Power amp recommendation

[ESA1178]

Hi all

Any recommendations for a power amp?

My specs:

CM Advantage 100 antenna
TiVo Bolt

Thanks

 

[comfortably_numb]

Hi all

Any recommendations for a power amp?

My specs:

CM Advantage 100 antenna
TiVo Bolt

Thanks

Do you mean a preamp?

 

[ESA1178]

Yes PreAmp.. so sorry

 

[comfortably_numb]

Yes PreAmp.. so sorry

Can you post your TV Fool report? www.tvfool.com

 

[ESA1178]

TV Fool

 

[comfortably_numb]

TV Fool

Are you having trouble receiving certain channels you want? I'm not sure you need a preamp- most of your stations are LOS (line of sight).

 

[harshness]

Unless there's something that isn't reflected in your TVFool report, you certainly don't need a pre-amp. Pre-amps are for when you're looking for stuff in the deep yellow and red zones. As it is, all of your big networks are in the green zone.

Unless you're chasing after something further away, the Advantage 45 should do just fine. The advantage to the smaller antennas is that they offer a slightly broader beam that may help with stations that are off on the sides.

I'm not sure whether the TiVo would cover both Sacto and San Fran stations from a guide perspective.

 

[boba]

Why do you think you need amplifier?

 

[ESA1178]

I'm aiming for San Francisco. The signals are good but the video does not come in. I live in a valley with bay area being about 70 miles away. I have an advantage 100 mile antenna.

 

[boba]

I'm aiming for San Francisco. The signals are good but the video does not come in. I live in a valley with bay area being about 70 miles away. I have an advantage 100 mile antenna.

Please explain what you mean by the signals are good but the video does not come in? Are you really 40 ft above ground level?
Why is San Francisco your target city? Looks like all the major networks are south of you and closer if aiming for Sacramento.
The stations to the north also look like low power and repeaters

 

[harshness]

I get that the grass is always greener, but there's a major pile of rock between you and the Bay Area's Sutro tower. It's one thing if you live in Vacaville or somewhere served by BART, but you've got local stations. While the CM-3020 can do big miles without "edges", I doubt it can do red zone stations reliably and that's not a good situation for any DVR.

I repeat my concern that TiVo may not be particularly graceful with your configuration in terms of guide data.

Fellow member larrykenney was DXing from the Bay Area towards Sacto with some very narrow beam antennas. teachsac might have some insights.

Post-repack, the situation may get a little dicier as there appear to be some channels in common as well as several of the San Fran channels entering into sharing agreements (presumably losing some subchannels). The big four look pretty safe except for maybe NBC out of San Jose but it remains to be seen what will distinguish the San Fran stations going forward.

 

[comfortably_numb]

I get that the grass is always greener, but there's a major pile of rock between you and the Bay Area's Sutro tower. It's one thing if you live in Vacaville or somewhere served by BART, but you've got local stations. While the CM-3020 can do big miles without "edges", I doubt it can do red zone stations reliably and that's not a good situation for any DVR.

I repeat my concern that TiVo may not be particularly graceful with your configuration in terms of guide data.

Fellow member larrykenney was DXing from the Bay Area towards Sacto with some very narrow beam antennas. teachsac might have some insights.

Post-repack, the situation may get a little dicier as there appear to be some channels in common as well as several of the San Fran channels entering into sharing agreements (presumably losing some subchannels). The big four look pretty safe except for maybe NBC out of San Jose but it remains to be seen what will distinguish the San Fran stations going forward.

Good tip about larrykenney his website is very detailed and informative with regards to the SF area towers and broadcast stations www.larrykenney.com

 

[ESA1178]

Update:
My antenna is exactly 35' above ground. clear sight with no trees etc.
My issue is that I get a local channel KCRADT just fine of course.
But another bay area channel KGO35-DT comes in at the same signal strength but no video.
I realize that there is a great difference in distance. Just wondering if the signal strength is the same why I am not getting the video.

Here are pics of both:

 

[comfortably_numb]

Looks like KGO 35 is a translater of the ABC affiliate in San Francisco. Not sure why you're not getting video. 67% signal strength should be enough, but those signal meter vary greatly by TV manufacturer. Do you have another TV you can test it on?

 

[Trip]

If that TV is pulling guide data over the Internet, my guess is that it's trying to tune KGO's 35 translator based on that guide data, even though you're receiving KCRA on 35. Note that 67 is the same strength as KCRA.

- Trip

 

[harshness]

I've always wondered what a TV would do when presented with two sets of PSIP data for the same RF channel.

 

[ESA1178]

Good morning all!

Thank you for all your constructive suggestions..
I connected a different TV.
So the current setup is: Antenna - CM7777-Tivo-TV
With the new TV it pulls in 20 more channels.
Does TIVO Bolt have a built in tuner also? Cause I notice if I connect the coaxial directly
to the new TV that pulls in 77 channels, it goes down to 55...
Not that I am interested in all of them since some are shopping, faith or foreign language.
Anyhow, I think we have narrowed down the issue to the installed digital tuner on the other TV.
The question is: Do I have to buy a new TV or can I get an external digital tuner connected 'tween the Tivo & TV ?
Or will there be a conflict? Also, is there a site that I can go to for comparisons of built in digital tuner strengths ?
It's hilarious that the TV pulling in 57 channels is a more superior and costlier brand than the one pulling in 77..

Thanks again!

Mark

 

[Mister B]

I have had a lot of experience with Tivos and OTA television. All Tivos including the Bolt have a built-in tuner and they will not record from an external device. The information that Tivo provides for the OTA channels in an area is not always accurate and it is very difficult to get them to make corrections. I would imagine the situation is worse in an area like yours where there are many more channels on the air than where I live with only one major metropolitan area. Of course you can always do a manual scan with the Tivo without guide data, but I have even seen the case where they believe a channel is on the wrong actual RF frequency and that makes it impossible to scan in any other signal on that frequency. Tivo's customer service has no understanding of the difference between virtual channels and actual broadcast frequencies. When I was using Tivo I had to do manual recordings on my local NBC affiliate for over a year because they could not understand that "News Channel 9" actually broadcasts on channel 16.
If you are wanting to pull in as many channels as possible just as a technical hobby (I have been there!) it is easier to understand the situation with an antenna connected directly to a TV or tuner that does not rely on a third party for channel line-up information.

 

[comfortably_numb]

If you are wanting to pull in as many channels as possible just as a technical hobby (I have been there!) it is easier to understand the situation with an antenna connected directly to a TV or tuner that does not rely on a third party for channel line-up information.

Yes- such as the HD Homerun Connect. Sensitive but powerful tuner, great software with accurate guide data for ALL channels. You can't do much better IMO.

 

[ESA1178]

Do you guys think I should forget about the CM-777 and get an in-line amp instead ?
Maybe the CM-7777 is overkill and is causing some of the problems?
Also I have heard the because the BOLT splits signal over 4 tuners that it weakens it.
Is there a way to avoid that?

Mark