24DB Dual Output Vhf/uhf/fm Amplifier Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I compared the two signal amplifiers in an over-the-air antenna situation.The antennas (both VHF/UHF - digital) were outdoor type with from about 50' to 75' of coax cable connected to an HDTV.Also tested on an analog TV.

The Philips PH61111 is meant for indoor use, is black, and has two output terminals, a convenience.It's lightly built, and reminds me of the boosters that have been available at Radio Shack for years (decades).Has a convenient power on light.Connects directly into AC via two pronged cord. Comes with a limited lifetime warranty.Made in China.Amplification is 24 db (very nice); not adjustable.Recommended only for TV applications.

The Motorola Signal Booster is also black, has only one output terminal.Besides the input terminal, there's a terminal for DC power via an AC adapter.It could easily be plugged into one of the other terminals by mistake.It's ruggedly made of die cast aluminum.Box contains two 6' coax cables with connectors.Has a limited 1 year warranty.Made in China.Amplification is 15 db; not adjustable. Can be used for multiple broadband applications.Is bi-directional, so more versatile than the Philips for non-TV communications applications.The three cables with adapter makes it a bit clumsy to work with in an enclosed space.

THE TEST
Used both units on a Toshiba 40XF550U and an older Panasonic superflat CRT.Units were placed in cabinets close to the TVs (not at the antenna source).Digital channel signal strength was measured using the TV's signal strength indicator for approximately 30 channels in the San Francisco bay area (north and south from Mountain View).

FINDINGS
Both units performed equally well.They substantially boosted signal strength from a non-amplified situation.Even though the Philips claimed higher amplification power, it did not boost signals from distant stations any more than the Motorola.Fringe signals were exactly the same strength.The analog TV also received benefits that were, subjectively, equivalent.

CONCLUSIONS
The Philips is roughly half the price, more compact, with two signal outputs, and works just as well at TV signal amplification as the Motorola.If that's the only application required, the Philips is a good choice.

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Product Description:
24dB Dual-Output VHF/UHF/FM Amplifier

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Wilson Electronics Dual Dand 800 / 1900 MHz 50 db In-Building Wireless Dual-Band SOHO Cellular/PCS Amplifier 801245 Kit Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought the amp because of needing signal boost inside a mobile home. It has definitely made a big difference in my phone signal in my home. Before receiving the amp my calls were constantly being dropped or I was not receiving calls or texts at all in my home. I am very please with my amp. The service was also great from Wilson Electronics.

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Product Description:
Wilson Electronics In-Building Wireless Dual-Band 824-894 MHz / 1850-1990 MHz SOHO Cellular/PCS Amplifier 801245.
Works on all generations of CDMA, TDMA AND GSM.
AT&T, Cricket, MetroPCS, SprintPCS (NEXTEL/iDEN NOT INCLUDED), T-Mobile, Verizon and other.
Designed specifically for small office and home office enviroments, apartments, high rises, condominiums, and dormitories
FCC and IC type accepted Kit includes:
Wilson Yagi 13 dbi 806-939 MHz Cellular Antenna 301111
Wilson Yagi 14 dbi 1800-1990 MHz PCS Antenna 301124
Wilson Dual-Band Dome Antenna 301121
Wilson Ultra-Low-Loss Coaxial Cables (50 feet & 15 Feet)
Wilson Dual-Band Splitter / Combiner 859922 (Can connect two outside antennas to one Dual-Band amplifier)
Additional cable and antenna pole may be required (not included in the kit)

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Viewsonics 8 Port Cable TV Amplifier with Passive Return Review

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(More customer reviews)These particular Viewsonics amplifiers have been discontinued for over three years, this product is really old. According to Viewsonics it does not have 6000v surge protection. Plus the noise profile is noisier than other amps you can buy for about the same money.

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Channel Master CM-7778 Titan Medium-Gain Mast Mounted Preamplifier Review

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(More customer reviews)Initially I bought the db8 antenna which did great on UHF and the upper VHF. I was able to get channel 2 with some drop-outs but once I used an amplifier (7778) and a splitter, I completely lost the channel. That channel had about a <50% signal strength before the amp or the splitter. I decided I wanted to go with a better VHF antenna since the cm-7778 amp will allow me to combine inputs form two antennas. Once I connected it, it worked flawlessly. The strength after the amp and the splitter jumped from 23% to 79%. The only drawback is that channel 7 which used to be 85% with the DB8, dropped to about 75% which is fine with me since with a digital signal you either receive a channel or you don't! I believe that is due to the fact that the 3018 is directional and it wasn't exactly facing the channel 7 towers.

I am assuming a lot of folks are trying to do the same thing that I did which is get a good VHF/UHF reception to 4 different TV outlets so I am going to list what I used.

First problem would be which amp and how would I power the amp. I went with the channel master 7778. The great thing about it is that you can put the power supply inside the house and it will send the power through the cable line to the amp outdoors. The trick is you have to use a "power pass through splitter". The one that I used is sold by amazon. Do a search for "4-Way Digital Cable and Satellite Splitters". If you live very far from the tower, you can try the CM 7777 which has a slightly better gain but could result in an overload if you live close.

For the antenna choices, it depends on your location. In my case I am about 40 miles away from the towers. I went with the DB8 for the UHF channels and the Channel Master 3018 for the VHF. I recommend going with two antennas because the DB8 is not directional and it does not have to face the towers and the 3018 is. The DB8 has about 75 miles range for UHF. The 3018 has 35(as per the box). For VHF, the DB8 is unclear on the range, and the 3018 has about 60miles. If you only care about UHF (channels 14 and up), the DB8 would be just fine. If you live far from the towers, you can go with one of the higher end deep fringe antennas from channel master. It doesn't do any good to spend more money on a bigger bulkier antenna if you really don't need it.

Using the cm7778, i was able to split the signal first using the 4-way splitter above then i split two of the outputs further using 2-way splitters and the signal was still good for all channels! On top of that, I have the dish signalmultiplexed with one of the outputs through the same line and I still get both excellent antenna and dish signals. This amp/antenna combination was definately worth the money!

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Product Description:
The Channel Master 7778 Titan preamplifier is perfect for MATV systems where signal is distributor to a lot of ports.

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RCA VH 100 - RF amplifier Review

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(More customer reviews)We recently cut our ties with DirecTV and just went with over the air digital signal. The RCA outdoor antenna worked great, but occasionally the picture pixelated. Having read reviews and experiences of others, I bought this signal amplifier and was blown away by the difference this little device made. We had very good HD quality, but this made it even better AND we found 4 more stations that we weren't getting previous to using this.

Better picture, no pixelation and more channels! Great Deal!

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Product Description:
RCA VIDEO SIGNAL AMPLIFI

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Uhf / Vhf Antenna Pre Amp Kit Review

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(More customer reviews)I think many people purchasing this amp may not understand how it works, and may not be very patient with trying out a few setup options. I own a small computer and electronics shop, and have just recently started installing products from antennas direct. In the installation instructions it says to point your antenna first for an ideal signal BEFORE installing the amplifier. This is very important to getting satisfactory results. Also, if you understand what factors reduce signal strength (cable quality and length, connectors, splitters, etc), you can better diagnose what may be going wrong. I brought this amp to a customer's home, along with several different models of antennas to test out and swap parts to see what results I got. [...] gave them no results for stations servicing their area, and they lived in a hole in the middle of the woods. They had a very large, old broken aerial antenna sitting on a wood pile that they had been using, which got in most VHF antennas, and some UHF. For this antenna, the amplifier did absolutely nothing, and actually cut reception in half on the signal meters on 3 different TVs. For a roof mounted DB4, it improved all the UHF stations, but reduced the signal on all VHF stations to the point where none of them came in. With the ClearStream C5 roof mounted, all VHF stations came in above 80% with no amp, and when the amp was added, it brought them up to nearly 95%. The UHF stations were diminished. With the DB4 and C5 both connected using the diplexer included with the C5 and NO AMPLIFIER, all available stations came in clearly and with no pixelization. However, this setup needed to service 3 televisions with a splitter. Once the third run of cable was added to the splitter and total cable length of the entire system exceeded 120 ft., the signal cut enough to cause some stations to break up. Adding the amplifier back in solved this problem, and gave them all available stations at above 80% signal strength. I could not ask for much more at a house out in the sticks in deep woods 30-60 miles from any towers, Another benefit to adding the amp is that the signal is not only higher, but it also stabilized it. Before the amp, the numbers and meters were jumping all over the place, with blowing trees, etc. After the amp, the meters didn't vary more than 3% up or down.

Overall I'm impressed, but it did take some work to get the right combination. I wish there were more noticeable gain. An 18dB gain should be enough to take a 75% signal and turn it into 100% as seen by the TV or tuner, but it didn't. It seems that reception was as good without the amp until the third split was added, and that's the step that made it obvious it was needed. Until then, it was looking as if we could do without the amp. So sure, it does the job and stabilizes reception, but it looks like if you're using no splitters and within 30 miles of all your local stations, you can get the best reception with the right combination of antennas and no amp. 5 stars for the C5. It brought the whole package together, a great antenna with an effective bonus diplexer.

Build quality is average. I'd like to have the ability to remove the AC adapter from the power injecter (to run power through small drilled holes, etc.). Although I'd say it's pretty cheap feeling and looking, it's not overpriced in my opinion. A lot of other more expensive products are less effective.

to sumarize:
Get a more powerful antenna than you think you should, and only plan on using an amp to overcome splits and long runs. Getting a smaller antenna and beefing it up with an amp isn't likely to have the same effect as a larger antenna by itself.

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Product Description:
UHF / VHF Antenna PRE AMP KIT

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Electroline EDA FT08100 8-port TV Signal Booster/Amplifier with Active Return Path Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased this unit because I have two analog feeds and two QAM digital capture feeds (via an HDHR unit) that I use in conjunction with SageTV for recording television.I also have a cable modem so there's a couple splitters involved.I did purchase good passive splitters (Monster 2 and 3 ways), however the QAM signal quality levels and the modem performance were not ideal.

I got this model because of the cable modem support.Imagine my surprise when the first thing to pop out of the box is a note from the manufacturer that it's best to put your cable modem on it's own line off a splitter and not hook it up to this unit because some signal loss may occur.What the..?!?!?After ranting for a while and generally annoying my wife with my whining I hooked it up anyway and took some measurements.Fortunately their warnings are not necessary - they may want to think about rewording that little note a pinch.

Here's the hard numbers:

The QAM capture signal strength using a Monster 3 way split off the single line coming in my house (I have no up stream splitters - it's all centralized in closet) for the HD ABC feed had a strength of 88 and a signal quality of 92.Putting the one line as the feed into the 8 port amplifier and running the QAM ports off of it the strength jumped to 92 and the signal quality hovered around 94.Nice.Doesn't sound like a huge deal but for HD QAM captures it makes a difference.

I didn't notice any different before or after with the analog channels - I wasn't having a problem with those.

The cable modem was the item I worried about.Downstream from the splitters it was pretty bad - anything would be an improvement.With the outside cable plugged into the Motorola modem directly downstream signal to noise ratio was 38.6 dB (higher is better, anything over 30 and you're aces), the down stream power is .2 dBmV (fine) and the upstream power was 42 dB (anything less than 50 and you're fine).After running it through the 8 port amp the downstream noise ratio was 38.3, down stream power 1.7 and the upstream power stayed at 42.All dandy numbers.I checked the speeds at several sites before and after and they all averaged about 10 meg down and 1.5 meg up across the boards - virtually no difference.Just about exactly as good as a direct connection and much better than down stream from a passive splittler, even a good one.

So - short version I'm extremely happy with the purchase but I'd suggest to the fine folks at Electroline that they rethink their warning note in their box so as not to tick folks off too quickly for no reason.

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Product Description:
With the trend of more single family houses being built, Electroline introduces the Flat-Top amplifier to meet the expectation of having cable service in every room in the house. The EDA-FT 08100 Flat-Top is designed for large houses with a cable or off-air drop in every room. The flat top configuration keeps the wiring more compact and neater in both outdoor subscriber box or wall-mounted applications and eliminates the technical problems associated with trying to fit a standard 8 port amplifier into a box that is too small creating crushed and kinked cables that wreak havoc with digital services. Electroline Flat-Top amplifiers are the only amplifiers to offer a configuration with all F-connectors on the bottom edge of the amplifier, facing down. Also, Flat-Top amplifiers come with an active return path which makes managing return signal levels straightforward. With 0 dB of loss in the return path, interactive services can be deployed in any room without rewiring.Features and Specifications: *Number of ports: 8 *Forward gain: 3 dB *Return path insertion loss: 0 dB *Forward passband: 54-1000 MHz *Return passband: 5-42 MHz *Frequency response flatness: ±1 dB *Surge protection (IEEE C62.41-1991, all ports) ring wave: 6 kV, 500 A, loc. B3, combination wave: 6 kV, 3 kA, loc. B3 *Operating temperature: -40°F to 140°F (-40°C to +60°C).

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CE LABS 6001 Prograde 1 GHz Bi-Directional RF Amplifier Review

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(More customer reviews)I am using this for my CATV that has three splitters after it. The incoming signal was not very strong and after the third splitter, the picture was terrible on one tv.After installing the RF amp, it was beautiful. The CE 6001 has 20 db of gain (more than most other RF amps). I ended up turning the gain down a little (a very useful feature although you need a very small screwdriver to do it) to be sure it did not overload the front end of my tv off the first splitter. I had an RS version (15-2505) previously and it did ok but added a little noise on the weakest signals. That was all plastic and certainly not weatherproof. In contrast, the CE 6001 is a nice, sturdy sealed aluminum case and I could not see any evidence of additional noise on even the weakest channels.

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Product Description:
The Smart Disk 6001 allows you to experience distortion-free pictures on every TV in the house. It addition, it offers superior performance to inexpensive, store-bought RF amplifiers.

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Motorola Signal Booster 2-Port BDA-S2 Cable Modem TV HDTV Amplifier Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the 2-port version of the Motorola Signal Booster, combining that product's excellent 15 dB cable/antenna drop amplifier with a 2-port splitter so you can use it with both a digital cable (HDTV) signal and a cable modem without having to buy a separate splitter.

So who needs one of these things?Anyone who is having difficulty receiving a consistent cable TV or cable modem signal is a candidate for this amp, but first check with your cable company to confirm that they have done all they can, in terms of getting high quality cables and splitters into your home. If they've done that, and you still notice frequent outages of your cable internet service, or pixelated (distorted) images on live or recorded TV shows from cable, then you may very well need a drop amp like this one.

The amplifier is particularly helpful if you are splitting a cable signal coming into your house to multiple rooms for multiple TV feeds (and this is perfectly legal to do, per the Cable Act of 1992).Any time you split a cable signal, you lose approximately 3 dB (decibels) of signal strength.Split a signal enough times and it can cause you to lose your cable modem feed or get sporadic distortion on your digital cable channels.Insert a cable amplifier like this into your cable feed right where it enters the home and it will boost the signal enough to survive multiple splits and, in most cases, will allow you to enjoy a glitch free cable TV signal throughout your home.

Why is this amp's "two-way" or "bi-directional" feature important?A two-way feed is necessary in order to support a cable modem (upload/download) and to support interactive cable services such as PPV (pay per view).

This amp won't work miracles.Again, always check your incoming signal, cable and connector quality first.But if you've done all that and are still having trouble, this little cable signal amp can be a real life-saver.It also works fine for OTA (over the air) HDTV signal distribution, but only if you're starting with a decent quality signal to begin with.A full review of the Motorola Signal Booster is available on Big Picture Big Sound's web site.

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Product Description:
There is nothing worse than having a great TV to watch your favorite programs, while having a grainy or pixilated (digital cable) picture. Motorola BDA amplifiers give your TV signal a boost while maintaining full compatibility with all of your cable services. Simply install the BDA-S2 where your cable or antenna comes into your house and begin enjoying a better picture, faster downloads, and a more reliable HD or Digital TV signal. With a name like Motorola, how can you go wrong? The BDA-S2 is fully compatible with all cable TV standards, cable boxes, cable modems, routers, HDTV and more.

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Motorola Signal Booster 484095-001-00 Bi-Directional RF Amplifier Review

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(More customer reviews)Ever since my cable company installed digital cable in my house I have had picture problems.The analog pictures were grainy and half of the digital pictures didn't come in.They just said they would arrive shortly but never did.Numerous calls to the cable company failed to come up with a permanent fix.So I decided to take matters in my own hands.Other boosters made things worse.When I saw that this one worked with digital as well as analog I decided to give it a try.I first hooked it up from the cable box to the vcr and got no improvement.So I tried hooking it up where the signal first came in before the cable reciever and it worked beautifully.Analog pictures are clearer than ever and all the digital pictures come in.No more "Please Wait" screens.I am mad that my stupid cable company refused to do this but I am thrilled to finally have what I pay for!Great product!

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Product Description:
Signal Booster

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