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Old 10-Mar-2012, 1:26 PM   #3
Dave Loudin
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: King George, VA
Posts: 659
Renstyle, you need to read the signal analysis FAQ that's linked to from your TVFool report. The key design variable is the Noise Margin, which measures how much signal is in the air versus the minimum to achieve lock in your receiver. Look at your report, then look at the antenna you're thinking about and tell me if that's the right one to choose.

Your local stations have noise margins above 50! Those that don't are repeaters that don't count. With a typical design goal of +15, you've got 35 dB to give, so you really don't need antenna gain, you just need no antenna loss. You can easily get by with a Winegard HD7000R, which is much smaller and another $10 cheaper.

You probably don't need a preamp, either. Remember, you have a ton of signal to work with. You're probably losing 7 dB in the cable and somewhere between 7 and 10 dB in the splits. I count 17 dB of loss so far. Toss in 20 dB loss for being in the attic, and you're still good. If you want a little more margin, either mount the antenna outside or get a distribution amplifier for your 4-way split.
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