How to improve coax signal? Will booster work?

[dertef]

Hello,

I'm looking to boost the signal from my Direct TV multiswitch to one of the receivers. If have two other coax lines from the multiswitch to two receivers that work perfectly. I'm just having issues with a third coax line that doesn't carry a good enough signal (I get sound but the image is stuck). I tried an inline amplifier and it didn't work. Will a powered amplifier work better? I saw this thing on Amazon but does it only work for cable TV and not Direct TV / Satellite TV? http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Booster-484095-001-00-Bi-Directional-Amplifier/dp/B000066E6Y

Any other suggestion?

Thanks,
Dertef

 

[david_gilbert]

how long is the run and what type of coax is it? a long run of RG-59 will have crappy signal. also try moving it to another port, the multiswitch could be bad. if that does nto work take the RX to another room and try it on that run, could be the RX is the problem and not the line.

 

[dertef]

Thanks for the reply.

It's an RG-6 run and not significcantly longer than runs to other outlets.

Moved it to another multiswitch port that's working with another line and RX and it worked. Also hooked up the RX to a different outlet and the Rx is fine (I'm currently watching Direct TV on that television by running a coax cable accross the house from an outlet in the kitchen).

The weird thing is that the outlet/line in question used to work during the summer. Not sure why it would just stop working. Also, I realized there must be a splitter somewhere in the wall because there are two outlets connected to the same line downstairs. Again, it worked before so initially the setup was ok.

 

[donbrew]

The splitter is a problem, you CANNOT split the signal from the dish to the receiver. I suspect you changed something since the summer, like putting something on the "branch", possibly the house was wired for cable (only) before?
What sort of multiswitch? The old type 3Xx only work for SD, the newer 6Xx are for HD, the SWM need special handling for some receivers. Also, how about B-Band Converters, if you have HD?
Those Amplifiers only work for the RF signal after the the receiver, or from OTA antenna to TV tuner.

Thanks for the reply.

It's an RG-6 run and not significcantly longer than runs to other outlets.

Moved it to another multiswitch port that's working with another line and RX and it worked. Also hooked up the RX to a different outlet and the Rx is fine (I'm currently watching Direct TV on that television by running a coax cable accross the house from an outlet in the kitchen).

The weird thing is that the outlet/line in question used to work during the summer. Not sure why it would just stop working. Also, I realized there must be a splitter somewhere in the wall because there are two outlets connected to the same line downstairs. Again, it worked before so initially the setup was ok.

 

[jdspencer]

Also, check the connections from switch to receiver. Corrosion inside a connector can cause problems.

 

[dertef]

I fixed the issue

I'm not kidding you. I fixed the issue last night by doing something I thought would never work. Instead of connecting the receiver directly to the plug in the wall, which caused the image to be stuck (sound was fine), I put an old splitter I had from when we had cable TV (Comcast) between the plug and the receiver using a second short coax cable. This magically fixed the issue. There's nothing going out of the second splitter OUT outlet and I'm totally confused how this could have fixed the issue

So, I assume a low signal going through the one coax line in the wall wasn't really the issue. Maybe it was an interference or something?

But it's fixed so why should I care about this very strange situation. Though understanding what happened might be helpful in the future...

Thanks,
Dertef