RCA Line Amp for UHF?

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mitchfx

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Aug 2, 2006
51
0
I just picked up a RCA D903 line amplifier for possible use in boosting my UHF antenna signal before a 2-way split (each going to a Dish HD receiver). However, I'm not sure if this thing is even useful for UHF frequencies since it appears it's designed for sattelite signals. The info printed on the unit says...

950-2050MHz
Gain: 13-18dB
Max Output 950-2050MHZ: 110dBuV

Also, what is the BEST type of splitter to use for this kind of application?

Thanks,
m
 
What you have there is made just for legacy downconverted sat. frequencies, not over-the-air TV signals. OTA UHF is now limited to channels 14-69, freq. range, approx. 471 to 801 MHz. The D903 won't do you any good for your intended application, nor for more modern DBS equipment that operates at ~2250MHz.

What do you receive now? Can your UHF antenna provide an adequate signal if connected to just 1 TV? If so, then you may not need an amp at all. If you split the signal with a conventional VHF/UHF "combiner/splitter" and the signal is OK then don't bother with any amp. If the signal that was OK directly connected to one TV gets too weak to lock when it's split to two TVs, then you'd probably be best with a distribution amp that would give you a modest gain at each output, enough to cover the min. 3dB splitting loss. If you don't have an adequate signal when directly connected to just 1 TV, then you might need a preamp mounted at the antenna, and there are quite a few choices. But in this last case, there are many other considerations, like signal quality in general at your location, what antenna you're using, cable type and run length, etc. What channels are you trying to receive? Have you ever received them?

Hope this helps. Give us some additional information about your situation and we can provide a more definitive answer...
 
Last edited:
bhelms, thanks for the reply.

I just got Dish installed last week, and want to use a UHF antenna in my ATTIC to get better quality OTA HD locals. It appears that ALL of the stations I need are coming from the same location, Mt. Wilson, which is less than 5mi from my house in 91001 zip. AntennaWeb shows them all yellow zone, between 53 adn 41 degress orientation, and betwen 4.6 and 4.8 mi distance. This singal will be split between a Dish Vip622 and 211, with about 25ft of coax before the split, then around 10ft more to TV1 and 50ft to TV2.

I grabbed a U-75R UHF antenna from RadioShack (really wanted a Winegard 4400 or CM 4228 but they would be harder to return)...

http://www.radioshack.com/sm-40-boo...outdoor-antenna-for-uhf-only--pi-2103088.html

...and it seems to pick up all the HD stations just fine (hooked directly to TV) with NO split and sitting in the living room going thru about 3 solid walls. Have not yet tested with the signal split or tried hooking it to my Dish boxes yet, but will tonight.

-m
 

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