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Old 25-Aug-2017, 1:13 PM   #82
jrgagne99
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 244
Best pre-amp for long-distance run

So I have the opportunity to borrow a 70-foot boom-style man-lift to do some painting and roofing jobs around the house. While I have it, I figure I might as well put an antenna as high as I can in one of my tall pine trees. My TV fool report indicates about a 2.5 dB improvement in WFFF at 75 feet in the pine tree, vs. 30 feet AGL on my roof. I plan to vertically stack two HDB8Xs to get the most bang for my buck. With that stacked configuration, in the hottest hot spot on my roof, I have never been able to get better than 20% reception reliability for WFFF. I'm hoping I'll do better than that up in that pine tree.

My plan is to mount the two HDB8Xs onto a mast and then use conduit clamps to bolt the assembly to the tree. I will cut limbs as required to get a clear view to my Mt. Mansfield towers.

My question is in regards to pre-amp selection. From the antenna, down the tree, and into the house, this will be about a 300-foot run. I'm concerned about the voltage drop in terms of supplying power to the pre-amp. Is there a certain pre-amp that is well suited to such a long run?

Also, reliability is a major concern. It could be a long time (or never) before I have access to the lift again, so I also want a pre-amp with low odds of failure.

Finally, are there any mods I should make to the HDB8Xs to minimize chance of failure? I'm thinking mainly in terms of the baluns on this, but maybe there are other aspects I should be concerned with.

Thanks you guys.
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