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Old 25-Mar-2021, 4:07 PM   #10
toddbailey
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2021
Location: carnation wa
Posts: 16
I took delivery of a channel master cm-7777hd preamp and wired it in just before the 4 way splitter. In doing so i gained channel 20. so a slight win. Other channels seem basically unaffected. This amp is CM's dual gain device. The lo gain offers 17db and the hi gain setting states 30-35 db.
In either setting there was no change in the number of channels received and little change in signal strength but I noticed that pixelation on the channels that had these issues improved somewhat. Of course the amp is installed at the wrong location and should be out by the antenna not inside next to the splitter.

At some future point, I'll venture out on the roof and install it where it should be, next to the antenna.

On a side note, I found an alternative to relying on a ota antenna, there is a free streaming service called locast that provides local stations over an internet connection. to use all you need is a pc or a smart tv or other streaming device. so this entire exercise on upgrading one's own ota system might be moot. The deal breaker is whether or not I can configure my DVR, mythtv, to record from a particular channel at a desired time and do so reliably. Mean while I'll go ahead with stacking project and see how the cm 4228 and the rs u120 work together with the preamp.
I suspect I'll actually lose channels do to different design and phasing issues. But it's wait and see what happens but with out a proper vhf antenna I suspect I still won't get the channels I need.

Last edited by toddbailey; 25-Mar-2021 at 4:18 PM.
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