For anyone who has done any cable wiring, extending a satellite cable should be familiar territory. Whenever wiring runs in excess of 100 feet, an in-line amplifier may be used to maintain signal integrity.

The Signal Loss

Satellite TV uses RG-6 coaxial cables, a pretty common coax variety extensively use in many commercial and home applications. RG-6 can refer to a wide variety of cable design properties which differ in terms of shielding, center conductor composition, or dielectric type. For example, the “flooded” coax variety is infused with heavy waterproofing designed for outdoor use.

Due to physical resistance, a coax cable will lose signal and the extent of the loss will depend on the quality of the cable. Furthermore, signal degradation is expected when the coaxial cable runs more than 100 feet, with the loss approximately at 1.6 decibels at 55 MHz, 6.5 decibels at 1000MHz and 10 decibels at 2250MHz per 100 feet of cable. A cheap coax will lose a great deal more signal than the same length of high-quality cable. However, all coax will lose more signal at higher frequencies (2000 MHz or more) than at lower frequencies (950 MHz or less).

The cable’s resistance is further increased with more length added, requiring more voltage to adequately carry and produce a signal. And satellite TV signals are very weak to begin with. If it becomes too weak due to the length of resistance it has to pass through, you will not get a bad reception; you will lose it completely.

A satellite TV in-line amplifier may help alleviate this problem. By placing amplifiers in between the dish and the receiver, the signal levels can be increased to sufficiently reach the receiver. But take note, an amplifier can only amplify what’s there, including noise. That’s the very reason why amplifiers should be placed nearer the source of the signal rather than the receiving end, to lessen the noise that the coax has picked up. And most of the time, using a larger dish is better than using an amplifier.

In-line Amplifier Usage

Using amplifiers is as easy as fitting the F-Connectors to their respective sockets. Unfortunately, many people miss doing this the right way.

In-line amplifiers should be installed between the satellite dish and the receiver. If there is a multi-switch, the inline amplifier should be located in between the satellite dish and the multi-switch.

If the joint will be outdoors, which is most likely, use a liberal amount of silicone grease or petroleum jelly inside and around the plug to exclude air and moisture and prevent corrosion of the copper contact areas inside. Silicone grease is most recommended since petroleum jelly easily oxidizes. After this, wrap the entire joint with self-amalgamating tape to make the joint weatherproof.