Cable TV amp/booster?

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Quattro Pete

Quattro Pete

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Oct 30, 2002
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I've got an 8-way splitter in the basement. Comcast tech says this weakens the signal to the point where I am not receiving some of the channels in outlets furthest away from the splitter. So he says he will have to schedule another technician to come out and install an amp for $25.

Not a lot of money I guess, but I was wondering if I could pick up an amp like that on my own for less at a local hardware store, without having to wait for Comcast to come out again?

Any suggestions? Would places like Ace Hardware or Home Depot carry these things?
 
Dont buy a cheap one....look for the lowest Db of noise available. Without getting into professional Blonder-Tongue quality stuff, the best I found was this one.....24Db gain with 4.5 Db added noise.....


http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=HDA-200&d=Winegard-HDA200-24dB-Distribution-Amplifier-(HDA200)&c=Amplifiers&sku=


edit....sorry for the bad link....it's the Winegard HDA200. If you install it yourself, put it in line in front of the splitter and all should be good.
 
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OK thanks. Looking at the price of this one (and some others I found at RadioShack), I think I'll just wait for Comcast to do their thing. If it doesn't fix the problem, at least I'll have them to blame...
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
OK thanks. Looking at the price of this one (and some others I found at RadioShack), I think I'll just wait for Comcast to do their thing. If it doesn't fix the problem, at least I'll have them to blame...


I think that's your best plan.
 
You can NOT find a better amp cheaper than $25. Motorola makes them and Amazon sells them but it is more than $25.

- Vikas
 
The cable company has top shelf RF stuff, and it's not worth $25 when inevitably they'll argue it your stuff's fault. If I were you I'd whine until you get it for free though. Say you want a tv in every room and that's why you don't have directv but you were thinking of switching blah blah blah.

It's like a car dealer instantly blaming your aftermarket alarm for all the car's ills... unless they install it.
wink.gif
 
$25 for a distribution amp from Comcast is pretty good. They probably will use a decent one to avoid a callback. I suspect it will have to be a strong one--that 8-way splitter causes at least 10 dB signal loss at each leg.

After they come, would you be willing to post the model number of the amp they bring? I'm just curious--13 years ago, I used to install that sort of stuff "professionally." Now it's just an occasional hobby.
 
This is what got installed:

P1050496.jpg


I'm glad I didn't attempt to do it myself because even after he installed it, some of the channels were still not coming on. He had to send some reset signals to the HD box before it started working properly, which now makes me wonder if that booster was even needed in the first place.
 
There should be a way to call up signal/noise ratio on the high def box. (and cable modem too!)
 
Pete, that amp looks good. I see it passes reverse-stream T band signals for a cable modem. It would have been hard to find locally a consumer grade amp with that feature.

I am sure the amp is necessary. With an 8-way splitter, each leg had a 10-13 dB signal loss. That's 90%-95% loss.
 
The amp I linked to above, the HDA 200, as well as the cheaper HDA 100 both have a 5-42 Mhz two way by pass. The HDA 100 is a passive return path like the SV unit above, HDA 200 includes 12 Db of gain on the return path.

The technical specs for the Signal Vision that Comcast installed can be found here on page 16.....


http://www.commscope.com/broadband/eng/s...logNAR_0310.pdf


Looks to be a pretty good unit. 15 Db gain with only 3.5 Db added noise. You couldn't have bought an amp that good for $25....good call on letting them install it.
 
Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
You couldn't have bought an amp that good for $25....good call on letting them install it.

Well, it looks like these particular amps are available new on ebay with free shipping for $16, alas, I didn't know what amp they were going to install until they showed up here.

One thing I don't fully understand is that it says "6KV SURGE PROTECTED". But I asked the tech that installed it, and he said that this isn't a surge protector, only amp. So, what's this all about?
 
Originally Posted By: PeteTheFarmer
Is it yours now, or does Comcast get it back if you switch providers?

Hmm... good question. I'd presume it's mine. If it wasn't, I'm sure they'd be charging me a monthly rental fee for it like they do with all the HD boxes.

By the way, Comcast in my area has recently revised their pricing on HD boxes... they only charge you one HD box rental fee now, even if you are renting multiple boxes from them.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
You couldn't have bought an amp that good for $25....good call on letting them install it.

Well, it looks like these particular amps are available new on ebay with free shipping for $16, alas, I didn't know what amp they were going to install until they showed up here.

One thing I don't fully understand is that it says "6KV SURGE PROTECTED". But I asked the tech that installed it, and he said that this isn't a surge protector, only amp. So, what's this all about?



LOL.....That is a very good price for that Amp. I wonder if they fell off the back of some Comcast truck somewhere. What was the sellers name, "delinquentsunlimited". I did find it for under $20 at a couple of other places as well, but I cant seem to locate the retail price. Nice amp for that money, better than can be had at RS for similar cash.

I think the amp is internally protected from surges that come in along the line up to the specified value.
 
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Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
What was the sellers name, "delinquentsunlimited".

Haha... yeah, that too, but the one I was looking at was from "us_auctions4u".
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
There should be a way to call up signal/noise ratio on the high def box.

It must be in some secret admin/service menu as I cannot find it in the user menu.

Quote:

(and cable modem too!)

Yeah, this I can monitor by bringing up the modem GUI, but the amp is installed after the TV/internet splitter, so it does not affect the modem signal.

By the way, isn't it strange that my Downstream Power is at 0?

 
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Not really. In the cable TV industry, 0dB is equivalent to 1000uV, the minimum signal level required to produce a noise-free picture on a 1970s-era TV set. Modern TV sets are capable of producing a noise-free picture with lower signal levels, but they aim for 0dB as a minimum in system design (for analog signals anyhow).

A cable modem will operate correctly with signal levels down to -15dB. Presumably digital cable boxes will as well. The digital signal levels are, from what I've heard, often set at levels below that of the analog signals.
 
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