Do TV Antenna Signal Boosters Work

[AAArdvark]

I live in a condo.  There is a PAL antenna connector on the wall which is connected to my TV.  Many, if not most, digital channels appear to be borderline.  They pixelate or cut out and are slow to open channels.

I was looking at a few antenna booster amplifiers that are about ฿500.  Do these things work?  The ones that I looked at have screw on connectors so I would have to use adapters which would cost me a db or two.

 

Here is one:   Booster Thingy

Edited April 26, 2019 by AAArdvark
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[johng]

18 hours ago, AAArdvark said:

I was looking at a few antenna booster amplifiers that are about ฿500.  Do these things work?

The amplifier will only counter signal loss that occurs from a long run of coax cable from the antenna to the TV it will/can not magically boost or improve a weak signal..that is the job of the antenna..if you have a bad or weak signal coming from the antenna the booster will not help.

 

You need the signal received at the aerial to be good and strong first

by using a bigger aerial/antenna.

 

in some cases  there can also be "interference"  so a  booster /filter is required

in my area they had to use one of these

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/digital-booster-for-digital-tv-antenna-with-gain-30-db-i258039582-s397773923.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.1.3ce635060Ys8b9&search=1

 

which has a 4G LTE filter.

[AAArdvark]

1 hour ago, johng said:

The amplifier will only counter signal loss that occurs from a long run of coax cable from the antenna to the TV it will/can not magically boost or improve a weak signal..that is the job of the antenna..if you have a bad or weak signal coming from the antenna the booster will not help.

 

You need the signal received at the aerial to be good and strong first

by using a bigger aerial/antenna.

 

in some cases  there can also be "interference"  so a  booster /filter is required

in my area they had to use one of these

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/digital-booster-for-digital-tv-antenna-with-gain-30-db-i258039582-s397773923.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.1.3ce635060Ys8b9&search=1

 

which has a 4G LTE filter.

Thanks, living in a condo, I have no control over the antenna.  The feed to each apartment is probably some form of CATV.

[johng]

6 minutes ago, AAArdvark said:

Thanks, living in a condo, I have no control over the antenna.  The feed to each apartment is probably some form of CATV.

In that case (unfortunately)  you will have to ask the management company to  investigate and fix the problem sometimes its easier said than done.

 

Do your neighbours have the same problems ?   its possibly a bad cable just to your condo unit

but if others  have the same problem  it makes that cause less likely..but it wouldn't hurt to  recheck all the cables/connectors you have access to for damage or short circuits.

 

[BritManToo]

Or you could bolt a TV aerial on your balcony.

Edited April 27, 2019 by BritManToo

[OneMoreFarang]

9 minutes ago, johng said:

In that case (unfortunately)  you will have to ask the management company to  investigate and fix the problem sometimes its easier said than done.

 

Do your neighbours have the same problems ?   its possibly a bad cable just to your condo unit

but if others  have the same problem  it makes that cause less likely..but it wouldn't hurt to  recheck all the cables/connectors you have access to for damage or short circuits.

Long time ago I had a problem like that.

The technicians needed their time but after a while they found out that the cable from the floor distribution point to my apartment was damaged.

Good luck!

[johng]

You can check if a signal is available and where to point an antenna and frequencies used

at this website.

https://dtvservicearea.nbtc.go.th/webpeople/

 

often it wont find your exact location unless you use a mobile phone...on the pc you need to zoom in on the map to your location then click on the blue tear drop icon on top right corner

them place mouse pointer over you location  and left click   then it will show you your nearest transmitter etc.