Cable Signal Booster(You Must Buy If Have Snow)

[dirtythird]

I just bought a cable signal booster from radio shack and I have no horizontal lines and the quality is much better. I dont have a before picture but I have an after picture. For anybody that has fuzz buy a good cable signal booster. It will be worth it.

I dont know how to post pics but if somebody can post them for me I can post samples or I can email you some sample pictures

[i_am_dave]

I've not made any benchmarks or anything, but snow will really increase the size of an encoded file!
Not to mention really eat bitrate and create a blocky video.

[kakkerlakk]

Okay, that's my problem too, a weak cable signal.

I have my cable running into a VCR, then cable out into my ATI TV Wonder. My question is, if I were to get this signal booster, where would I put it, between the cable box and the vcr, or between the vcr and the capture card.

Thanks for the help!

[Gazorgan]

There's more to it than just getting a booster. An over-strong signal is just as difficult to encode as a snowy one.

Without getting into how Cable TV works, you should be running somewhere between 0 and 10 dbmv at the input of the capture device. Cable modems run around 0 dbmv and cable boxes run about 5-10 dbmv. cable boxes can do okay down to about -10 dbmv without a lot of trouble. Capture cards aren't as good, low signals allow internal interference in....shoot for 5-10 db....look for crawling colors of a too-strong signal.

Now, tilt. This is where the lower frequency is stronger/weaker than the higher frequency. The longer you cable run the worse this is. The more splitters you add, the worse this gets. Ideally you boost then add your splitters. Amplifiers that have tilt and gain controls are best, and don't let it within 10 feet of your computer, they tend to pickup interference. 10-20 DB gain is usually more than you will need.

Remember, in the US, you can't do this without paying for the extra drops.

[dirtythird]

If somebody can host pictures I can email them some sample pictures of what the cable booster did for me

[ftothe3]

1) Without getting into how Cable TV works...

2)Remember, in the US, you can't do this without paying for the extra drops.

1) can you please i'd like to know.

2) say you boost the signal, will the cable company know?

[jorwex]

the ones ive seen at radio shack were always like a little coupler-like/sized looking thing.

someone talked about "Amplifiers that have tilt and gain controls"...what do these look like? if theyre big enuff to have knobs on them, they must not be what im thinking about.

also u mentioned not having them within 10 feet of the TV...but also u said to keep the wire short (which has always been a priority for me)...

does this interference also occur on a capture card? im not using the tuner in my ATI AIW radeon..cuz well...it blows...

im using the analoge inputs..so i wanted to know if the interference also occurs that way...i'd prolly hook up the booster before it hits my vcr..then output w/ composite cables

[ftothe3]

do the signal boosters put more power thru the wire? cause i see a plug attached to all of them.

whats better? something like this:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5...5Fid=15%2D1170

or

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5...5Fid=15%2D1195

[txpharoah]

The only good amps are ones that are powered by electricity. Walmart has a decent one for $25. Fry's has some nice ones for about $40.