If a resistor went out on the power supply at some point and started feeding the pre-amp with too much power, that would have hastened its demise at least...but this RCA TVPRAMP provided me over five years of good service (and for $24 too), which isn't bad in any circumstance...particularly as I ran across plenty of anecdotes about them dying within two years, back when I was shopping for the setup.
The listing Amazon takes me to if I want to re-order the same is here, and the price is currently $29.54:
https://www.amazon.com/RCA-TVPRAMP1Z...dp/B003P92D9Y/
Any thoughts on whether getting that again seems wise, or whether I should look at alternatives like the Winegard LNA-200?