[kwlug-disc] (no subject)

[Jason Locklin]

On 14-02-27 06:17 PM, Andrew Kohlsmith (mailing lists account) wrote:

> I went the Channel Master CM7777 route… that is a terrible LNA. If I remember correctly the noise figure (NF) was 4dB. After doing some more research and looking at a few locally-sourced options (all with worse or no published noise figuresI decided on a Kitztech LNA. By far the lowest NF of any consumer grade kit and the price was decent too.  http://www.kitztech.com but don’t be put off by the mid-90s website design. He makes solid electronic gear.

ChannelMaster rates it at 2.8dB typical, though I don't know of anyone
who has tested it to verify. I don't think that's too bad at all, but
I'm not surprised there are some much better ones made by small outfits.
Consumer OTA stuff has a lot of compromises for mass production. Just
look at the CM-4228HD going to a PCB balun. With a little skill, you can
pretty much always make something of a higher quality than the consumer
stuff (especially with a Metal Supermakets in town). That said, my issue
with the CM7777 is not at all noise, it's that it seems to be
particularly sensitive to overload from strong signals. You have to try
to keep CKCO out of it as much as possible. If I set up another OTA
system and need an amp, I will definitely be looking at the kitztech
(are those noise figures for real? wow). We are moving soon so maybe I
will find a buyer that wants OTA, and I can start from scratch at the
new place. Thanks for the link.


> I don’t use the antenna much any more since I get everything off of netflix/apple rentals, but when I was into it it worked very well. If I wanted to install the rotor I bought (still new in box in my garage somewhere) I could easily pick up Toronto, London, Windsor, Buffalo, Erie and probably have a decent shot at Chicago as well.  For my location a roof-mounted antenna with a good LNA was a must; without it I could only get CBC and CHCH.

Similar here. Netflix has put a huge dent into my media center and OTA
use. We mostly watch news and Children's programming on OTA. It's
probably not even strictly necessary now, but I just love the concept of
pulling a ~13Mbit data stream out of thin air with some metal outside,
for free. Also, wife-acceptance of our cord-free media seems to come
down to reliability, and OTA is about as reliable as it gets. I even
have a big commercial UPS that can run the TV all day if I wanted to.

-Jason