Reddit reviews PCT MA28PN RF Amplifier Passive Return CATV Amp 8-Ports

It all depends on how strong your signal is. Each time you split it, you lose power (some lost in the splitter, some goes one way, some goes the other).

They are all home-runs to a single 9-way splitter?

You'll likely need to get an amplifier as the signal from an antenna is usually weaker than than from a cable feed. I can't seem to find 10-way splitters (which makes sense... it's splitting it in half each time 2-4-8) Here's an 8-way that looks reasonable. Here's a slightly more expensive one with a higher gain and a metal case. You could probably use a passive 2-way splitter before this to get your 9th port successfully. Make sure if you have any unused ports that you slap a terminator on the end of it.

If you can mount the antenna on the exterior of the house it will give you much better reception than in an attic. I was able to reuse an old Dish Network mount on my house, but that will all depend on where you have clean line-of-sight to the tower. Higher mounts and bigger antennas equal more signal. If you're marginal you may also be able to use a preamp to help pull the channels in.

If you want to do it yourself, you'll need a cable explorer. You'll attach the lights to your internal coaxial outlets, and then go back outside to hook up to each wire, and see which color lights up. Be sure to write down where you put which color so you can label the appropriate wires to where they go. You can use zip tie labels for this.

Now, you know where everything goes, so you'll be able to either hook up every lead to a different source, and troubleshoot your connection if you need to. If you want to run an aerial system, you're going to need a distribution amplifier to overcome the loss of having 8 splits. Every coax port in the house will work with either cable, or OTA, or satellite service.

If subscribing to cable television, have the technician do the connection of the cable feed to the system, You are free to mess with the wiring of your house all you wish, but are not authorized to alter or tamper with cable company owned lines or equipment. Have the technician do that.

Something like this. That link is for a powered/amplified version as it never hurts.

You can also use a regular 8 port splitter like this.

You could try a Winegard FlatWave or Winegard FreeVision (both available at Home Depot, easily returnable) or Winegard HD-1080/Xtreme Signal HD1080x or Winegard HD7694P. You could try connecting a FreeVision outdoors to your existing coax cables. Just make sure it's fixed and not swinging. Your optimal direction is North.

See this post for more information on connecting an antenna using existing unused coax cables and sharing a single indoor/outdoor/attic antenna between multiple TVs/DVRs. The same applies to satellite coax cable runs or sharing an antenna in another room. Only difference is where you're mounting/connecting your antenna. This is something you can do yourself if the cables are within easy reach, but you can also hire a satellite installer who is willing to install antennas. Note that you can't reuse a satellite dish switch/"splitter". Consider this distribution amplifier to compensate for the degraded signal when using a passive splitter.

That looks pretty clean for the number of cables you have - but I don't understand why you used multiple splitters? I think that's probably a bad idea because each one introduces signal degradation. You can get a powered 8-way splitter for ~ $35 that works well with cable modems and gives you a nice, clean signal. I have one and I haven't had any issues [Answered below].

This should be what you're looking for.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00NR2VMNC/

Eventually you'll find yourself running cables all over your home to improve quality. I have Cat6 and Coax running all over my house. I have a 16 port gigabit router in the basement so I never experience network slowdown from streaming from the web or my media server.

My father moved our roof antenna into the attack when we redid our roof. It has a straight run (single cable, no splitters or joiners) to a 6 port splitter in the basement. Which has straight cable runs to all the rooms in the house. So no signal degradation occurs from using multiple splitters. The next step will be a powered splitter, https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000WDR94U/.

I am in a similar issue. Stations are in two opposite directions and both are behind a hill. I used a bow-tie style antenna and an amplifier. This went from unwatchable to perfect reception. It could be mounted in an attic or mounted outside if the reception is spotty.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C4XVOOC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WDR94U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We are in Colorado also, Highlands Ranch. So, I just pointed the antenna towards Lookout Mountain and we get all sorts of channels. I have an amplified splitter, but don't really need to run the amplifier.

This is the amp I bought from amazon last year: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000WDR94U/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got it for $29.90 but it has worked awesome. Our house is pre wired for all rooms so the antenna is outside and feeding inside the house on one line. Plug into splitter and bingo, video on all tvs in the house.

Reading through all this. I want to confirm some things:

>Yes I have identified which cable that comes from the cable company, that one pops out in my cable box and the cable goes straight on my upstairs living room that has the modem, i longer have anything connected to cable.

The liine for HSD, goes from the cable co drop straight to its OWN RUN to the CM. Nothing else, correct?

> I have 5 cable ends for each room of the house and living room

So you have UNCONNECTED SIX leads in that demarc box, correct? And a SEVENTH that goes from cable co drop to HSD modem in separate room, correct?

So you have something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/PREMIUM-Splitter-F-Type-Antenna-110016/dp/B00DIGAIRS

Were these other rooms connected to cable for video at some point WITH The HSD run too?

You tested with a 50ft run, direct to the antenna.. Repeat this with a different test. Take cable from the antenna, use an F barrel connector and connect to the RUN to the MAIN TV you tested directly with. If there is not enough cable from the run to the antenna cable. Use a SHORT JUMPER and 2 barrel connectors to jump for the test. 3-6ft jumper or RG6. Test reception with that. Connect to each separate run, one at a time.

Repeat that test for EACH RUN, one cable at a time. NO SPLITTER.

If you get good reception from each run to the antenna. Then you need an DISTRIBUTION AMP. Like these:

https://www.amazon.com/PCT-MA28PN-Amplifier-Passive-8-Ports/dp/B000WDR94U/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1505474036&sr=1-3-fkmr1&keywords=6+port+distribution+amp

The come in 1,2,4,8 port versions. For the two ports you don't use, get an F terminator and use on them.

The splitter is more than likely a 6 port version inserting a 10db loss!

See this for specs:
http://www.pctstore.com/6_way_horizontal_RF_splitter_PCT_1000_6W_p/pct10006w.htm


This explains splitters pretty well:
https://www.pctstore.com/Splitters_s/27.htm

As for a signal meter if you can find a USED Sencore SLM 1453I Then you can measure ATSC(8VSB) signals. Unfortunately no economical asian clones exist, they are all QAM meters for CATV use.

It's done using a Distribution Amplifier (DA). Basically one source in many out. The DA that stores use may be out of your price range. I think what you are looking for is a Coax Distribution Amplifier. They still make them but unless you buy a really good one you will introduce a lot of noise in to the signal reducing the picture quality on all the other TVs.

I use Extron in my installs when I need to send video to many endpoints, but that brand is not sold in stores, only by distributors, but you might be able to pick it up on line. Another issue is coax is not a connection I deal with anymore. It's all DV over twisted pair, meaning video over Ethernet basically, but it is a dedicated run of wire, you cannot send internet over it at the same time. This will send an HDMI signal over 100 feet over standard cat5

If you want more detail on how all this stuff works let me know.

[EDIT] Here is one on Amazon that will give you an idea of what to look for. It not only splits the signal it amplifies it too. $38

We had the same issue in our house. What ended up fixing it was finding where all the cables connected to the main cable line (ours was in our master closet). The builders (16 years ago) had 4+ cable splitters all tied together in a jumbled mess.

We ended up replacing every splitter with one modern cable booster type thing that has one “in” line for coax and about 8-10 “out” lines. Fixed every connection in the house!

It actually was an amplifier that looked something like this.

its not the number of things connected to a splitter that drains the strength its the number of ports on the splitter .. so.. if you have a 8way splitter and 1 thing its the same as if you have 7 things...

you have a lot of signal from the south .. the only problem is your main stations NBC CBS FOX are all VHF but they have decent signal.. as do the UHF ones over 13 Real.

So for you i would get a ClearStream 4v with the vhf rod but they are expensive now.. don't know why but price has gone up.

since all your stations are pretty much in the same direction

http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-HD7694P-High-Definition-Antenna/dp/B001DFTGR4/

that might work for you

then hook that to this instead of a splitter

http://www.amazon.com/Bi-Directional-Amplifier-Splitter-Booster-Passive/dp/B000WDR94U/

an amplified splitter of that power will just compensate for the loss due to the length of cable so you want that thing near as you can to the antenna and where all your runs to each room meet up.. and you can run a separate coax to power it and have the dc power supply where ever

that should be about as good as you need and can get.

I was having issues for a long time in an old house because of a weak signal due splitting before it got to the modem (it's what they told me). The tech came out and hooked up one of these for free (http://www.amazon.com/Bi-Directional-Amplifier-Splitter-Booster-Passive/dp/B000WDR94U - Not the exact unit but same concept) and it's worked well ever since. Not saying it's a solution for everyone because my technical knowledge is limited but it may be worth a shot.


Also make sure you are using a modem and router that you purchased on your own, cause fuck comcast. I for one welcome our fiberygoogley overlords.

I wish I knew more about splitters, maybe I don't have a splitter at all? This is the one I'm currently using:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WDR94U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't know if this helps, but I wanted to be pro-active prevent this from being an issue. I wired my house with multiple RG6 (CAT6 as well) and all that is ran back to a central point. As it was, I needed to have a quality splitter to share an OTA antenna between TVs (or cable should I every have it.) Instead I bought an amplifier splitter. This one is rated from 5-1000mhz. It's working for me, but also isn't remotely even needed as I only have it routed to 1 output but eventually will have 2 more. So if it truly helps, I just don't know yet.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WDR94U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you decide to go with an amplifier, here's the one I went with. I'm quite happy with it, and it's made of porcelain or some other robust material that can handle the heat. It's powered with an adapter that delivers through coax, so you can plug it in at a distance from the splitter if necessary. If you get it, or something like it, just remember to get the little terminators for any of the lines you're not going to connect.

I have something similar to this in my basement and it works like a charm.

One cable goes in and then it splits it to cable modem and 4 TV's (with a few spare).

Here's the report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9038bc19d1a155

It looks like I have "good" signal for all of the channels coming in from the MKE area, at least the ones I recognize and would watch.

That said, if I'm planning on only going to 4 TVs at the moment, would something like this be sufficient? (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WDR94U) or am I going to need an amplifier with it? It has a +4db amplifier built in, not sure if that's enough or really what it means.

If I were planning on 9+ TVs at some point in the future, would I be able to get away with another 4 way splitter off of that? or is an amplifier needed there?

The other advice here is good on specific cabling and what not. I'm going to give my somewhat ghetto homeowner approach.

Your goal here is to have everything work right. A digital device (whether it's a TV box or your cable modem) is generally going to be more picky about signal quality than an analog device. Each split, unless put through a powered splitter, will somewhat degrade the signal. Therefore you want to have as few splitters as possible before any important devices (like your cable modem). All else being equal shoot for that, but don't kill yourself at first trying to perfect it.

If you hook up everything and it works, don't worry about it. If you have any questions or concerns, you can usually use your cable modem as a poor man's signal tester. You can plug it into the coax, then plugin your computer into the ethernet jack and visit the cable modem's diagnostic page and see the exact signal quality. Your TV or cable boxes may also do this. For example I have an HD Home Run prime as my main cable box and the diagnostic page displays this for me:

• Signal Strength 100% (2.6 dBmV)
  
• Signal Quality 88% (27.3 dB)
  
  I ended up having some issues when I installed my HD Home Run so I bought this powered splitter for like $45 and have been flawless ever since.
  
  Bonus tip: Make sure your coax is grounded going into your house and also run it through a surge protector before it gets to your cable modem. $500 of fried home electronics taught me this lesson the hard way when lightning struck a puddle right next to my entrypoint into the house. After that I went whole hog and got one of these lightning protectors too

Here's one: http://www.amazon.com/Bi-Directional-Amplifier-Splitter-Booster-Passive/dp/B000WDR94U

Includes power adapter. You'll need passive terminators for any connector not in use which are not included.

So yea, use a passive splitter and connect one run to the cable modem and the other run to this active splitter.

Yeah, if I didn't end up going with a TiVO OTA and using Ethernet and Moca to reach other TVs, I was gonna go with one of these myself.

PCT MA28PN RF Amplifier Passive Return CATV Amp 8-Ports https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WDR94U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_d5XXzbKC8ZE42

Well. Let’s see here. I first purchased this antenna and this mast holder once I made the decision this year to cut the cord. Reading this sub, I quickly realized that I could use this mast amplifier to obtain about 10 more channels and this distribution amplifier to run the signals into 7 rooms of my house.

I configured and tested my setup in the middle of the summer thunderstorm season so I installed this UPS to prevent the brownouts that were occurring all too often during this time. I still had two television sets that were analog/CRT, so I purchased this set top converter which gave me the added bonus of Broadcast DVR when I purchased this flash drive to plug into them.
I then purchased two Roku3 units to supplement my broadcast programming. I also discovered that even when using a dual band router , I was only able to obtain a reliable 18 Mbit wireless stream in my far bedrooms from my Laundry Room equipment location. While this was sufficient for managing two simultaneous streams of HD for now, I was concerned that we would need to have 3 or 4 simultaneous streams or need to upgrade for UltraHD in the next year or so. I then purchased some Cat5e cable and ran 3 separate cables to each of 7 rooms and centralized all the lines into this switch which acted as my Ethernet distribution network.

I had an idle desktop PC with an AMD FX-8350 processor which I upgraded with gigabit LAN, 8GB DDR3 RAM, and five 3TB Disk Drives. I installed Plex Media Server based on recommendations from this sub and I have been torrenting like a madman to fill a little more than half this disk space in the past 4 months. I connected the media server to my Ethernet switch via a Gigabit link and have had no issues with lag even while transcoding on the fly. I plan to purchase some more streaming devices which will probably be Roku3 or Chromecast units depending upon the price and suitability.

My next step is to look at high quality music streaming and how I might integrate some vintage (1980s) audio equipment into this setup.

Doing it is easy. You'd have to buy a card that has the output you need. Most tv tuner cards can output over the coax connection and that would work fine for old TV's. Some older video cards (10 years or more) tended to have coax connections built in and could work if you're using an older computer.

If you want to do a video wall you'll need one card for each tv. If you want the same picture on all TV's then just get a powered coax video splitter.

Awesome, thanks so much.

• Here is the [amplifier] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WDR94U/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=242MTTOZCY9KC&coliid=IUQQXRAFKNF83&psc=1) I was looking at. (It says +4.5dB per port, I can't seem to find one that says 10dB)
  
  
• Here is the [cable] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0069F4H3G/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=242MTTOZCY9KC&coliid=I1HOLBLATFE159).
  
  The cable would come in and split off directly to the modem and then to the splitter.

I used both of these.

Amplifier: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WDR94U/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Terminators:
https://www.amazon.com/Terminator-Port-Screw-5-2050Mhz-pack/dp/B008C8HNTI/ref=pd_sim_23_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B008C8HNTI&pd_rd_r=NFR5R86DSA2V2D0GXH0B&pd_rd_w=fkH8B&pd_rd_wg=YivzP&psc=1&refRID=NFR5R86DSA2V2D0GXH0B&dpID=41h7DT7HRmL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=detail

http://www.antennaweb.org/

It looks like you'll want a multi-directional, but this site will give you a recommendation for what type of antenna to get.

To do it right, you'll also want to just drop the money on the amplifier (like this) and powered splitter (like this) as well. You'll obviously get better reception outside, but mine seems to work just fine in the attic.

Quick edit: By the way, that site gives you the recommendation when you click on the station colored boxes that actually say the color in them.

I suggest trying it first, you might find that it works fine without needing anything else. If you're having issues though, you can get a signal amplifier like this one to boost the signal as you split it.