!! :bang:  Thats probably the most fustrating part is your kind of stuck with
that.

  Take heart though!  There are still many things you can do, time limits me on all those details I talked about earlier, and I can't give away all my trade secrets
that I have learned over the many years of testing that I have done in this area.
If you have gotten nothing out of this PLEASE :bang:  stay away from the department store antenna equipment its garbage!  Stick with quality :rofl:

If there is one thing I hate to see happen is someone switch to cable that could
have gotten a much better picture if they would have only known what to do!

  Remember that the off air signal is really the only true thing that you can
get for FREE these days!  :rofl:   and the off air antenna is the only way to get it :wave:

Thanks for the space

Brad

[dlhoppe]

350,000 microvolts!   Wow!  That's definately high input.