in-line amplifier?

[amc1]

in-line amplifier has any had any good results to boost their sat signal
mine is only46% .it's a nexxtech in-line amplifier 950-2150mhz,suppose help boost signal and used for weak signal or long cable runs of 100 ft.

 

[tvropro]

in-line amplifier has any had any good results to boost their sat signal
mine is only46% .it's a nexxtech in-line amplifier 950-2150mhz,suppose help boost signal and used for weak signal or long cable runs of 100 ft.

An inline amp will overcome attenuation from long cable runs. But one must be cautioned you will also introduce noise depending on the noise floor of the transistors used that can hurt quality. If you have an excessive cable run 200 ft or more IMHO you would be better off to go with a high gain LNB and RG-11 coax vs a inline amp.

 

[Mr Tony]

inline amps have actually hindered my signal. I'm running 200 feet in one case with no loss of signal

Only way to get the signal up is a bigger dish

 

[updatelee]

Ive only used an inline amp on one site, starchoice install at a casino, they required 800ft of cable and wouldnt pay for the RG11. I put the amp at around 200ft mark and Ive got adaquate signal quality at the end of the run.

think of it like this, youve got poor signal, like am radio, sounds crappy right ? now walk 800ft away, sounds like crap quiet radio now right ? now crank the volume on the radio, not its louder, but sounds still pretty crappy right ?

now take a nice dvd audio disc, sounds great, now walk 800ft, still clear, but way to quiet. crank the volume, defn doesnt sound as good as upclose, but at least you can hear it.

an inline amp doesnt improve the quality, if anything it hinders it, it just makes it louder, sometimes this is required, but honestly only over very long distances. you only use an amp when you HAVE to use an amp.

 

[KE4EST]

I agree with berg on this one, same here.

 

[tvropro]

I think some people are under the guise that an amp can be used as a substitute for poor quality caused by an undersized dish or bad alignment. This is the furthest thing from the truth.

Coax cable causes attenuation because of resistance. Let's say you have 62db of gain at the lnb to start with, and you loose 15db per 100 feet. You have a 500 foot run, now your short 13 db plus whatever your receiver needs to operate. You have to make a choice, use a cable with less resistance or a higher gain lnb. Since most lnb's don't have gain over 65db and you can't make up the loss with a different cable you need an amp. Now lets say you add a 25db amp to the above, you would end up with a 12 db gain at the back of the receiver.

The flip side is what I said before. Every time you add amplification you add noise to the signal, you change the VSWR and can cause impedance bumps. These all will mess with the BER and cause errors on digital which will reduce quality, can cause macroblocking etc. So is a catch 20 thing. Use it properly, only when absolutely necessary.