I have a Winegard 7084 antenna with a channelmaster 7777 (30db) preamp. To fix an issue with one channel I installed a 15 year-old Archer UHF/VHF/FM variable gain amp I had lying around (15db-25db, 1 in 1 out), which fixed the issue. I currently have it set to around 20db of gain, which seems to be the best.
My question is, should I install that amp BEFORE the power inserter for the Channelmaster 7777 preamp?
Also, the unit's noise floor is 6db, which is decent and seems to be about what current models are... but is there a cleaner unit with around 3db NF that will send power to the 7777 AND give me about 15-25db of variable gain, with just one output? I've looked a bit and can't seem to find one.
More info: Currently I have it after the power inserter, between the inserter and the Tablo unit, so at least it's before Tablo's internal splitter. I did it that way because I was concerned that it's old and may not have proper return path to power the 7777 correctly, and I'm not sure if doing so would hurt the 7777...?
I have about 55' of coax from antenna to the TV/Tablo. I've been having issues with one channel (Real 26, and I'm on the fringe). It was odd because the TV would receive it fine (I had a splitter going to TV and to Tablo at that point) but the Tablo was getting a lot of pixellation and dropout. Eliminating the extra splitter made no change. But then I realized the Tablo has 4 tuners so it also has a 4 way splitter. I know it also has some kind of internal amp too...so it should have been fine, but of course it wasn't. So I tried this amp after trying everything else...given the 7777 preamp and Tablo's internal amp, adding yet another amp to my relatively short cable run should have just added more noise, I think. So I was kind of surprised it worked.