Channel Master Amplify - Adjustable Gain TV Antenna Pre-Amplifier, Built-in LTE Filter, 17-30dB Gain, Compatible with Non-Amplified TV Antennas, Increases Signal Strength, Indoor/Outdoor

I've been using a flat fractal-style TV antenna for my living room TV since about 2015 and it did a great job picking up local stations about 99% of the time. I later added a SiliconDust HD HomeRun into the mix so I could share the signal to all the TVs in the house via my Emby media server.Unfortunately, due to changes in the location of local broadcast towers, I had to locate the antenna in my living room in an annoying location for it to work properly. I purchased this amp and a 'matching' Channel Master STEALTHtenna (see my review on that product).I initially installed the booster in high-gain mode and went from 11 channels to 15! This was a great improvement - and it worked great... for a while.Fast forward to last week and I realized I couldn't tune in some of the local channels, but could still see some more distant ones. I pull out the iPhone and fire up "Signal GH" again and I see that the signal strength is 100% but my signal quality is really low. Since I've been working with TV antennas long enough, I see the problem and realize what an ID:10T I've been - and immediately proceed to flip the booster to low-gain mode.Now I get *25* channels many with 100% signal strength and near 100% signal quality. I can now see all the local repeaters that were interfering with the main signal. I also now receive several channels from over 100 miles away, past the local group of towers. I also now see a host of channels from about 65 miles away, picked up on the BACK side of the antenna. Of the 25 channels I can now see, about 17 are worth keeping in my channel lineup.So kids, the moral of the story: don't be like me and immediately assume that you need 30db of boost when 17db is plenty.-------------------------My notes on installation:Installation is a snap... assuming you've installed an outdoor antenna before. I mounted my new STEALTHtenna and pre-amp on the j-mount for my old satellite dish. (after removing the dish of course)I installed short (18-inch) pigtail cable between the antenna to the correct side of the pre-amp. Then connected the longer run to the indoors via a grounded lightning suppressor to the (included) power injector. The injector is powered by a USB adapter (cable and adapter included.)For the main run, I reused the high-quality quad-shielded RG6 I previously installed for my satellite dish. All terminations have good quality waterproof compression F connectors. I usually seal everything with waterproof tape for extra protection, but I couldn't find my roll of coax tape - so I may come back to that later if needed. Even the local cable companies never seem to use the tape anymore since THEY switched to waterproof connectors, so maybe I don't either.Using the included zip-ties, I attached the the pre-amp to the base of the j-pole below the antenna. I don't really like how it looks, so I may re-mount it later on - especially if I ultimately decide to install a taller mount or an extension pole.

I've been using the Channel Master Amplify for several years now, and it's hands down one of the best TV antenna preamplifiers out there. It has everything you'd want in a quality pre-amp: adjustable medium-to-high gain (17–30 dB), built-in LTE/5G/FM filtering to cut interference, and the flexibility of both power over coax and direct-connect power options.This preamp is designed exactly how a good one should be: it's meant to preserve and boost a good signal at the source, not magically create one from nothing. If your antenna isn't receiving a usable signal in the first place, no preamp—this one or any other—will fix that. The best a preamp can do is deliver to your TV the same signal quality your antenna is receiving at the source (e.g., if you connected your TV directly to the antenna outdoors).Some negative reviews here seem to misunderstand how preamps work. If someone installs this amp and still can’t get good results, the problem is likely the antenna or it's placement, not the amp. A negative review of this product only holds weight if the reviewer got clearly better results with a different brand amplifier—which I highly doubt in most cases, because physics is physics. This amp is top-tier in performance and features.For anyone who understands what a preamp can (and can’t) do, and installs it correctly (especially placing it close to the antenna), this is a fantastic piece of equipment. Highly recommended.

Works very well with Channel Master’s EXTREMEtenna 80. I am very happy with my purchase.I decided to put up an antenna after Direct TV decided to stop carrying the local Fox and NBC stations due to a contract dispute.I first purchased an antenna advertised to receive signals from 150 miles away. I used my umbrella stand and placed it on a pole on my deck. It didn’t work very well but I was happy it received the local Fox station so I could watch most of the Seahawks games again. I also received Telemundo and ION. However, I couldn’t get any other major networks. Hoping to get a few more channels, I purchased a Clearstream 2Max that I hooked up a Winegard LNA-200 Boost XT HDTV Preamp. Unfortunately, it didn’t do any better than my cheap 150 mile antenna. I then tried out a small RCA Yagi and connected it to the wine guard preamp. I ended up getting a total of 7 stations including 4 additional PBS stations. It would occasionally pull in another 9 stations including ABC and/or CBS, but not often. NBC was also impossible to get with the yagi setup.Determined to get more stations, I began researching how to get better reception. I learned a lot from watching You Tube videos by a guy named Danny Hodges. He has a You Tube Channel called Southern Ideas and it has a lot of good information about antennas including how to make your own. I did what he said and made an an antenna out of wood with copper whiskers. When I first tried it out with the Wineguard Preamp, I got 16 stations including CBS and ABC. I still couldn’t get NBC. It performed about the same as the RCA yagi except it did a better job maintaining the signal for CBS (i.e. the signal for CBS was much stronger and didn’t constantly disappear).While testing alternative antennas, I wasn’t paying enough attention and I connected the wire that was supposed to be going to the transformer on the antenna to the connector on the Wineguard preamp that’s was going to the tv. I also connected the wire that was supposed to be going to the TV to the other connector on the preamp. Unfortunately, I fried the Wineguard preamp.Because my homemade copper whisker antenna performed the best of all the antennas I tested, I decided to buy the Channel Master EXTREMEtenna 80 which was bigger but similar in design to my homemade antenna. I also bought the channel master preamp because of its variable db gain feature and It appeared to be fairly durable based on the reviews I read. Anyhow, I am so glad I bought Channel Master’s antenna and preamp. I live in a somewhat low lying area with hills around me and tv towers that are approximately 40 miles away. I now get 18 channels including all the major networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, etc. I now almost never lose reception of any of my stations other than occasionally losing NBC (channel 25.1 and its other station 25.3). Still NBC come in well most of the time. The antenna is still attached to the pole on my deck and I am no longer paying Direct TV $130.00 a month.