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Coaxial cable splitter lowers number of OTA channels received?

post #1 of 5
1/20/13 at 11:16am
Thread Starter 
Hi,

I am using standard Channel Master Antenna to receive OTA.

I decided I wanted to use the UHF to improve my FM signal for the FM radio functionality of my receiver.

In order to connect to the FM input on my receiver, I need to split the signal coming in from outside.

I am using a simple Y-spliter coaxial box (gold in color: very common in North America) to split it. However when I split it, the number of OTA channels I receive drops from about 20 to about 15 the moment I add the spliter. I go from the spliter to the digital analog converter box (I have a CRT TV).

Any advice on why adding a spliter reduces my signal and how I can improve it so that I can still get the benefits of using my UHF antenna for FM radio would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Chris
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post #2 of 5
1/20/13 at 12:42pm
Adding the splitter reduces the signal level at the device by about 2.5db (assuming a two way splitter). to get the signal level back up you will have to add a signal amplifier.
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post #3 of 5
1/20/13 at 12:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by haggisns View Post

Hi,

I am using standard Channel Master Antenna to receive OTA.

I decided I wanted to use the UHF to improve my FM signal for the FM radio functionality of my receiver.

In order to connect to the FM input on my receiver, I need to split the signal coming in from outside.

I am using a simple Y-spliter coaxial box (gold in color: very common in North America) to split it. However when I split it, the number of OTA channels I receive drops from about 20 to about 15 the moment I add the spliter. I go from the spliter to the digital analog converter box (I have a CRT TV).

Any advice on why adding a spliter reduces my signal and how I can improve it so that I can still get the benefits of using my UHF antenna for FM radio would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Chris

A. FM is VHF, not UHF
B. Adding a 1->2 splitter reduces the signal by about 3.5dB on each leg.
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post #4 of 5
1/20/13 at 1:03pm
C. Your "UHF" isn't going to help pick FM. That's what FM antennas are for.
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post #5 of 5
1/20/13 at 1:30pm
RF Splitter has AT LEAST 3.5 dB loss and MAY have additional 0.5-1.5+ dB on higher freqs.

You didn't say what kind of "standard" C-M antenna you are using (VHF/UHF Combo???), so we don't really know whether it has useful Gain in the FM Band. It would help if you entered your location into www.tvfool.com and copy/paste the results URL into a post so we can see which channels you have in Lo-VHF, Hi-VHF and UHF Bands and can assess which Preamp (if any) is suitable for your situation.

If you don't need to receive Ch2-6 and your antenna has useful FM Gain, then a HLSJ Lo-VHF/Hi-VHF (+UHF) Band Splitter may be what you need to feed your FM Receiver. Note that loss on Ch14-51 is only 0.7 dB:
http://www.hollandelectronics.com/catalog/upload_file/Filters-Diplexers.pdf
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