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Which splitter/joiner should I select? I only seem to find ones with 3.5 dB insertion loss. Wouldn't that result in a net loss?
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That's as good as it gets for using a splitter as a combiner.
However, when used as a combiner and everything is phased properly, that combiner loss disappears as if by magic (it's actually math**) leaving only the loss caused by power dissipation and inefficiency, typically somewhere from 0.4 up to a dB or so. Using a 1/2 dB as a planning factor is usually good enough.
** See
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/ganging.html for a tutorial.