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Old 1-Sep-2013, 2:44 AM   #9
GroundUrMast
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Greater Seattle Area
Posts: 4,773
You're describing a situation that's quite common. Most TV signal meter functions display a value that's related to the error rate of the received signal. Simply increasing the signal level will not change the error rate if the errors are the result of signal quality at the antenna. A more powerful mix of signal, noise and interference will not be much easier to receive and decode than the weaker version.

If you get no signal through the preamp, you can presume the amplifier is not connected or powered correctly or it has failed internally. That you see signal though it says that it's working.

If the total length of coax is 50' or less, and you are only connecting one TV with a good quality tuner, a preamplifier will add little. A 100' section of RG-6 will have less than 6 dB loss at the highest UHF frequency. At VHF frequencies the loss can be less than the amount of noise created inside a good preamp.
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If the well is dry and you don't see rain on the horizon, you'll need to dig the hole deeper. (If the antenna can't get the job done, an amp won't fix it.)

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