Quote:
Originally Posted by hddave2
well just let you know..when i 1st hooked my tv to the converter box and hooked it to my very old and broken antenna i just picked up fox 56.1 now after posting my 1st thread here on the forum i went out and turned the antenna just a little. now i get fox, abc, nbc,cbs and some kind of channel cw 34.1 and to boot it is raining hard here this morning and im still getting the channels..now this is happening with 12yr old antenna and old cable thats about 50ft long..when i check my signal strength im at about 14 to 16 on all channels i get..now that we know this would a brand new long range antenna with a amp and 50ft of the best cable help with a better signal and maybe even more channels?ok i have to ask after looking at my situation why do you think the lava antenna wont work..im just trying to understand and to make sure i don't buy something that is junk..thanks
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That is a good sign and exactly what TVFool predicts is possible.
If I were you I would buy a Channel Master CM7777 Titan Pre-Amp.
Channel Master CM 7777 Titan2 VHF/UHF Antenna Preamplifier with Power Supply (CM7777) | CM7777 [Channel Master] and new coax. Then see if you have enough signal.
Most likely the elements broken on the antenna are the big long ones toward the end, that are for channels not used in your area. So if those are the broken parts it makes little difference.
Plus you can then see how well that does. And if you want to replace the antenna. They do age over time, and 15 years is about the end of life of most antennas exposed to sunlight and the elements.
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Why I don't think the Lava is your choice. The antenna probably works fine for suburban use where one doesn't need much of an antenna.
I would take a small book to go over how antennas work and the background to understand all of it.
Ken Nist wrote a nice site, and this is a good page to start
Erecting an Antenna , but maybe more specific is this article
Antenna Basics
But to keep a short list here is why it's an over rated antenna (Lava)
1) not enough aluminum in the air. too small. You can't adjust the laws of physics and find something smaller in antennas that do the same job. Advances are made in antennas, but it seldom changes the overall size of the antenna by much.
Maybe some analogies are trying to get good bass sounds in a stereo out of a 2 inch tweeter. Or trying to make a sail boat go as fast with sails that are a 1/4 of the size of fast boat. Or small windmills 10 ft across that put out several kilowatts in a light wind.
2) You can not make up for lack of antenna with an amp. A lot of people have been lead to believe by antenna companies that say you have a 10
db gain antenna, and a 29
db amp, one DOESN'T have 39db antenna system, you still have only a 10
db, because all reception gain is in the antenna, not the amp.
2a) An amp doesn't "boost" the signal. What the antenna picks up is it. An amp insures that what the antenna picks up is not lost in the feedline to your TV. Plus another factor a little harder to grasp. Noise factor or figure. Good amps like the CM7777 have very low noise figures, under 3
db. Most TVs and CECBs have a noise figure slightly higher. Now this is the weird part without understanding details of TV reception so just follow it. If the amp is at the antenna, it sets the noise figure for the entire system, meaning the coax going in and the TV. Even though the TV alone has a higher noise figure, the amp overrides it.
So now with a really good amp you have a system that looses nothing from the antenna because it grabs all the signal the antenna give it and also if good lowers the amount of noise in the system. For example if the noise figure of the TV is 6db, and amp is 3db, it lowers the system to 3db of noise. Now in common terms that means you just doubled the signal getting to the TV without a bigger antenna, and why amps tend to make people think its the gain that does it.
All the gain does in an amp is over come the loss in the cable and splitters going to the TV or TVs in a house, nothing else. It doesn't help in the actual reception.
So when they say
LAVA 2605 UHF/VHF/FM HDTV Terrestrial Antenna with Built-In Rotor IR Remote Control HD Antenna UHF VHF FM with Low Noise High-Gain Amplifier Digital Local TV High Definition Reception, Outdoor Aerial System, LIGHT GREEN ZONE, Part # A-2605, A2605: Oa
The antenna has 30 some
db gain at VHF an UHF, they are adding the amplifier gain.
That guy on ebay saying it has more gain than a typical "tower antenna" is flat out false advertising.
3) Brings me to three, they have a reason to exagerate advertising to the point of lying and I have no financial gain. I could be sitting watching TV instead of typing to you from my 30 plus years of experience in the field.
That pretty much sums it up.
This amp would also be a good one.
Winegard AP8700 Chromstar 2000 Series VHF/UHF Pre Amplifier (AP-8700) | AP-8700 [Winegard]
The one disadvantage to it is if you decide to put up separate VHF and UHF antennas it's not the right amp, where as the CM7777 will work with one antenna or two. So it's not as flexible in installation.
But a good amp and new coax will not only tell you a lot more about your reception but might preclude buying a new antenna.
Recently a Suzzie near me added a CM7777 and increased her channels a lot.
Don't even bother buying on you put in the house, those amps can actually make things worse as they have high noise figures and add more noise to the system.
Linear Mode
