Splitting an OTA feed

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Hookem99

SatelliteGuys Guru
Original poster
Feb 18, 2008
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Pflugerville, Texas
I have been trying off and on over the years to split my OTA antenna feed for a second TV. Never really mattered before, but now I would love it to work. I get great signal on one TV, but as soon as I split it, no signal on either TV's. I have tried a few different kinds of splitters, but none seem to work. Any ideas? Thanks in advance!
 
Antenna (roof mounted) is direct wired to my HR-20.

Hookem,
If your just trying to get OTA over to a seperate TV, get a standard splitter, split the signal before it goes into the HR20 and run the second coax to the other TV.

Should be pretty straight forward, make sure you are on the correct input when trying to view the second TV.

Jimbo
 
Hookem,
If your just trying to get OTA over to a seperate TV, get a standard splitter, split the signal before it goes into the HR20 and run the second coax to the other TV.

Should be pretty straight forward, make sure you are on the correct input when trying to view the second TV.

Jimbo

Yeah, that is exactly how mine is -- except it is going to a Dish receiver. OTA comes in to the house, and gets split into two runs, one to each receiver. Works like a charm.
 
Hookem,
If your just trying to get OTA over to a seperate TV, get a standard splitter, split the signal before it goes into the HR20 and run the second coax to the other TV.

Should be pretty straight forward, make sure you are on the correct input when trying to view the second TV.

Jimbo

I did that, but as soon as I put the main signal into a splitter, I get no signal from the other side. I guess I need to put a preamp before the splitter.
 
I did that, but as soon as I put the main signal into a splitter, I get no signal from the other side. I guess I need to put a preamp before the splitter.

Maybe you have a bad splitter ?
Do you lose signal when the second line get hooked up or on the first one too ?

Jimbo
 
Maybe you have a bad splitter ?
Do you lose signal when the second line get hooked up or on the first one too ?

Jimbo

Well, the first time I tried it, a few years ago, I was an idiot and tried to use a diplexor. Obviously that did not work, and when I realized my mistake, I tried an old cable splitter. That too did not work. So I gave up for a while. I tried again last year, using a brand new digital cable splitter, and got the same result, nothing. As soon as I put the splitter on the line, it's like there is no antenna on the other end. Take it off, and I get great signal on one TV.
 
I have signal amplifiers set up "in front of" both of my TVs with split OTA signal, and get 95-100% from over 40 miles away from the towers. I bought a model that was recommended for my particular antenna (although I'm not sure how much it matters which brand/model).
 
I am using a RS "2 Set FM/UHF/VHF Hybrid Splitter-Combiner" and have no issues. I am about 30 miles from the tower farm and get 85-95 SS on all channels. My splitter is even outside exposed to the weather. You might be over-complicating things by going with the "Digital Cable Splitter". Might try to keep it simple. Good luck and keep us posted.
 
well, I went out today and bought a 5MHz to 2.3GHz splitter. The one I used before was 900MHz. Not sure that has anything to do with it, but we'll see tonight. Also broke down and spent the money on a real nice compression fitting tool. Guess Ill redo all the Sat cables that are crimped while I'm at it.:D Thanks for all the help and advice!!
 
That bandwith change should have no effect on OTA, 900 mhz is plenty. Sounds like you're just barely getting the signal at one box, and when you split it that puts you at the point of losing it. How does the signal from the antenna look on a traditional analog TV, clear or staticy?

You may be best to get a preamp, send a strong signal down and easily handle the split.
 
I did not figure it would, but its about the only thing I have not tried. I figured I would exhaust all options before I spend the money on a preamp!


So get this.....I installed the new splitter I bought today, and it worked! Great signal on both TV's! So, for grins, I installed a relatively new 900MHz splitter, and nothing. No signal at all. So either I have a bad splitter or the 900Mhz is not good enough. I just can't imagine the two 900MHz splitter I tried were both bad, but I cant see how the Freq would make a difference. Im almost tempted to go get a brand new one and try it. :confused:
 
So get this.....I installed the new splitter I bought today, and it worked! Great signal on both TV's! So, for grins, I installed a relatively new 900MHz splitter, and nothing. No signal at all. So either I have a bad splitter or the 900Mhz is not good enough. I just can't imagine the two 900MHz splitter I tried were both bad, but I cant see how the Freq would make a difference. Im almost tempted to go get a brand new one and try it. :confused:

Glad you got it working,
If you decide to go the Pre Amp route, I use a Wingard, there are several out there.

Jimbo
 
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