I'm about to add an amplifier to my in-attic antenna to boost reception on
one or two poor channels. It would be much more convenient to mount the amp
(a Winegard with 37 dB gain) about 5 or 10 feet from the antenna instead of
right at the antenna, to be followed by the remaining 40 feet or so of coax
to the TV. Does the amp need to be right at the antenna or can it be a
little bit down the line and still do its job?

I tried it at the TV and saw no improvement so I assume that my biggest
problem is loss of an already weak signal across the 50 foot cable run . If
the signal loss is linear with cable length, then by mounting it only a few
feet away from the antenna (much, much easier to do) I should incur only a
small amount of signal loss in the cable. Is that right?

- Magnusfarce