Channel Master CAPITOL SALES 8 Port Distribution Amplifier

I put up an external TV antenna last month, but I was not happy with the signal levels on some stations. On some stations I was getting pixelization in some rooms and no signal at all in others. I have seven jacks I wanted to feed, so the loss through the 6-port splitter was significant. (I originally fed only six ports, but now I have all seven connected.) Signal levels to the rooms are now more than 10 times higher than they were and I can get all the channels in all the rooms.If you're not a geek, you can stop reading now.I also happen to be using the RG6 coax to provide Internet in some rooms. I have a few MOCA 2 to Ethernet converter boxes and I wanted to keep using them, but this was complicated because I fed the antenna down the same coax line as the main Internet connection. If I had connected the antenna port to this amplifier as recommended, the TV signals would have improved, but I would no longer have Internet at the end-points because of the high isolation between the amplifier output ports and the antenna input port. I solved this with a "TV / Satellite" diplexer between the antenna and amp. The antenna fed the "Input" of the diplexer, while the "TV Output" of the diplexer fed the input to the amp. The "Satellite Output" of the diplexer is connected to one of the amplifier output ports. The MOCA 2 signals are > 1GHz so they get split from the TV RF signal in the diplexer, and then sent to one of the output ports of the amp where they can cross-couple to the other output ports (which are connected to other MOCA 2 converters) with only about 9dB of loss in both directions. (All the Internet paths are working great with this configuration.)

When our local Cable TV affiliate announced we would need a digital set box for EVERY TV in our home, even HDTVs to get BASIC cable service, I was dismayed. This is 2013!! All of my TVs are very high quality DIGITAL HDTVs, there is NO REASON on this earth anyone should need a digital cable box for BASIC cable tv reception. Furthermore they are planning to charge somewhere between $5 and $10 PER BOX monthly rental fees!! Let's just say I'd be looking at between $50 to $100 month EXTRA, plus basic cable fees and taxes and everything.Let's face it, cable TV is a dieing breed. With Roku boxes or Apple TV or Google TV or Internet HDTVs or wifi Blu-ray players, most of us now have access to Netflix for movies and older seasons of popular TV shows, Hulu+ for most current seasons (and many back seasons and even more movies) and Amazon's Prime instant moving streaming, we now only use "regular tv" for local news. We don't need to pay a cable provider $50+ a month for basic cable AND another chunk of change for each additional box, then also pay extra energy bills not only for the energy draw on each box but also the cooling bill as each box is generating large quantities of heat, too!Our cable tech stopped by to put a "cable tv filter" on our pole so it blocks any chance of converting back to cable tv without paying them (d'oh we have no intent to convert back to cable tv!) He pointed at the Channel Master and said their cable company used to use these distribution amplifier.Since we have more than 8 HDTVs connected to our antenna (cough), we have an amp piggy backed into an amp, unbelievably without any issues whatsoever. Good job Channel Master! I would definitely buy again and recommend to others. So much so I have created an Amazon Guide to "cut the cable" (accessible from my profile) which includes a link to this Channel Master amplified splitter.

We went to OTA a couple weeks ago and we have 5 tv’s that we wanted to keep going. After getting everything hooked up and going, I wanted to check out how much it was really helping. With an antenna in the attic we are getting 35 channels OTA. Unplugging the amplifier from the electric total channels went to 12 channels on all tv’s. Convinced me that it was going it’s job.

A little while ago, I went to to install a  C4-CJM Clearstream-4 Antenna  on my roof. I had successfully tested it indoors on a short cable directly to one TV. I was getting about 30 digital channels.However, once it went on the roof, it needed 100ft of coax cable to get down to my basement. I also put in a  TII 212 Lightning Surge Protector  to keep my equipment safe. The problem is, this all dropped the signal immensely. Even without a splitter, I was down to about 25 channels, with one of my favorites freezing up every now and then.Yet the whole point of getting it to the basement was because I wanted to split this out to multiple TVs. With a two-way splitter (-2.5db), it was still bearable. I went down to about 22 channels per TV. However, I wanted to split it up to 3 TVs. When I tried hooking up to every source in my house with an 8-way splitter (-12.5db), it was pretty much useless. A 4-way splitter (-7db) was somewhat bearable, but I did still lose a few channels. Furthermore, the channel that froze up every now and then was now freezing every 3 seconds.That's when I decided to go with this amplifier. As opposed to a loss of signal, the  Channel Master CM3418  promised 8-way splitting with a 4.5db gain. I went ahead and hooked this up with all 8 sources in my house (3 actually connected to TVs) and fired it up.The results were excellent! I'm back to 30 digital channels, and the one that flickered was coming in clearly on all 3 TVs!As for quality, the equipment seems well made and sturdy. I mounted it within my media box and was sure to hook up a ground wire. It all looks clean and organized. There is an indicator light to show that power is reaching the unit. The system came with a power adapter and a coax cable (about 3' long) to hook it up.Needless to say, I am very pleased. Excellent quality and excellent price. C4-CJM Clearstream-4 AntennaTII 212 Lightning Surge ProtectorChannel Master CM3418

Update -- 12/11/2016: I've been running with this amp for quite some time now. As my earlier review stated my TV distribution before this amp was done by splitting 2-way splitter through another 4-way splitter and I had pixelation issues on the Smithsonian Channel. As we passed from summer through fall into winter most of my problem dissolved. I still get very rare pixelation on some channels but it's no longer unwatchable as things were without this distribution amp. I'm now convinced that I had a problem which was sourced at the CATV company and exacerbated by my earlier setup.So far so good. I bought this to replace a 2-way and a pair of 4-way splitters in my house. After all splitters were considered the theoretical signal loss at my DVR was ~ -20db. I was having issues with signal pixelation on the Smithsonian Channel. In theory replacing my splitters with this amp would boost the CATV signal at my DVR to just -4Db. I have a 2-way splitter at the entry point, the cablemodem gets on side, the TVs share the other. Before I bought this, programming on the Smithsonian Channel would pixelate frequently for 1 ~ 2 seconds at a time. It still pixelates but it doesn't seem to on the programs that I want to watch. Thus, I believe that this amplifier has not completely solved the problem but it has improved things. I'll run a few more tests but I'm starting to believe that at least some of my problem is sourced at the Cable TV company.* Note well *I bought the 8-port version of this product. I have 8 active CATV drops in my house but only 4 TVs. If you have "dead" drops, I have 4, you want to be certain to terminate each those drops with a signal terminator like this:  75 Ohm F Terminator=4-Pack for Cable TV Connections . If you do not terminate the dead drops, an amplifier can create more interference and noise than you had before which makes your problem worse, not better. 75 Ohm F Terminator=4-Pack for Cable TV Connections