Are those tv antenna boosters any good?

Question

Are those tv antenna boosters any good?

Answer 1

That depends on what you expect it to do!



If you expect it to magically pull in signals from distant cities, it will be a disappointment.



If you expect it to help you overcome problems with a long cable between the antenna and TV or a splitter to feed multiple TVs, then it may make you happy.



A "booster" is simply an amplifier. If your antenna isn't good enough to get a good signal, all an amplifier will do is amplify the noise and you still won't get anywhere. However, if you have a good signal, the amp can help cancel out losses from cables and splitters.

Answer 2

Your antenna is already amplified, but depending upon how far you are from the stations, something in your home may be snuffing the signal or you may need to put the antenna higher.



I am behind a 2 story office building 35 miles from Chicago transmitters and could not get much of anything on the 1st floor with various amplified antennas, or even on the 2nd floor. But a Zenith Silver Sensor antenna in a 2nd floor window boosted with a 30 dB Radio Shack antenna amplifier works well. It is a UHF only antenna, but also picks up upper VHF channels.

Answer 3

Yes they are O.K., but you have to have the digital converter box and an antenna that is good enough to pick up signal. The plus side to all this is that they pick up channels that your old regular one would not!