Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions HDTV antenna and distance with RG6?

Hey folks,

I currently have a Terk TV55 antenna mounted on the outside of my house which picks up both OTA HD signals as well as standard broadcasts. My entire house is wired with RG6 and this antenna is currently hooked to my upstairs HD toshiba. I would estimate the length is about 50-60ft currently.

My new AV closet down in the basement, at the other end of the house is also wired. Is it possible to get a spliter like some people use to split a cable signal, to send the signal to both locations?

For starters, I plan to replace the Terk when I get a chance, as I'm unhappy with its performance. It is rated fine for my distance to the local towers, however, the picture color goes in and out, and the signal is week, even on closer towers. My dad has better results with a cheap Philips antenna he bought at Walmart.

Also, the run to my AV room in the basement will probably be another 40ft farther from the splitter location.

Any input would be helpful.

thanks, Randy

Splitter should be OK for just OTA signal. My single run for my antenna is probably about 150' and it's fine. I do us a pretty decent outdoor antenna though. The Channel Master 4228 works great on the chimney.

Randy, as Cesar indicated, the extra length with OTA signals using RG-6(or even RG-59 for that matter) should be no problem. If at times your signal is already a bit weak, the loss in the splitter would aggravate it.

Randy: before I went much further I would check your RG6 cable to see what your line loss is. There is a possibility of a bad connection, pinched cabel etc. Maybe you have a friend, like a ham buddy, that has a MFJ 259B signal analyzer. It will tell you what the line loss is.

If the RG6 proves OK, you might want to put a small signal amplifier right at the antenna.

Just a couple of thoughts.

Does anyone else have any recommendations for good HDTV exterior antennas, the terk TV 55 sucks, do not recommend. I've found other boards with similar complaints on the TV55.

Thanks, Randy

And remember, not all RG6/RG59 is created equal. Both are available with different shielding, which is a bigger issue than anything.

ie: RG6 with a straight bonded foil shield and 50% braid coverage will be more susceptible to interference than quad-shield RG59. But even the magic words "quad shield" aren't exactly an indicator, either. Some use aluminum braid with low braid coverage.

Back to the question... you may want to try an RF amplifier before (read that again, BEFORE) the splitter as well.

Bren R.