Electroline EDA-FT 08300 8-port TV Signal Booster/Amplifier with Active Return Path

by Electroline

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000F3NFPY
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 10, 2008

Product Description

The EDA-FT 08300 Flat-Top amplifier is designed to amplify an incoming analog or digital off-air signal, as well as CATV signal by 3 dB over 8 ports; 0 dB return loss means that each room of a house can use interactive CATV programs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great unit, works well, unnecessary warning in the box, January 26, 2008

By 

Jeff Lindborg (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Electroline EDA-FT 08300 8-port TV Signal Booster/Amplifier with Active Return Path (Electronics)

I purchased this unit because I have two analog feeds and two QAM digital capture feeds (via an HDHR unit) that I use in conjunction with SageTV for recording television. I also have a cable modem so there's a couple splitters involved. I did purchase good passive splitters (Monster 2 and 3 ways), however the QAM signal quality levels and the modem performance were not ideal.

I got this model because of the cable modem support. Imagine my surprise when the first thing to pop out of the box is a note from the manufacturer that it's best to put your cable modem on it's own line off a splitter and not hook it up to this unit because some signal loss may occur. What the..?!?!? After ranting for a while and generally annoying my wife with my whining I hooked it up anyway and took some measurements. Fortunately their warnings are not necessary - they may want to think about rewording that little note a pinch.

Here's the hard numbers:

The QAM capture signal strength using a Monster 3 way split off the single line coming in my house (I have no up stream splitters - it's all centralized in closet) for the HD ABC feed had a strength of 88 and a signal quality of 92. Putting the one line as the feed into the 8 port amplifier and running the QAM ports off of it the strength jumped to 92 and the signal quality hovered around 94. Nice. Doesn't sound like a huge deal but for HD QAM captures it makes a difference.

I didn't notice any different before or after with the analog channels - I wasn't having a problem with those.

The cable modem was the item I worried about. Downstream from the splitters it was pretty bad - anything would be an improvement. With the outside cable plugged into the Motorola modem directly downstream signal to noise ratio was 38.6 dB (higher is better, anything over 30 and you're aces), the down stream power is .2 dBmV (fine) and the upstream power was 42 dB (anything less than 50 and you're fine). After running it through the 8 port amp the downstream noise ratio was 38.3, down stream power 1.7 and the upstream power stayed at 42. All dandy numbers. I checked the speeds at several sites before and after and they all averaged about 10 meg down and 1.5 meg up across the boards - virtually no difference. Just about exactly as good as a direct connection and much better than down stream from a passive splittler, even a good one.

So - short version I'm extremely happy with the purchase but I'd suggest to the fine folks at Electroline that they rethink their warning note in their box so as not to tick folks off too quickly for no reason.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is The Cable Amp You're Looking For..., August 26, 2007

By 

J. Rains (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Electroline EDA-FT 08300 8-port TV Signal Booster/Amplifier with Active Return Path (Electronics)

I've been using a combination of the 2-Way amps from Radio Shack to boost my Comcast cable signal for 2 HD + 4 Plain Digital Cable boxes + 1 Cable Modem. The results were spotty and inconsistent at best. I knew I needed to invest in a real professional grade amplifier in my new house, but had no really good source for good information and feedback about the various products out there. Actually, now I'm glad I put off the decision until now, because this particular model is very new and the only consumer-level amp I could find with the 0db Active Return feature. You need to read up on this function and understand why it's so important. I replaced all my old amps with this one 8-way and the difference is AMAZING! Channels that were fuzzy and sometimes unavailable on some boxes are now all crystal clear from 2 - 800+ consistently. My On-Demand services that were hit-and-miss before the amp are now 100% available every time on every box! The other great result is a 2x - 3x jump in the performance of my cable modem service. The importance of having proper Bi-Directional amplification with today's cable technology cannot be over-stated! This amplifier does the job...for the investment of a 1/2 month cable bill. Fantastic!

Save the time and money (in the long run) and just invest in a quality box that will make your investment in cable services perform the way they should. I think a lot of people who think they have "cable service" problems actually have "cable signal" problems. Save yourself the frustration and install this amp where the cable enters the house and let it give you the signal strength you really need to all your cable boxes and your cable modem. I'm so glad I took a chance on this one and that's why I wanted to share my experience. I hope it will save someone the time and frustration that I went through to get a great solution!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Got Digital Cable + Multiple Feeds?, October 13, 2007

By 

SeibelWerks (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Electroline EDA-FT 08300 8-port TV Signal Booster/Amplifier with Active Return Path (Electronics)

This product fills a gap in cable technology caused by the new Digital Cable Services. If you have more than one source of Digital Cable, DVR, or Cable Modem you need this product. Here are some key points learned:

*Digital services require a return signal for access permission by the cable company. The return signal must not be amplified.
*Splitters reduce both incoming and outgoing signals.
*Long runs also reduce signal strength
*Amplifiers coupled with splitters still interfere with return signal.
*Cable modems should be split off before everything.
*75 ohm Terminators should cap off all unused connections.
*Install a lightning surge protector for your incoming line. Make sure it's grounded.
*Unsupervised Outsourced Cable Service companies do not have the customer's best interest in mind. I have a collection of 4 unsuccessful splitters that were installed by their technicians.

This RF amplifier/splitter provides strong signal to 8 sources without interfering with access permission. My cable modem access speed has increased, not because of this product but because previously it was connected through a 4 way splitter. This product is industrial grade, looks tough and works well. Standard cable wire connections on the unit and the low voltage power adaptor gives great flexibility in locating the device by allowing you to run coax cable from a power source to the unit.