TV SNR and Mediasonic HW150 Signal Quality Comparison
Knowing the SNR or signal quality of an OTA channel can be very helpful when comparing antennas or finding the best antenna location.
Since many TVs don't show SNR or signal quality, I did a comparison between SNR on my SONY TV and Signal Quality on the Mediasonic-HW-150.
Code:
TV SNR and Mediasonic HW150 Signal Quality Comparison
Channel 16 signal power with no attenuation:
+3.3 dBmV (-47.5 dBm)
Attenuation SONY SNR Mediasonic HW150
NONE 31 dB 83%
30dB 24 dB 61%
30dB+Var 17 dB 42-43%
30dB+Var 16 dB 41%
30dB+Var 15 dB 39%
30dB+Var 14-15 dB 0-38%
30dB+Var 14 dB 0% Severe pixelation
Variable attenuation was increased for desired SNR.
SETUP:
Ant > preamp 17dB > attenuator > 4-way splitter for:
1. SONY KDL-40R350D
2. Mediasonic HW150
3. Sadelco DisplayMax 800 Signal Level Meter
4. Airspy R2 SDR with Spectrum Spy software for
spectrum screenshots made at SNR 31, 24, and 15 dB
Other equipment used:
Channel Master 7777HD Preamp, at Low 17 dB
4-way splitter
10 dB fixed attenuator
20 dB fixed attenuator
0-20 dB Toner variable attenuator
CODE data above saved as image:
Here are the screenshots of the CH16 signal at SNR 31, 24, and 15 dB:
This is a screenshot of the Mediasonic HW150 for CH20 at the "Digital Cliff."
The Mediasonic HW-150 has a built-in power supply and outputs for HDMI, Component, and Composite. (Composite is also known as CVBS for Composite Video Baseband Signal) The less expensive HW-130 has a separate wall-wart power supply and outputs for HDMI and Composite; no Component output.
Both models are able to add a channel after scan, which is very useful if you have more than one antenna or a rotator. Tyler the Antenna Man uses the HW-130 for antenna comparisons.
This is the link to Tyler's video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDQzvFG3chs
