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Ralph Mowery

In article ,
says...

On one TV using a converter box, it shows 29/100 for signal strength on it's internal meter for 29.1 and 91 for channel 6.1. This includes another amp at 35 feet (unknown gain) from the 7777, then 65 feet to a 2-way splitter and about 35' to the TV.

The "stupid" Samsung "Smart TV" only shows s/n ratio. I do have a "tuner" that will
show both in real units.

The system is/will be:
Mast amp (currently CM-7777, plan to change to a Kitz lower NF amplifier)
30'; RG-6QS copper clad
Power injector in attic
Variable 0-18db gain amplifier using an attenuator
65'; RG-6QS copper clad to basement; About 40' to each TV location (some less, some more)

Currently: A 2-way splitter to two TV's about 40' away.

Planned:
Blonder Tongue BIDA 75-43a (30-45 db Gain with tilt compensation cards and variable) that replaces a Tin Lee amplifier
four 24 db 4-way taps to 12 locations (existing, but not currently used because of a broken amplifier)
Locations are around 40' away.

The gain is unknown because the AMP and attenuator WAS prior to the 2-way splitter and it was recently moved to the attic as is. performance is definitely better.

My main distribution amp died and I'm planning to replace it with a Blonder-tongue BID 75a-43 for 12 locations fed by four 4-way 24 db taps.

This has available various "tilt cards", but might consider a custom VHF attenuator. I think the CM-7777 might overload with cellular signals.

Why copper clad? Friends that were in the satellite TV industry gave me 1000 feet.

The day and time of day can make much difference. I monitored a ham
repeater all the time that is about 40 miles away by air. It normally
showed a 3 on a scale of 0 to 10. Some days there were no signal (about
two or three times a month), and about the same number of times it
pinned the meter on the high side. That was on 220 MHz.

There is very little loss in the copper clad cable (as long as the
copper is not broken or missing) at TV frequencies due to the skin
effect compaired to solid copper. If there was much loss it would not
be used. The iron core does make for a stiff center pin for the
connection.

The S/N is really more important that the signal strength. You may be
boosting the noise along with the signal and the TV will not be able to
decode the signal.