In-Line Cable amplifier

[O'Doyle]

Hey all! I was reading some older threads here on the forum and ran across one about longer cable runs and the use of in-line cable amplifiers to help with the voltage and signal strength, has anyone used one of these and are they reliable?? any help is always appreciated, my cable run is going to be between 400-450 ft. using RG-11 coax.

 

[KE4EST]

Those in-line amps do not amplify or boost voltage. Most are not very good.
What I would do is use a powered multi-Switch and send another line out to the dish with power on it while digging your trench. Just make sure to keep it isolated from your control wires.
Also I have saw people get away with 400-500 foot runs and nothing else in-line to help out.

 

[Titanium]

I have used inline amps several times on excessively long cable runs. The amplifier enabled the receivers to reliably lock a signal that had been lost in the 500' - 1000' runs. Don't recall replacing failed units, but some models do have significantly better signal amplification with less noise.

In order to be a happy camper, understand the technology. The inline amplifier only amplifies the LNB signal level. It does not amplify the voltage or outbound control signals. Most modern LNBs have very high signal amplification and will not require or benefit from additional amplification.

The amplifier will likely have best performance if installed at the LNB, where the signal to noise ratio is at the highest ratio. There may be switching, polarity and motor control issues over longer coax runs. The in-line amp will not improve 22KHz/DiSEqC control signals and will not increase the voltages lost in the longer runs. You may find the signal traveling only 450' through RG11 has better Signal Quality readings (signal to noise ratio) than after inserting the amplifier.

 

[O'Doyle]

I plan on using the dish for primarily for C-band with an actuator, so it sounds like just using RG-11 coax without and amplifier would work alright, another odd question......would ribbon cable work as well? not sure they make it in rg-11 tho..

 

[updatelee]

Honestly I've used one inline amp before. It was on an 800ft run. And voltage drop was an even bigger issue. Had to use a powered amp and a band stacked lnb.

At home I'm running around 50ft and use a powered spaun multi switch. It handles the voltage for me works great for orthomode lnbs too. Vertical is 18v and horizontal is 18v + 22khz

UDL

 

[Titanium]

For a 450' run, I personally would use a quad shield RG11 and separate actuator control wire bundle with sensor shielding. Purchase the heaviest gauge motor wire that you can afford as the voltage drop on light gauge wire will significantly reduce the voltage for your motor. If using a servo motor for polarity control, also use a separate shielded wire bundle. Connect the shield drain wires to ground only on the structure end of the wiring runs and leave the dish end open (no connection).

Voltage potential generated over this great distance between unbounded grounding could be quite high. Take appropriate steps to properly bond the dish to structure ground. Before connecting any coax or wires at the house, check between all wires to structure ground for voltages in excess of 0.5v. Voltage potentials in excess of 0.5v can cause equipment failures and be potentially dangerous.

 

[O'Doyle]

wow! a lot to check off when I start! Thanks Titanium, appreciate the feedback, I'm sure as I re-install my dish I will have more questions