OTA to multiple receivers?

[cyberl1]

I have installed the new 5 LNB going to a 6/16 switch. I am currently feeding 7 receivers. 3 are DVR with 2 feeds each. How do I feed an OTA to each of the receivers. I do not mind running all new cables but I am concerned that 1 antenna cannot feed that many receivers without serious signal loss. And I am definitely not going to plant 7 antennas on the roof. Is there a simple solution to this?

Thanks in advance

Mark

[HDTVFreak]

I'm running 6 off one antenna in this house. Of course, I use pre-amp on the antenna, then the amplifier and then out goes 6 connections. Splitter after splitter after splitter and no problems here.

[cyberl1]

Thanks.

This area is still so new to me. Let me understand.

I go from the Antenna to a preamp to an amplifier then from there I can go to several splitters? Does the amp have more than one output available? Meaning I could go 4 out to 4 splitters and then have 8 feeds? Everything I keep reading says that when the splitter gets put into the mix the signal is split in half?

Thanks again

Mark

[HDTVFreak]

Originally Posted by cyberl1

Thanks.

This area is still so new to me. Let me understand.

I go from the Antenna to a preamp to an amplifier then from there I can go to several splitters? Does the amp have more than one output available? Meaning I could go 4 out to 4 splitters and then have 8 feeds? Everything I keep reading says that when the splitter gets put into the mix the signal is split in half?

Thanks again

Mark

I don't know where you got that info but no, I have not experienced any signal loss. On my amplifier, I've only got one output but there are some with 4 output (I've seen one at a local Radio Shack store). On mine, I've got output to the first splitter, then from one is hooked up to a device and the other to another splitter, then next one is hooked so another device and the other to another splitter, and so on. In all, I've got 4 splitters. None of my devices suffer any signal loss.

[cyberl1]

Thanks

[texasbrit]

Originally Posted by HDTVFreak

I don't know where you got that info but no, I have not experienced any signal loss. On my amplifier, I've only got one output but there are some with 4 output (I've seen one at a local Radio Shack store). On mine, I've got output to the first splitter, then from one is hooked up to a device and the other to another splitter, then next one is hooked so another device and the other to another splitter, and so on. In all, I've got 4 splitters. None of my devices suffer any signal loss.

There's always signal loss in splitters but this is compensated for by the amplifier. Every 2-way splitter loses at least 3.5db (just more than half the signal) on each output. Every 4-way splitter at least 7db,.....and so on. You can't build a splitter that does not have that signal loss. So an 8-way splitter loses at least 10.5db on each output and you have to compensate for that by amplifying at least 10.5db.

If you have a preamp at your antenna you may not need any additional amplification - in fact it is best avoided, because you can get overload at the receiver and it can make your signal worse rather than better. Start by just trying a simple 8-way splitter. If the signal is too weak, look at buying a decent distribution amplifier.
Here's a very basic article about OTA signal amplification and splitting. http://www.tvantenna.com/support/tut...mplifiers.html

here's a typical 8-way distribution amp http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=CM3045

[texasbrit]

Originally Posted by HDTVFreak

I don't know where you got that info but no, I have not experienced any signal loss. On my amplifier, I've only got one output but there are some with 4 output (I've seen one at a local Radio Shack store). On mine, I've got output to the first splitter, then from one is hooked up to a device and the other to another splitter, then next one is hooked so another device and the other to another splitter, and so on. In all, I've got 4 splitters. None of my devices suffer any signal loss.

That's a strange configuration. Let's say your amplifier has 20db gain and all the splitters are two-way. When it goes through the first splitter, each output will have around 16.5db gain (20db minus the 3.5db of the first splitter) so your first device is seeing a gain of 16.5db. The same signal level also goes into the second splitter and the outputs of the second splitter are both at 13db (16.5 minus the 3.5db loss) so your second device gets a signal that is 13db up on the original signal. Similarly the third device will see 9.5db gain, and a device on the output from the fourth splitter will see 6db gain, so your devices are not seeing equal gain. This gives you a max of five devices, so if you have six one of the splitters must be more than 2-way; that will reduce the signal strength even further to 2.5 db gain on some devices.
If you have four devices, you are better off using one two way splitter, each output going to another two way splitter giving you four outputs total. Each output will have the same gain - 20db minus 7db or 13db total. If you split a couple of the outputs to give you six in total, two will be at 13db and four at 9.5db. This is a much better-balanced solution.
An eight-way splitter would give you 9.5db gain at every output (based on the 20db number for the amp - this is only a typical number, yours might be more or less. Using an eight-way rather than all these two-way splitters is a better solution because there are less connectors - that means slightly lower losses, but also less to go wrong.

[cyberl1]

Thanks

I'm going to try setting up a couple of rooms this weekend