# Channel Plus Video Amp



## Guest (Oct 25, 2007)

OK, this was bought when I built our house, but has set in the garage for 5 years. Now I want to use it for about a dozen runs. Connect to Direct tv signal, but will I need to adjust the power to each run? How? How many can I run off this amp? Thanks
Channel Plus DA-506BID 1x6 bi-directional


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Hi Randy and welcome to the Shack!

Here's some more info I found...



> DA-506BID: Bi-directional RF Distribution Amplifier
> 
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> 
> ...


I'm not familiar with this, but it appears you can run 6 outlets from this unit. You may could even split off of each output to 2 outlets each creating a total of 12 outlets.

It appears the gain is preset with no way to adjust it.

I'm not sure about satellite bandwidth though. I have no idea if it is in the range of this unit. Maybe someone else will know.

I'm going to move this to General Discussion.


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

Some amps work with satellite feeds, many do not. 

The LNB on the satellite dish is powered by a low voltage signal through the shielding, many amps do not pass this, or mess up the decoding/receive process.

But I've also seen inline amps work with satellites, so it can be a toss up.

That particular model looks like it was designed to send cable or OTA antenna signals over longer distances. However, it is just a booster. If you have a shorter distance and want to split it with a signal splitter in 2, it should be fine. For example, if the gain on it is 6dB and you split it on a shorter run with minimal losses, each leg of the run will be -3dB + 6dB/2 (the amplification split) for an even signal (0 dB). I'm simplifying the math, but I hope you get the idea.

In general, though, it's best not to use an amp unless you have to. So always try a regular splitter to see if it works.

All the above advice was for cable/antenna only. For satellite, the integrity of the power signal must be maintained, so special distribution switches and amplifiers are a must. It's a pain if you want to use existing wiring, but it's necessary or often none of the boxes get a signal.

I hope this helps. Good luck.


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