Posted: 9/9/2008 10:14:27 PM EDT
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I am feeding several TV's with one antenna. After hooking up the last of the bunch, several weak stations dropped out. There are several amplifiers on the market which boost the signal before splitting it and routing it to the individual TV sets. I have been looking at the ChannelPlus DA-models. ChannelPlus Is this a good model/brand? Here are my question regarding the units discussed above: 1. Do they amplify both VHF and UHF frequencies? Does the one amp do it all or do Ineed separate amps for these two bands? 2. Are they both HDTV compatible or are they in some way restricted to analog video only ? 3. What is the difference between the ChannelPlus DA-550 and the DA-8200, in their respective BID and HHR versions? 4. What is the difference between the 550BID and the 8200BID? 5. What is the difference between the 550HHR and the 8200HHR? Why BID versus HHR? That is all. I await your wisdom. 
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They look ok. Unless you have RF controlled devices on the input, you don't need bi-directional. I would beware of the device with response starting at 5 MHz, that will allow short-wave signals to be amplified and distributed (e.g. CB) and seems like a recipe for future interference problems. The VHF response is about to become useless, and a potential liability as TV moves from those frequencies (to UHF) and various other utilities start transmitting on those frequencies. There is no difference from the amplifier point of view if the signal is analog TV or digital -- digital will probably allow for crappier amps to work acceptably since the requirement for linearity is less. DA-550HHR looks like the best bet to me. |
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I was also looking favorably on the 550HHR. What is the difference between the BID and the HHR models? The HHR models also claim to be bidirectional like the BID models (hence their use of BID in the model number). There are no claims or specs for what the HHR model offers besides saying, "high head room". Does HHR allow strong signals to pass without "clipping" while still yielding the 3 dB gain on the weak signals? |