Attic Antenna....Need More Signal

[tesla]

I have an attic antenna that provides a watchable picture on our downstairs TV with occasional pixelation. The radiant barrier is causing some of the signal loss. The signal strength is 55-60% (on ABC). Our upstairs TV drops to an unwatchable 15%. An amplifier might help our downstairs TV clear up the pixels but could it overcome that much signal loss on the upstairs TV? Of course a rooftop eliminates all signal problems as I live close to the TV signal towers.

Thanks for your help.

Barry

[BlueMR2]

A preamp right at the antenna might help some, but the first rule of VHF/UHF antennas is to get them up in the air nice and high.  The second rule is to get as much metal in the air as possible (for receive anyways, transmit is a whole 'nother ball of wax if we want to be technically correct...).

[TheThirstyStag]

I suggest picking up a winegard HDA-200 and amplifying at the antenna.  You probably have a decent length of coax and at least one split causing enough loss that a little bit of amplification will probably make the upstairs TV watchable.

They're not too expensive either. 

[JackofAll]

Amplification may or may not work for you.  I had a similar problem with my attic antenna and the only fix was moving it closer to the gable end closest to the towers it was pointed at.  Also, I found the antenna compass direction from my position online and used it to align the antenna.  When I tried the amplifier, it did nothing because amplification was not the issue and amplifying a bad signal didn't make it any better of a signal.

[TheThirstyStag]

Since his upstairs TV is noticeably worse than the downstairs one, he probably has a half decent signal and the path to his upstairs TV probably introduces more loss that an amp can help with.

Amps won't rearrange a non-existent signal, but they'll help deal with wiring that's split too much or too long.

[Spoom]

I used this RCA preamp for my antenna.  Seems to work pretty well; I don't notice much dropout in the channels that are in range.

One thing to note, though, is that a preamp isn't likely to pick up channels that you aren't currently getting.  They will reduce the loss of signal that comes from a long run of coax cable.

It sounds like you may also need an amplifying distributor (i.e. a powered splitter), such as this powered distributor from Antennas Direct.  Just replace your existing splitter with it.

Is there no way you can install the antenna on the roof?  Even in the attic, you're going to have signal degradation due to going through the walls, shingles, etc.  I installed mine on the roof and it was not as difficult as I thought it was going to be.