HOW TO CONNECT AMPLIFIED OTA TO A 5x8?

[sluciani]

I've got a Winegard 8-Bay UHF amp with an amplifed signal going into one of my HR10's. If I wanted to feed the singnal into my Terk 5x8 switch instead (and diplex the UHF out at the receiver end), is it safe to feed the Winegard's powered and amplifed signal into the Terk switch?

Or must i remove the Winegard power supply from the loop, and feed the wire coming from the antenna amp directly into the Terk? If so, will the Terk be able to power the amplifier connected to the antenna?

TIA.

/steve

[ebonovic]

How many receivers do you need the OTA at...

You will lose some of the signal when you diplex it using the TERK switch.

If you are only using it at one point... it is much better to diplex it AFTER the swtich.

[LlamaLarry]

I run OTA for HD to 3 locations and have the following setup: CM 2448 UHF -> CM 7777 pre amp -> CM 7777 PS -> Terk BMS58 -> Diplexor -> HR10-250. I live 50+ miles from the OTA antennas I need to reach and my lowest signal is in the low 80's, highest 95.

Is your Wineguard amplifier like mine (internal power supply & external box on the mast)? If so, I would imagine (hope) that it only passes power onto the connection going to the antenna, not to the output to the video device.

[sluciani]

I'd like to use it with 2-3 HR10's, which is why I want connect it to the switch. I realize I will lose gain this way, which is why I want to send the amplified signal into the Terk. Just not sure whether it's correct to send a powered signal in, or if the Terk will provide the power back to the antenna amp like the dedicated antenna amp power supply does now.

/steve

[LlamaLarry]

Oh, you want to know if the Terk's power supply will also feed power to the amplifier and thus remove the need for the amp's own power supply? I would say no, why pass power out to a port that may not need it? I have never checked though. My switch has its own power supply and the pre-amp has its own power supply.

I'm still not clear on what you mean by "send a powered signal in"; do you mean "connect coax that passes power on the shield" or "connect coax that has a signal that has been amplified"?

[sluciani]

Hi Larry,

The latter, I think, which may have answered my quetion. I guess the power on the shield is traveling from the Winegard power supply to the Winegard antenna amp, but not from the Winegard power supply to the video receiver, so I'm safe sending an amplified signal into the Terk. I'll try it.

/steve

[DLiquid]

I'm no expert, but I'll answer anyway.

I've got a Winegard 8-Bay UHF amp with an amplifed signal going into one of my HR10's. If I wanted to feed the singnal into my Terk 5x8 switch instead (and diplex the UHF out at the receiver end), is it safe to feed the Winegard's powered and amplifed signal into the Terk switch?Yes. Your OTA signal is amplified, but there should be no power on the amp's outputs, right?

Or must i remove the Winegard power supply from the loop, and feed the wire coming from the antenna amp directly into the Terk? If so, will the Terk be able to power the amplifier connected to the antenna?No, your multiswitch should not output any power on the OTA input.

[sluciani]

Thanks for all your advice, guys! I connected the amplifed Winegard signal directly to the Terk RF input, and now all three of my HR10-250's are OTA-enabled, instead of just one. Thankfully, the OTA signal strength appears to be comparable to what it was before, so it appears I'm in good shape.

/steve

[LlamaLarry]

Great news Steve, just in time for the weekend. :) Have a good one!

[aaronwt]

I've been using my Terk that way for over 2.5 years with my Amplified Squareshooters. No problems yet.