AntennaCraft 10G202 Pre-Amp

[Larobpra]

The local Radio Shack is going out of business and have several AntennaCraft 10G202 Pre-amps at 40% off. Just wondering if anyone has experience with these before I buy one. I am 40+ miles to the nearest transmitter and am looking to capture more stations. Thanks.

Antennacraft 10G202 Pre-Amp

 

[boba]

The local Radio Shack is going out of business and have several AntennaCraft 10G202 Pre-amps at 40% off. Just wondering if anyone has experience with these before I buy one. I am 40+ miles to the nearest transmitter and am looking to capture more stations. Thanks.

Antennacraft 10G202 Pre-Amp

Know nothing about the brand but specs don't look bad for price, assuming you will pay less than $51. What does TV Fool say about channels you can receive, what is your TV antenna?

 

[Larobpra]

The specs are comparable to ChannelMaster's 7777. It's $32.99. I'm getting all the locals available on the US side, some of the Canadian DTV stations that are available come in at night sometimes, I would like to get them to come in all the time if possible. I have had a long range antenna with a rotor on the roof for many years, I believe it came from Radio Shack, unsure if it was their brand or not. It probably would do me good to update my coax as well.

 

[Larobpra]

Picked one up today. Put the pre-amp on the antenna and the power supply at the other end of the coax in the basement. Not sure just what size the coax is but the wire seems thinner than RG6. Hooked up the power, checked to see my "improved" signal and couldn't get the locals! Guess the next step is to change cable to RG6 and possibly locate the power supply closer to the antenna? The instructions didn't make any mention of how close to mount it to the antenna.

 

[Larry1]

You want the outdoor part (the amplifier) mounted close to the antenna. Within approx. 5ft. The indoor box is the power supply and it can be 100ft (or more) away if needed. Just make sure that there are no splitters between the power supply and the amplifier. There should be just a direct run of coax with nothing else between. Also make sure you have the power supply supplying power to the amplifier and not connected backwards.

Antenna ---- to balun (the twin leed to coax adapter) ------ short piece of coax ---- to port on amplifier marked ANT IN

From port on amplifier marked TO POWER SUPPLY ----- long piece of coax ----- to power supply input marked FROM AMPLIFIER

From power supply port marked TO TV ---- piece of coax---- to TV tuner input



Having the antenna mounted on your roof, you might not have enough elevation to get the Canadian stations. The Canadian digital stations are extremely low powered. The UHF stations need a line of sight for good signal reception.

 

[Larobpra]

Today I unhooked the coax from the roof antenna as I have to temporarily remove it to get the roof re-shingled. I hooked into the homemade antenna in the attic and later this evening tried the amp with it and got a good improvement in signal. I think I had everything hooked up right the first time but maybe not, didn't really spend much time on it then.

 

[Larobpra]

Big Improvement!

Last evening I hooked up the rotor off the roof antenna to the homemade one in the attic. Today I picked up a 500' box of RG6, a compression tool and fittings. I ran a piece from the attic to the splitter in the basement, and what a difference! It works great for UHF and VHF high channels. Can't wait to get the roof done to see how the outside antenna will do with it.