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#181802 10/31/08 09:12 PM
Joined: Nov 2005
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mahlere Offline OP
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I have a problem at my house, and not sure if this is a viable solution...we have Verizon FIOS...all is well, except, i have one run that is approx 200' long...there it splits to 3 tv's...

there is an amplifier on the line already, installed by Verizon, but it's a 15db bi-directional amp...and it barely gave enough signal strength when there was only 1 tv on it...

the picture comes through, but the menu guide and the on-demand features don't work.

So, did a little research and I am going to install a tilt amplifier at the source....my question is this...

if the tilt amplifier doesn't throw enough oomph into the line, can I add a bi directional amplifier at the end of the line (before it splits into the 3 tv's)...or is it only 1 amp per line?

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mahlere #181803 10/31/08 10:35 PM
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Erik:

Sending you a PM.


---Ed---

"But the guy at Home Depot said it would work."
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 9,923
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G
Member
What does Verizon say about this? I would tell them to fix their signal problem or take their equipment with them when they go.
This isn't the old Ma Bell days where you had to like it or lump it.


Greg Fretwell
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mahlere Offline OP
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it's not verizon's issue...their signal is fine at the building their drop is to...we are running it to a separate building on the property, after the drop, that is 200' away...

mahlere #181808 11/01/08 10:27 AM
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I was just going on your comment that it was barely enough for one TV.
If the cable company is the yardstick, they would rather install their amplifier than to have you put one in that might reflect noise back on their network. Cable quality might be more important than anything else at 200' out tho.
I would still try to work with their tech before I started buying stuff. He might have something that would get you going on his truck. This is a competitive market these days.


Greg Fretwell
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mahlere Offline OP
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they already installed the existing one...it's all he had on his truck...

mahlere #181811 11/01/08 07:55 PM
Joined: May 2005
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what kind of cable are you running between buildings?
For a 200' run, I would use RG-11 as the minimum, and would prefer 1/2" hardline. RG59 isn't going to cut it, and RG-6 will lose 16-24db @1000 mhz.
Passive splitters are going to cost you 3.5db+ per split, in both directions.

You need to amplify the signals at both ends to compensate for the cable and splitter loss, which means that your bi-directional amp at the remote building needs to have enough gain in the return direction to offset the cable loss at the frequency of interest. Once the signal is lost into the noise, it is very difficult to recover.

Last edited by techie; 11/01/08 07:59 PM.
techie #181823 11/02/08 11:52 AM
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Techie is right on. You don't say what that 200' of cable is but I can guess and there's your problem. Those little drop amps are not going to help you. You are in trouble here also because you are not dealing with a cable company that is used to dealing with long runs of coax. This is Verizon FiOS and about all they know is running a few feet of RG-6 from their ONT on the side of the house to the sets. I even wonder what kind of test equipment they have and without that it's like a blind man driving a car, especially in your situation.

So, what I'm saying is this is not going to work with that cable. I too recommend .500 hardline. You are still going to need at least one amplifier and because you need to have reverse gain also things get tricky. This is not something you are going to do without proper tools, test equipment and some knowledge about what you are doing.

Then again I wonder if this is something that should even be handled on this level. Might it be better to have Verizon just provide another service to that building?

-Hal


hbiss #181835 11/02/08 08:16 PM
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mahlere Offline OP
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2nd service isn't worth it...not that important...

since this is our property, it's basically my test lab...we don't really do CATV, but occasionally...usually i'll pass it on to an A/V guy, but haven't been impressed by any lately...the one that we used who was good, went and had a heart attack on me...so he's not around anymore...

...we'll see what we can come up with...thanks

mahlere #181837 11/02/08 09:42 PM
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Posts: 886
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If this was my own project I wouldn't try to handle it unless I had the proper test equipment which I no longer have. If this were a paying job and large enough it just might prompt me to shell out the $3200 for it. There is no way I would want to select amps and adjust them without it.

Then too we keep referring to this as CATV when it really isn't, at least in the traditional sense. I understand Verizon uses Motorola set top boxes but I have on idea if the DOCIS specs are the same as traditional CATV so I wouldn't know what level is within limits for the return carrier, whether there is only one, or do they do something entirely different.

If this were a cable company you could get some help but I doubt Verizon would even know what you are talking about.

-Hal


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