preamp advice

[Markm]

[/URL]
I just installed a new Winegard HD8200U antenna with my previous preamp an hdp269. The results are a little better than what I had before. We have the same antenna at work with an ap8700 preamp seems it seems to get channels better during the day and evening than I do at home. Both antenna's are pointed towards Chicago. The AP8700 is discontinued but can still be found, was looking at the AP8275 but that might be to much preamp and the price just about doubled on solidsignal.com. So my question is should I just stay with the 269 or find an 8700.

Thanks,

Mark

(http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d46ae2da0147162)
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[GroundUrMast]

Keep in mind that an amplifier can only 'push' signal through loss in cable and splitters. It can't 'pull' signal out of the air or make the antenna 'pull' more signal from the air. Also, all amplifiers will add some amount of noise and distortion to the signal.

So, you need only enough amplification to overcome the losses in your cable and splitter(s). This is a case where 'more' is not always better. For a 'close enough' estimate that errs on the conservative side, budget 6 dB per 100' of RG6 and 4 dB for each 2-way split. (8 dB for 4-way, 12 dB for 8-way) A few extra dB of gain is OK. 15 dB extra is not likely to help and may actually open you to problems.

The high gain of the AP8275 comes at the expense of being intolerant of strong signals. It has decent but not remarkable noise performance.

The PA-18 from Antennas Direct is a very good amplifier in weak signal locations, it adds very little noise to the signal. The strong CH-10 signal is coming from the side, so I don't think you would have a problem with overloading (which would cause distortion and noise to be generated in the amplifier).

The RCA TVPRAMP1R is not quite as good when it comes to noise performance , but it's still a remarkably good choice... In particular, it's been shown to be capable of handling much stronger signals than you are dealing with (even better than the HDP-269).

Bottom line -

Experiment with a different preamp if you like, but don't expect a dramatic difference. I would suggest the TVPRAMP1R given it's price and my personal experience with it, which gives me certainty that it won't overload in your application.

[Markm]

Thanks GroundUrMast,

I might try something or may aim at Peoria. I do get several channels just mainly having trouble with channel 5 NBC at times. Thanks again