Should I buy an amplifier?

Lanhavoc · EVDO Newbie Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 9

Well I have to say I'm super happy with my USB720.. Just by positioning the modem near a window with an extended USB cable I can get -80 to -78 dbm and 3 bars.. speeds around 800k.

My trucker omni antenna arrived last week and I have it mounted on the roof in the best place I could find. I was a little disappointed to see I could only get slight gains with it.. I normally bounce between -77 and -75, and whenever it hits -75 I get 5 bars and around 1100k downloads. That being said, and assuming my antenna is in the best position possible, is there any way to maximize that gain or improve upon what I already have? Would I be an ideal candidate for an amplifier, or would another option be better?

There's a treeline between my house and the tower which could be causing some signal loss, however the treeline is around 100 yd. from the antenna.

Ideas? Thanks!

xrayman · Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:08 pm Post subject:

An amp may very well provide the added gain that you are looking for. Many have had much success using one. Another option is a high gain directional antenna. An Yagi directional antenna has been used by many to get higher signal strength without the use of an amp. If Verizon is using PCS frequencies in your area another directional antenna that has very high gain is the Reflector Grid antenna. It was test by n6gn on this forum to have an gain of 23.5 dBi at 1.9 GHz. With any antenna you will need to use low loss cable like LMR400 or LMR600. Using cheap antenna wire you will lose most of the signal gained by the antenna. Below are some threads with info about the grid antenna. An amp is easy to try. Just hook it up to the antenna you now have. Hooking up an directional antenna requires more parts, added work to installing and to point correctly but it could produce the added signal strength you are looking for without the expense of an amp.
http://www.evdoforums.com/thread7145.html
http://www.evdoforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=5106
http://www.evdoforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=6794

Lanhavoc · EVDO Newbie Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 9

Thanks so much! I may very well try the amplifier first. The price seems a small thing when I think about how much money I threw away on crap WildBlue service for over a year. Laughing

As a last resort I'll try the directional antenna. I'm not very fond of crawling around on the roof looking for the perfect signal, but I'll do it if nothing else works...! Razz

childsj27 · EVDO User Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 36

I just put one on ebay (320205301621) a maximum signal ca 819.
I am changing to dsl. It got me 5 bars 7 miles from the tower using it
with a yagi.We don't have evdo yet but it has been flashing on and off
for the past 6 months.
Yes it will help a bunch.
Joe

Capt Ron · Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:31 pm Post subject:

Can't remember where I read about it but one person use an old Dish Network satellite dish behind his antenna to focus the signal. He reported good results with the method. He had mounted his antenna at the focus point, which is at the end of the arm where the LNA is normally mounted. He made his antenna directional with out spending a lot of money.

As someone else pointed out, you need to use cable with less loss if you have a very long run. A good rule of thumb is, if you add an extension to the cable that came with the antenna, you need better cable with less loss.
_________________
Ron