How Far can I put Antenna from TV (how much Coax)?

MkyMous · 7-Jan-2012, 5:05 PM

I have a new antenna and due to lots of trees and other obstructions the only clear place to locate my Antenna is on a Detached Garage. This will put the antenna a fair distance away from the television. (approximately 150 ft of coax).
I have a signal Amplifier installed approximately Half the distance on the cable, but seem to not get as many channels as I should. with booster it should range around 50 miles, stations are about 30 miles.
Is there something I should do extra that I do not know of?

Thanks
Brice

Zip code is 67501
Antenna is a:Antennacraft® Colorstar C290 HDTV/VHF/UHF/FM Antenna
Amplifier is a: Winegard ANWI8700

Electron · 8-Jan-2012, 3:39 AM

It will help if you will make and post a tvfool radar plot with exact address and put the antenna height at 25 feet.

GroundUrMast · 8-Jan-2012, 4:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Electron

It will help if you will make and post a tvfool radar plot with exact address and put the antenna height at 25 feet.

Agreed. An accurate TVFR will help us understand your situation better.

To use non-scientific terms, amplifiers do not, and can not 'pull in' a signal. They can only 'push' the signal down the line. That means, that generally the best place for amplification is at the antenna, ahead of the negative affects of coax losses. 150' of RG-6 should have about 9 dB loss at the highest frequencies used for OTA TV broadcasting. That means the 17 VHF/ 19 UHF dB gain of the AP8700 should be enough to drive all that coax and a 4-way splitter.

When you provide a TVFR we can offer our thoughts about your antenna choice. (Which seems OK for the general area, but may not be best for you.) Also, what stations do you expect to see but don't?

Thanks

MkyMous · 9-Jan-2012, 11:53 AM

Thanks for all the help so far.
Due to the remote location of the antenna, I do not have power at that location,and have located the amplifier where the nearest power is located.

Brice

GroundUrMast · 9-Jan-2012, 7:41 PM

The AP8700 and similar preamps from competing vendors provide a means to send power up the coax from a power supply, located in a convenient and protected location, to the actual amplifier unit which ideally would be located within a few feet of the antenna. This photo from Amazons add shows the amplifier (largest component), power transformer and power inserter (smallest component). Perhaps you could describe your arrangement in more detail, so we clearly understand were you have each component located and how they are connected.

Again, a precise TVFR would be helpful.

MkyMous · 9-Jan-2012, 7:49 PM

I apologize for but I ran the report and tried to put a link in my message.
Here is a TVFR for my exact location.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...7fb99090bd477a

Antenna is located on top of my Detached Garage. No Power available near the garage. (Actually an old Carraige House). Coax runs from Antenna to Eave of house about 75ft. From there it penetrates the wall to my basement where all my wiring comes together. It is here that I have located the Pre-Amp because this is the nearest power. From here, it is is about 75' of Coax to the TV.

thanks
Brice

Dave Loudin · 9-Jan-2012, 8:03 PM

Here is the proper report, I think, based on the broken link in the OP's last post.

Dave Loudin · 9-Jan-2012, 8:24 PM

Wow! You have very strong signals in the air, not factoring in local obstructions. Your antenna should be fine.

First off, get rid of the amplifier. Even 30 feet down the line, you have many strong TV signals and possibly several very strong FM signals that will send the amplifier into overload.

Secondly, look closely at your report. Note that in the main direction (just to the south of due east) there aren't many stations beyond 30 miles to receive! There are several stations about 40 miles away, but they are clobbered by terrain (2-edge path.)

Even looking in the opposite direction, there's only one station (22) worth trying for, and it appears to be a duplicate NBC affiliate.

MkyMous · 9-Jan-2012, 8:43 PM

Thanks for the Info Dave.
I will remove the Amp tonight. Would that cause the signals to be bad if the amp is not needed?

Thanks again to all for the wonderful help

I will point it SE and see what we can see.

Thanks
Brice

Electron · 10-Jan-2012, 1:29 AM

When removing a preamp , Remove Both parts of the preamp , the outside unit and the inside unit , do not just unplug the inside power supply unit , Remove It from the system.

GroundUrMast · 10-Jan-2012, 1:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MkyMous

Thanks for the Info Dave.
I will remove the Amp tonight. Would that cause the signals to be bad if the amp is not needed?

Thanks again to all for the wonderful help

I will point it SE and see what we can see.

Thanks
Brice

As Dave stated, powerful signals from television stations and other sources (FM, police, fire, etc.) can overload an amplifier. If that happens, the output from the amplifier will be a distorted version of the input signal. A distorted signal will be more difficult for the tuner to decode error free data from. If the error rate is too high, the video and audio may be unrecoverable. So, using an amplifier when one is not needed, can give you lower quality signal.

Another possible source of trouble is faulty connectors and water in the coax.

Again, I agree with Dave, your antenna choice should be providing excellent reception of all the station in the green section of your report, if it's aimed toward the group of stations at about 115° compass. http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html