TClark

CptlA

Have you purchased a converter box yet for the 13 inch? I'm guessing it's not a hdtv or does not contain a digital tuner? Does it have an rf input on the back of it?

Don_M

False. Built-in amplifiers may have helped analog TV at least a little bit. All too often, they're a prescription for making DTV reception worse, not better. A basic, inexpensive pair of rabbit ears with a UHF loop is the best place to start.

And before we neglect the formalities any longer: to the forums here!

O-O

That's because amplified antennas amplify noise too, right Don?

Don_M

Well... sort of. It's really a function of two factors:

* Most built-in amplifiers are cheap. Cheap amps add plenty of noise by themselves.

* Antennas attached to said built-in boosters tend to be bi-directional. This increases the chance that the antenna will capture reflected signals, which is the cause of multipath interference, which gets amplified... and which makes it that much tougher for the tuner to sort out the real signal from the reflections.

And that's why plain-vanilla, passive rabbit ears are better (short version).

Piggie

One of us needs to do a preamp sticky for this site. I keep meaning to do it. Amps are not my forte' but not that far removed from it either. Most of what I know about them I have learned from reading and advising people to ditch old ones, buy a smaller new one and watched their reception improve.

I believe at one point I volutered to write it. The hard part would be not to plagerize the use of holl_ands chart. The xls is a little complex, but the one that is a word doc where he converted uV into dbm so you could pretty much go to TVFool, then add the gain of our antenna to see if you over load.

At least referencing that chart would be critical to explain which amp to buy. If it kept it simple I could get away without using it. A lot of it boils down to just a couple of amps really. To me there are only about 3 amps worth considering, maybe 5 on the outside if you have special needs like VHF or UHF bypass.

What you think Mr Don? Should I do a quick less complex blurb so it could be reference and you would not have to type out the same thing over and over about amps (and everyone else also).

Piggie

__________________
The more I understand, the less I know.

Don_M

Take a stab at it if you like, Piggie, but I can easily imagine how writing something up that covers all bases would be much easier said than done. A lot of times, these questions are specific to a certain type of amp. This thread, for example, became one about amped indoor antennas. Amplified outdoor antennas are a little bit different, while outboard pre-amps are another category entirely. IOW, you've got your work cut out for you!