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Old 6th Jul 2020, 9:10 pm   #18
Paul Stenning
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Cardiff
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Default Re: FM signal boosting

You should be aiming for quality not quantity. Just trying to get enough signal level to make the meter swing across or close the magic eye by amplifying is unlikely to help unless the tuners are insensitive. But even then the signal level alone is not going to get you good noise-free reception.

You need a reasonable signal-to-noise ratio at the aerial before you start amplifying and distributing otherwise you are just amplifying the noise and adding amplifier noise.

75 miles from the transmitter is too far to get an adequate signal-to-noise ratio for good clean stereo reception, so whatever you do will be a compromise. It may well be that less amplifying means less added noise and actually cleaner reception even though the signal level indicator doesn't do much.

Normally amplifying is to compensate for distribution and cable losses rather than strengthening a weak signal. The more ways you split a signal (without amplification) the less of the signal each receiver gets.

It would be worth trying the other transmitters in the area that others have suggested and see if either of them is better. Otherwise, short of moving house, there probably isn't a lot more you can do.
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