Use an Antenna Amplifier? This Mistake Causes it to Fail

In this video I talk about a common mistake cord cutters make that can result in an antenna amplifier failing. When an amplifier fails most people will get very bad reception.

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[christophermorin]

We got our 100ft Coax cable from Radio shack shortly before they closed for good. 100ft for 19.99 was pretty good and we know it's solid core because we unfortunately had Tree pruner's that had been hired by our landlord chainsaw through our antenna cable. Thankfully the lost 18 ft didn't matter much, we just recrimped on the connector and screwed it back into the antenna and kept going.

[jrs]

The quad shielded cable not only makes a difference with the amp, but also cuts nearby interference as well.

[theduckthatquacks]

I'm using a winegard booster w/my Winegard ya7000c attic mount..On the 19th, we watched Charlie Brown Christmas OTA on Philly PBS12 .. & my eyes nearly popped out of my head w/ the crisp, clear, intense, vivid, bursting colors my Samsung gets OTA. Since 1965 & the 56th year I saw it was like I had never seen it b4!! Unreal!! Commercial free & I didn't move an inch struck w/visual awe for 24 minutes straight . Cable never delivered like this.

[chodkowski]

Antenna man saved me thousands of dollars on cable bills. I didn’t cheap out because I looked at it as and investment. I have 118 channels to choose from thanks to antenna man.

[kylemacarthur]

I have found the Walmart Onn amplifier to be quite reliable. However, the ac adapter that powers the amplifier is NOT.

[seanmichael]

I use an old radio shack amp I found at Goodwill over 10 years ago, and it still works with an indoor flat antenna 40 miles from the signal.

[koolaidman]

I use the Channel Master 7777HD on High Boost with the Channel Master Deluxe Outdoor Balun and 100 ft of RG6 Triple Shielded Coaxial on a Medium size Yagi antenna 20 feet in the air. I now have great reception with a drop out or interference once in a while. I do unplug my Amp if I leave home for an extended period of time. Hopefully it will last a while, time will tell....

[Shootingstarcomics]

Thanks man! I’ll have too check my cables, I’ve had to replace my pre-amp twice in the last decade. It’ll be a pain to replace them but if it ever goes out again I’ll replace the cables.

[andyvillarreal]

Can't thank you enough for helping me cut the cord! I'm saving $140.00 a month. Your tip's are absolutely essential for cord cutting.

[davidanderson]

As an installer, I always use dielectric grease and weatherproof fittings on all outdoor connections. Also, I leave a drip loop where the drop cable connects to the ground block upon entry into the home. Then, I put a small cut in the outer jacket at the bottom of the loop to allow any water that gets in the cable to drain, and keep the connection from corroding. I've replaced water damaged corroded fittings many times over the last 30 years...

[bjs]

Solid copper may be better for the DC to preamps but not necessarily for the antenna signal. I suspect more preamp failures are because of quality and not low voltage.

[thefirstmissinglink]

Am using the cable that was installed with a dish. Presumably good stuff as they would not want to suffer callbacks.

[MrMikey]

I used the solid copper RG6 quad shield you recommended from Amazon. Works well for me but took a little practice to put my own F connectors on it. Ideal linearX tool kit from Lowes got the job done.

[kbkos]

I'm so happy that I live in CT, where a good antenna is all I need, and no preamp.

[themoviemaniac]

Very good advice about the copper cable! Alternately to a pre-amp antenna, one can buy a very good quality antenna without some sort of built in amp, and then add a separate amp in the cable run elsewhere. That's what we do. Running 3 TVs off one excellent antenna with a high quality amp/splitter.

[edjy]

I can confirm that this is true. A few years ago to catch long-range signals I set up two separate long range antennas one for UHF and one for VHF.

The key decision I made was investing in a solid copper wire along with two long-range antennas.

At the time, I was worried about two issues. One, the run of the wire was going to be quite long and two, how I was going to mix the two antennas into one line.

So I decided to go with a pre-amplifier that had an option to input both a VHF and VHF signal into one line.

So after I set it up, it worked fine for a while but after a year or so, the signal started to weaken. I would have dropouts of signals that didn't make sense.

Sew-in watching this channel, I wondered if maybe I was over amplifying the signal which was causing issues.

So as an experiment, I removed the preamplifier and attached each antenna to their own line and basically just connected them with a basic splitter at the end of each run to see what kind of signal I would get.

I was amazed to see that even with the long distance of the stations and long-run of the cables, I actually got better signals without the preamplifier.

I think the key ingredient is putting your money into good antennas and good cable just like the video points out.

So count me as a testimonial that what he is saying in this video is true.

Make sure you buy the solid copper wire and not the copper clad wire.

[Jascat]

As a Broadband cable technician that has been working for 5 years now, it is false that copper clad steel cabling will burn out an amplifier quicker. The CATV mainline thick cabling is copper clad steel, including the house and drop cabling. Regardless, The Antenna Man does have great reliable content.

[lornawilliams]

Thanks. I just ordered a new R6 cable on Amazon. I had to read very carefully because several descriptions mention copper but where not solid copper centre conducter. Your Amazon links are ok. But shopping on Amazon in Canada we don't have the same products. Or we have to order from the U.S and pay the exchange rate and extra shipping costs.

[ohger]

The quality of coax will effect signal loss, but won't damage a preamp. The amount of current the preamp uses is insignificant.

[mikekrymner]

Thanks for the tip, Tyler! I just bought a Channelmaster amplifier last week for my grandmother and was going to install it very soon, so I'll be sure to do it right! Merry Christmas to you and everyone!