Antenna Booster

[DBENE]

OK,

I have the regular Stealth Voom Antenna and I get my OTA network channels most of the time but a lot of the time they are "in and out". Should I call Voom and ask for the legendary "antenna upgrade" or try to get an antenna booster. The ones I find now seem like they are only signal boosters for when the antenna is a long way away from the TV. It there any kind of antenna booster that will actually improve the antenna's signal toward the tower?

 

[Mr. Biggles]

Did they install the antenna amp with your stealth? They should have or at least given you the option since it should have been included in the install 'kit'.

 

[vinnyv07]

I had the Stealth and took it down. I also asked for the upgrade and Voom installers came and upgraded me to this huge Wineguard Ant. That didnt work either. If you have the Stealth and it goes into the diplexor more than likely your installer upon arrival popped open the Stealth's body and installed the amp. With the Stealth and the one line install...the receiver powers the amp inside the Stealth. When you have a seperate line for the OTA Ant then you need a power injector to power the Stealth. I took my Stealth down and bought a directionl Ant from Ants Direct. Im currently 13 miles away from the towers...and with the powered Stealth ABC was in and out...with the new Ant that I installed ABC comes in great....and the new Ant isnt even powered. If I were you I would try to get the upgrade from VOOM...you have nothing to lose...if the installer puts up the upgrade ant and it doesnt work any better than you dont have to take it.

 

[woodyak]

You do have something to lose. Time and your cool. I've been trying to get an OTA upgrade and I've had 3 appointments. Each time they bring the standard antenna and they spend about an hour trying to tune in the channels. Then they end up hooking up my old RatShack antenna because I at least get 3 out 6 needed channels. After this last appointment I heard from a manager at Installs Inc. and he told me that the upgrade antenna is purchased from RatShack and it's the same antenna as the one I have. Yeah right...

My wife is about to kill me because we can't get FOX & PBS reliably. When I switched from Dish we lost Nick Jr. and Playhouse Disney. Now we have my 2 toddlers outraged. Voom has 2 months to get things straightened out. After that Dish will make it worth my while to switch back. Voom is too much on the "bleeding edge" for my taste.

 

[cmslick3]

Where did you guys ever hear that the antenna amp was powered by the receiver? There is no way that is even possible considering the antenna manufacturer suppllies a power injector that goes inline to place DC voltage on the line. There is no way that the OTA module could tell that there is an amplifier in the antenna that is attached to it, unless it was set in some menu somewhere and I dare you to find it.

I am quite positive that the installers who are telling you this were mislead somewhere along the way. I am always willing to admit when I am wrong so if someone has documentation showing that the OTA module powers the antenna amp I will kindly admit defeat. Those of you who have been told this I would look for a power injector that is plugged into the wall. It's probably not going to be there and if it is I would be willing to be it's having some impact on your satellite channels..

With amplified antennas seperate lines for OTA and SAT are a must, in my opinion.

 

[Mr. Old School]

You do have something to lose. Time and your cool. I've been trying to get an OTA upgrade and I've had 3 appointments. Each time they bring the standard antenna and they spend about an hour trying to tune in the channels. Then they end up hooking up my old RatShack antenna because I at least get 3 out 6 needed channels. After this last appointment I heard from a manager at Installs Inc. and he told me that the upgrade antenna is purchased from RatShack and it's the same antenna as the one I have. Yeah right...

My wife is about to kill me because we can't get FOX & PBS reliably. When I switched from Dish we lost Nick Jr. and Playhouse Disney. Now we have my 2 toddlers outraged. Voom has 2 months to get things straightened out. After that Dish will make it worth my while to switch back. Voom is too much on the "bleeding edge" for my taste.

No matter which Voom package you choose, you will automatically get Nick and Disney. So there's no need for those toddlers to be outraged.

 

[sat4me]

Where did you guys ever hear that the antenna amp was powered by the receiver? There is no way that is even possible considering the antenna manufacturer suppllies a power injector that goes inline to place DC voltage on the line. There is no way that the OTA module could tell that there is an amplifier in the antenna that is attached to it, unless it was set in some menu somewhere and I dare you to find it.

I am quite positive that the installers who are telling you this were mislead somewhere along the way. I am always willing to admit when I am wrong so if someone has documentation showing that the OTA module powers the antenna amp I will kindly admit defeat. Those of you who have been told this I would look for a power injector that is plugged into the wall. It's probably not going to be there and if it is I would be willing to be it's having some impact on your satellite channels..

With amplified antennas seperate lines for OTA and SAT are a must, in my opinion.

Sorry, you are misinformed.
The Stealth DID come with a separate power supply, and a Channel Master dual power passive diplexer/combiner. That part allows the already introduced 12-18 volts coming from the STB, to pass-through to the amplifer board in the Stealth to power the amp. If a separate line was ran for your or anyone else's Stealth , then yes, the power inserter would have been used.

New thing, you're not aware of; in the past two weeks, VOOM is shipping all installers a completely different OTA to install. The Winegard Sensar. This is NOT shipped with any separate power supply/inserter and is complete with the correctly designed Winegard dual diplexer/combiner and the Sensar has the amplifier already built-in, and the already in-line voltage from the STB DOES power it. The voltage is diverted/shared from the coax that also powers the LNB. There is no setting on the receiver or anywhere in a menu. This is how DBS systems have worked since day one.

So, please don't go off telling folks that this doesn't work, it does and very successfully, as designed. If you "force" the installer to run a separate line for the OTA, you will only screw up your own installation, because some of the installers may not be aware yet, the Sensar is ONLY powered through the diplexer/combiner and they won't have any power inserters on their trucks, as they were not shipped them.

 

[bryan27]

Oh dear, no tell me it isn't so, we now have outraged toddlers requesting channels :haha

2 & 3 year olds don't even understand. All they know is that some animation or stuffed animal is on some glowing thing. They don't care what channel they are watching just as long as it is animated or has some stuffed animal on it that they believe to be real.

At that age they don't have fully developed long term memory and will quickly forget unless the parent keeps repeating "We don't get Nick Jr." and prompts the toddler for the "proper" responce of outrage.

Plop them kids in front of Animania HD, Cartoon, Boomerang, Nickelodeon, Disney, or Toon Disney and they will be satisfied

 

[cmslick3]

When the installer came to my house he showed me the paperwork and it called for a SEPERATE line for OTA and for SAT. So based on that I had to have the power injector. But if what you are saying is true then the duplexor ir pulling power from the SAT section to power both the LNB and the OTA.

So I was just going based on what I had been told by the people that installed mine and I assumed it was true for every Voom install.

I will gladly sit down and be quiet now..

=(

 

[DBENE]

Oh dear, no tell me it isn't so, we now have outraged toddlers requesting channels :haha

2 & 3 year olds don't even understand. All they know is that some animation or stuffed animal is on some glowing thing. They don't care what channel they are watching just as long as it is animated or has some stuffed animal on it that they believe to be real.

At that age they don't have fully developed long term memory and will quickly forget unless the parent keeps repeating "We don't get Nick Jr." and prompts the toddler for the "proper" responce of outrage.

Plop them kids in front of Animania HD, Cartoon, Boomerang, Nickelodeon, Disney, or Toon Disney and they will be satisfied

you are way off base. My 18 month old doesn't like anything but Barney, Cat in the Hat(the live action movie), and Sesame Street. Everything else will not hold her attention. She does have long term memory because without my prompting she runs to the TV and yells "Barn".. "Barn"..."eeee".

She will not watch cartoons whatsoever.

 

[DBENE]

BTW, no one has answered to whether or not there is any product on the market that I can buy to make my signal stronger. I live in an apt. so I don't want some huge funky antenna. BTW, I have my locals still on regular cable but I want them reliably in HD before college football. Does CBS, and ABC show College Football in HD?

 

[sat4me]

BTW, no one has answered to whether or not there is any product on the market that I can buy to make my signal stronger. I live in an apt. so I don't want some huge funky antenna. BTW, I have my locals still on regular cable but I want them reliably in HD before college football. Does CBS, and ABC show College Football in HD?

To answer your question in a nut shell>>> NO

There are no magical boxes to make your reception appear, or really come in stronger. There are antenna amplifiers, however, they really don't add that much overall gain. If you don't have any signal in the first place, there's not much you can do to add any box to make the signal stronger. You can trial and error or, you can try a large 8-bay bowtie antenna mounted as high as you can.

Antenna gain is the name of the game, and that big dog has among the highest gain available. Good luck talking your landlord in to it though.

 

[occammd]

Actually the squareshooter may work well for you. We need to know if your OTA's are UHF or VHF or both.