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Old 11-Sep-2018, 1:36 AM   #13
rabbit73
Retired A/V Tech
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: S.E. VA
Posts: 2,747
From niv by PM:

Quote:
Originally Posted by niv
No, I cannot see the pictures, I cannot subscribe to the thread, I do not receive notification of private messages, I’ve been banished to the bad lands. :-) But I am checking regularly.

Results so far. I don’t have a real good way to measure signal strength. I have an EyeTV hybrid module that I can plug into my laptop which gives a separate quality and strength reading. How accurate it is . . . who knows? The LG TV has the most sensitive tuner so I can compare some results with that. The upgraded cable run to the LG TV / Hooper OTA tuner on one and the Silicon Dust tuner on the other brought flakey 5 (17) to a more stable level on all and brought Tucson 4 (23) from very flaky to just flaky on all. LG TV now picks up 3 (24) which gets lost along with 12 when the antenna is at the lower height, none of the others pickup 3 (24). This morning prior to installing the grounding block 3 (24) on the LG was unwatchable, breaking up all over the place. With the grounding block just occasional tearing of the picture so improvement there. I put the PA back on line. 3 (24) has gone away on the LG, 5 (17) becomes marginal on Hopper OTA and Silicon Dust Tuner.

I had put the attenuator in the first PA setup because somewhere I had read (???) that with an attenuator you could find the sweet spot between boosted signal and input overload so I had put it in thinking I might be able to dial in the signal. It can go from 0 - 20 db. I don’t have it in at the moment. Also I have 5 (17) up on my computer screen via the Silicon Dust tuner and the PA has turned it into a flakey condition. It comes and goes.

Current config 7698 - 3’ cable - PA - 50’ cable - Power Inserter/Ground block/DA all tethered together, no cables between.

I have a Channel Plus Low Pass Filter LPF-380 Bandpass 0-380 MHz. Will that do anything for the FM trap? I suspect it would be the opposite of what I'm looking for. If not I’ll order the suggested FM trap setup from Solid Signals.

ADTech made the suggestion of moving the tower which is not an option. I’m on a hill, the tower is at the highest point on the hill. Other tower locations would move it down the hill and the houses across the street are 2 story houses which would be a worse. Current blocking house is 1 story. Till the house was built I had a nice window to South Mountain.

He also Mentioned not being impressed with the DA’s maximum input power. That could be why some channels are dropping off with the PA in line. What would be a good DA for this situation?

As was before I think I am getting less performance on the system with the PA in place. Channel 12 is no where to be seen but I don’t expect to see it until the antenna is raised to it’s full height. All experimenting will be done at the 33’ height because it is a monumental task to raise the antenna. Once it’s up, it’s staying up, I’m getting too old for this. :-)

The most important device would be the Silicon Dust tuner. That is what would be recorded and the Plex DVR removes commercials. 2nd in line would be the Hopper OTA, being a recording backup with the LG TV coming in 3rd. I just bypassed the DA and went directly from the Antenna to the Silicon Dust tuner with the same result as going through the DA so I’m not sure that input overload would be the answer to the reduced performance with the PA in.

I hope I’m not rambling here, I’m just thinking of things to try as I type. I will wait to see if the filter that I have is useful. I actually thought I might have an FM trap which is how I found the Low Pass Filter when I was rummaging through the draws. Will order if what I have isn’t useful.

Thanks again.
I will try to redo the photos so that you can see them.
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