No Static At All

NeedfreeTV

I wasn't looking forward to taking the tower back down to flip the switch!! LOL. I know I don't have the guts to climb that baby.

Are you saying the local FM station 5 miles away (107.1) will be able to come through? There are about three FM stations about 47 miles away that I want to pick up. Would those still come through the trap also?

EscapeVelocity

NeedFreeTV,

Did you pick up a Winegard CA-8800 FM Band Seperator for the 8200p?

If it turns out you need an FM antenna, you know where to look!

Id probably recommend the Channel Master 3026 or the AntennaCraft FMSS.

Im going out of town and wont be back for a couple of days.

Till then...

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No Static At All

It's hard to say how the 47 mile stations will come through. They will be attenuated quite a bit with the trap engaged, so it depends on how strong they are.

NeedfreeTV

Does that install right behind the TV? That would be pretty darn slick.

I guess I'm wondering about the problem with FM interference. Is it:

1. Caused at the antenna/pre-amp, in which case can only be fixed by either turning the pre-amp's FM trap on and use an additional FM antenna.

or

2. OK at the antenna/pre-amp, but hard to handle at the TV's tuner, in which case its fine to leave the FM trap off and install a signal splitter behind the TV.

Just trying to figure out "what" causes the viewable/non-viewable issues.

No Static At All

The trap needs to be turned on to determine if FM is the cause. Attenuating the FM after the pre-amp won't really help. The damage is already done if the pre-amp is in fact over-loaded.

NeedfreeTV

If I turn the FM trap on and it helps with channel 7 (2.1), could I put in an FM separator after the antenna and before the pre-amp instead of buying an additional antenna? I'm not sure if those separators are meant to be outside.

Don_M

The CA-8800 is little larger than a splitter, so it can go behind the TV if that's also a convenient location for running the second coax to the FM receiver. I'll second No Static, though: Throw the switch for the FM trap first. If you see any improvement at all, go ahead and buy a CA-8800, but if not, it won't make much of a difference.

I'm not sure they are, either. I have one -- it's an aluminum box with seams at the edges that would need sealing with silicone. This would be to use the CA-8800 as an FM trap at the antenna. Not very practical on two counts: 1) the pre-amp already has a trap, of course, and 2) you'd need to run a second coax cable all the way to the FM receiver.

NeedfreeTV

I was under the impression from No Static that the CA-8800 wouldn't help if the FM was already overloaded from the 8700. If it actually will help, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. I kinda figured (and I'm NO expert) that it would help because it's getting the FM out of my TV's tuner, thereby eliminating the overload at the tuner. I'm just trying to learn as I go.....


At any rate, I guess I'll have to get brave and climb that thing tonight to flip the switch. I guess it won't be too bad. LOL

By the way, here's my FM Fool:

NeedfreeTV

Are there any pre-amps that boost VHF/UHF only, and let FM pass through without being amplified? Looking at that FM Fool, my uneducated mind tells me I'm suffering from FM overload with those 10 stations that are less than 20 miles away (6 of which are less than 10 miles away)