On 31 Dec 2003, Bill wrote:

My cable TV reception is "OK" but I am thinking of ways to reduce
signal loss and improve the picture if possible.

- I have about 6 TV's in my house.... 3 on the main living floor, and
3 in the upper bedrooms.
- My cable comes in the basement, and is split 4 ways, with one going
to the upstairs.
- The upstairs lead is split again 3 ways for the bedrooms.

In theory, would it be better to split the incoming siganl 6 ways in
the basement, and run 3 independant cables to each bedroom?

What about in practice? Would 1 less slpit in the chain improve
things?

Thepry and practice will be the same, as splitters are passive
devices and the cable lengths will always come into play, as the
distances will stay the same.

Each split is a 3.5 dB loss. A 4-way splitter is 3 2-ways in one
enclosure (it splits once, then each split is split again) so you
get a loss of -7dB on each of the 4 outputs. Finally, a 3-way
(what it sounds like you have upstairs) is TWO 2-ways in one
enclosure. It splits once and then ONE of those legs is split
again, so your 3 outputs are not all equal, you have a "low
loss out" (-3.5 dB) and two "high loss outs" (-7dB)

Yes, split everything at a convenient spot in the basement. Keep
the existing 4-way that you currently have 1st in line, use three
of those outputs and run them to the 3 sets farthest away from
the split (your upper level rooms). The last output of the 4-way
becomes the input to the 3-way that used to be upstairs, you can
reuse it in the basement. Again, use the low loss leg to feed the
TV farthest away from the split, and the two high loss outs will
feed the TV's closest to the splitter.

If you count "splits in line between source and set" This is your
current setup:

Downstairs 1: 2
Downstairs 2: 2
Downstairs 3: 2
Upstairs 1: 3 (low loss leg of 3-way)
Upstairs 2: 4
Upstairs 3: 4

....and this would be the new setup:

Downstairs 1: 3 (low loss leg of 3-way)
Downstairs 2: 4
Downstairs 3: 4
Upstairs 1: 2
Upstairs 2: 2
Upstairs 3: 2

...same signal, just distributed better, getting more to the
distant locations. HTH.

--
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