[mythtv-users] Motorola Signal Booster

[Douglas Peale]

On 11/28/2010 05:36 AM, Craig Treleaven wrote:
> At 7:19 PM -0800 11/27/10, rawgarlic at gmail.com wrote:
>> Do you have your antenna:
>> -mounted outdoors
>> ==> Yes
>> ...
>> ==> Besides the cable length, splits, etc.
>> ==> How do you keep the noise to a minimum?
> 
> It is how the device is engineered.  Off the top of my head, I believe the noise factor on the Channel Master pre-amps is about .2 dB whereas cheaper brands maybe >1 dB.  When noise is added, the signal to noise ratio drops.  With digital TV, that can make the difference between the tuner decoding the signal or giving you a blank screen.  Since you are apparently on the edge of reception, that's why I think it is important.
> 
> Craig
> 

Other places to look for more information:
TVFool.com
avsforum.com

This mailing list is aimed more at MythTV than reception issues so it might not be the best place to look for this kind of question.

Things to pay attention to if you are going to add an amplifier:
Is there a TV station near by? It could overdrive the amplifier and kill other TV stations signals.
Are there nearby FM radio stations? These are usually much higher power than TV, and located in many more locations than TV.
These may also overdrive the amplifier and kill TV stations. For that matter they can sometimes even overdrive the tuner and
kill TV stations. Consider investing $3 in an FM trap to suppress the FM signal before any amplifiers. The one that can be
switched in on the preamp may not be sufficient, especially if it is designed to allow channel 6 to work.