Signal Boosters

[darrencp22]

Do these really work to boost signal on an OTA? I have two stations I could never sucessfully bring in.. both come in around 50% signal strength. Would a signal booster help? I tried a bunch of antennas and I am not interested in trying another.

 

[boba]

Do these really work? I have two stations I could never sucessfully bring in.. both come in around 50% signal strength. Would a signal booster help? I tried a bunch on antennas now and I am not interested in trying another.

What are you questioning about TV antenna or satellite dishes? Please be a little more specific on your question.

 

[darrencp22]

Antenna.

 

[boba]

Antenna.

Boy you really like to express your self. What do you have for an antenna? Where are you located? What stations are you having problems with? Zipcode? Apartment or house 1 or 2 stories? What receiver are you using for OTA? We can't see your setup and as much information as possible makes it easier to help you.

 

[EricBskiVT]

Antenna.

Go to AntennaWeb, input your address, click on Show Digital Only (if that's what you want). Click the color in the left column for the last channel in the list to see what type of antenna (medium directional, etc).
Go to Comparing some commercially available antennas
to compare antennas and see if you have something appropriate.
Are you perhaps using a UHF only antenna and trying to get VHF channels? Are you using a short range antenna when you need something more powerful? Is the station you are missing in a different direction from the others, thus requiring a 2nd antenna. I hope this gets you going in the right direction.

 

[shodobe]

I think all he is asking is if the in-line boosters you buy from Radio Shack help. The type of antennae and making sure the antennae is poinying in the right direction does make a big difference. I live in 95255 and I am about 40-50 miles west of Sacramento. My antennae was in when I bought the house so I am not sure of the make but it is a very big one and works well. I went and bought an in-line booster from RS and it did make difference in the reception of existing OTA stations. My HD stations come in very well and I did pick up afew fringe ones that never came in before. So in my situation the booster made a significant difference.

 

[jeepers94]

I have seen boosters improve,worsen and have no effect what-so-ever. It is a real crap shoot!

 

[Andrewwski]

Preamps can definitely help a fringe signal, provided your antenna setup is good (not a lot of extra noise). The ones from RS are terrible though.

 

[Jim5506]

ALWAYS go for quality when buying a pre-amp, the cheapies will do little or nothing for your reception (poor signal to noise ratio).