I bought a Channel Master 3020 ($100) antenna from Lowes. It's rated at 100 miles VHF and 60 UHF. Once I put it together, I got on the roof and held it up while someone looked at the channels (Analog mostly). CBS is the furthest signal away, Per Antennaweb.org, it's in the purple range. Now, the analog signal came in, but was a little fuzzy. However, the digital didn't come in at all. Plus, I had 100 feet of coax cable running through the window for a test. Also, the grounding braid wire on the Phillips coax was horrible....very little.

Antennaweb.org recommends an amplifer for purple locations. What type of amplifer? Lowes has one for like $60 and one for like $20. What should I look for?

Thanks,

Tony

I would recommend a Channel Master 7777 Pre-Amp. It is one of the best.

Antenna amplifiers are discussed and rated at http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/basics.html .

i second bobby c's suggestion. the channel master (which i just put up) works very well. also, i would only use rg-6 quad shield coax.

I was on Lowes Website and saw an outdoor amplifier for $59.94 and an INdoor Distribution Amplifier for $22.48. What's the difference between the two? Unfortunatley, there are no model numbers that match those of Channel Master's website.

So, does anyone think my picture may have been a little grainy due to the Antenna only being 15 feet off the ground and the fact that I had coax cable that had very poor braiding for the ground? I'm thinking before investing in the amp, I can try better cable and the 30' mast from Lowes. That's another question. Lowes has a Channel Master Mast that telescopes to 30'. It's circumfrence is very large. My Channel Master Antenna is made to attach a relatively small mast to it with a U-Bold and bracket. How does this 30' telescope mast work...anyone know?

The distribution amp is for when you have more than one TV. It will not help your signal. Better to go with the Channel Master 7777 as it's a very good amp for the money.

As for the tele. mast I used an RS many, many years ago and the antenna mounts to the top section with "U" bolts just like you probably have it now.

I'd definitely replace the cable before doing anything else.....it's the most important piece of the "chain". After doing that you can see if you need something more.

Hugh

The most important spec for a first amplifier is its noise figure. Since a distribution amp is not a first amp, it has no need for a good noise figure. Thus a distribution amp likely is a poor first amp since it likely has a poor noise figure.

Improving your antenna system will reduce the noise (light snow or graininess) that you see on analog channels, but will have no effect on the image for digital channels.

Winegard also has a line of mast preamps that are low noise and high gain. I believe it is their AP series. However, don't be surprized if you still can't get the DTV signals or they are intermittent. I started with the CM 3671 which is the biggest VHF/UHF combo they make and the UHF YAGI tail section was not good enough. I went with a UHF-only PR-9032 YAGI from Winegard and I was in business.

Thanks for the help everyone. I'm going to buy the telescope mast this weekend. I'm definitely replacing the cable as it's grounding is very poorly constructed. Once I have the mast and the cable to the correct length and grounded properly, and the signal is still poor, I'll look at getting an amplifier. It sounds as if the UFH sections of the antennas don't work as well as the VHF (different frequency ranges). I was hoping if I could pick up the analog equivalent well, I would receive the digital since they are located in the same location.

I just bought the channel master amp from Lowes (it says Spartan but it's a channel master) and the gain matches the specs for the one recommended above so I think it's the same one. I've got 100' of RG6. I needed the amp to get CBS - the other stations were ok without it. I still get pixelations a lot on CBS - even though the signal strength stays at 69%. But without the amp I get nothing. I have the 3018 channel master antenna.

I put up my Channel Master Antenna today. I get all the analog channels plus 2 Digital ones. I get NBC and PAX. The NBC Digital Channel is one of the furthest broadcasts and I pick it up. With CBS, I get the Analog station OK, but nothing for the Digital. On my DirecTV HD receiver, it says channel 47 is unavailable. The tower is roughly 20 miles away. Why can I get the Digital NBC and the Analog CBS, but not the Digital CBS? Could it be they aren't broadcasting at full power? Would raising my antenna another 5 feet or so help, or will an amp help?

If you are going to amplify HD signals make sure the Amp, is for Cable/Digital, or is for Broadband, extra bandwidth is essential for HDTV. Look for up to 1000 mhz. Also use "best" RG 6 coax and quality splitters of up to 2000 MHz bandwidth.

Channel 69 stop at 806 MHz. The performance of OTA antenna products above that frequency is of no relevance whatsoever. If a good antenna and amplifier are selected, the performance of the components that follow have no effect on reception unless those components have an obvious inadequacy. Those who are contemplating an antenna project are urged to read http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/basics.html .