Will a different pre-amp help ??
 

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...d2435829a52355

I have a db-8 and a y10713 into a rca tvpramp1r pre-amp and less than 50' feet of new rg6 with all compression fittings. I get all the stations I expected to get but I'm having trouble with fox 22. I'm guessing it comes and goes with deal conditions. The signal strength meter says about 45%. The uhf stations that I receive well come in at about 58%. My question is the rca pre-amp advertises 22db gain on uhf. The channel master cm-7777 advertises 30db gain. After using a splitter to combine the signals I'll lose 3db. The cm-7777 would give a net gain of an additional 5db over the rca. What are the chances of this pulling in fox consistently?

I'm well on the other side of Jeff City. My question would be do you have the antenna dialed in specifically on 22?

My concern is the extra noise of the 7777 might somewhat negate the "gains". I've gone to a low noise amp and am pulling in a -10 tropo with great consistency.

Have you ran your report going up 5 or 10' more?

I have a rotator and dialed it in on 22 using the signal strength meter on the converter box. I can't go up much more, I'm aiming under a large tree branch. I looked at the output (ERP) for 22 and its really low powered. I'm just south of Mt. Sterling.

Did I miss something in the specs for "noise"???

Zero. A higher gain preamp will net you nothing except a stronger signal of still poor quality.

The comparative noise figures for the two amps at channel 22 is nearly identical, within a tenth of a dB (2.9 to 3.0 dB), based on samples I've tested. There is no "extra noise" in one or the other.

KQFX is licensed as a low power station and is limited to 15 kW of transmit power giving it an estimated range of 40-45 miles, depending on the signal path. Expecting to receive it reliably (24/7/365) at 55+ miles in the absence of an ideal signal path is not realistic. It's on the same tower as KMIZ whose antenna is a bit higher on the tower and transmits at 120 kW as compared to 15 kW).

You could slightly improve the system noise margin by several dB by upgrading to a DB8e over the DB8 and switching to an ultra-low noise pre-amp like a Kitztech or Research Communications for UHF-only. You're near the point of diminishing returns and throwing such measures at the issue will likely yield very marginal improvement. The station might come in a bit sooner and stay a bit longer as the atmospheric conditions ebb and flow.

You could so get the antenna clear of any limbs as the mere near proximity tree's elements will tend to distort the antenna's reception pattern and performance.

Hey AdTech !!! Thanks for your input. I kind of knew the answer before asking but thought an expert opinion was in order. The first time I scanned and got 22 I was surprised, and it worked well that weekend and when I went back down this past weekend I couldn't hardly get it at all. There are a few limbs close, but not directly in the path that I may try to get rid of. I'll need to wait for my son to come down, @ 64 my climbing days are done !! I'm getting a new hdtv with it's own tuner so we'll see if there is a change there also. Are there any tv brands better as far as tuners are concerned?