Thread: Bigger Dish
View Single Post
  #6 (permalink)  
Old 05-27-2006, 08:33 AM
N4ST's Avatar
N4ST N4ST is offline
Member
Super Newbie
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Jersey, VA
Posts: 45
Rep Power: 0
N4ST is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcturus
Rather than buy a new and larger dish, why not just boost signal strength with an in-line amplifier? ...
Depends. An in-line amplifier boosts signal and noise equally. If your signal is buried in background/electrical noise it still will be, no matter how much you amplify. A larger dish improves the signal-to-noise ratio (assuming it is pointed correctly) to lift the signal above the noise.

A properly functioning LNB has sufficient output to overcome normal coax losses back to your receiver. Typically you use an inline amplifier to compensate for longer than normal coax runs, or aging coax if you're too lazy to replace it.
Reply With Quote