How Good Are In Line Pre-Amps?

[wxman1]

I am monitoring newsfeeds on IA6 and am getting lots of signal "break-up" in heavy cloud conditions and rain. I realize the solution to stronger signal reception is to go to a bigger dish (currently using a 30") but was wondering if anyone had any experience with inline pre-amps. Will they bring the signal quality up to "lock on' or will they simply increase the ambient noise and be of little value?
Thanks to all in advance for any and all comments.

 

[PSB]

I do not recommend an in line amp for this application, over the years I have removed more than I have installed, they are ONLY any good over VERY long distances of coax cable. You are right only a BIGGER dish or a lower noise LNB will help. IMO

 

[Mr Tony]

I tried one once and it actually hurt performance...not worth it IMO

 

[wxman1]

The Fortec LNB I have installed, on the box shows a noise figure of 0.5 dB. To get better reception should I be looking for something around 0.3 dB or better? Would "upgrading" the LNB to that spec make much of a change in the received signal?

 

[ken2400]

There is an old saying. You should start with something good to end up with something good. This applies to signal to. A bigger dish, a better LNBF, or relocate your dish. Amps help with long cable runs. I have had the same problem with amps to.

Good luck!

 

[TuxCoder]

Or to 'recycle' an old computer cliché, applied toward line amps, "Garbage In, Garbage Out". If you have noise introduced on your line from a weak signal or interference (garbage), the line amp will just magnify that. You really need a very clean signal to start with, and as mentioned here already the amp will just take that clean signal and push it further for longer cable runs.

 

[wxman1]

Tuxcoder...thanks for the feedback. I'm a bit confused...what is more sensitive (a) .3 Db LNB or (b) .6 dB LNB. If I am looking at a more sensitive and better LNB what should I be looking for in regards to the number on the box? Thanks.

 

[TuxCoder]

Those values are related to sensitivity (I believe) but aren't directly quantifying the sensitivity of the LNB. Rather, those are measurements of how much noise is either "introduced" or "not reduced" by the LNB. So, you definitely want to find the LNB with the lowest noise rating. But again, I'm not sure how this rating is related to sensitivity.