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Technical Details
- The BDA-S1 is a bi-directional cable TV amplifier designed for use in homes. Boosts signal by 32x.
- This is the commercial version of the Motorola Signal Booster 484095-001-00. It includes a power supply - no coaxial cables included.
- Amplifies your cable TV signal to dramatically reduce snow, graininess, digital pixilation and other picture problems.
- Meets all applicable IEEE surge standards for all output ports, which enhances system reliability.
- Weather seal and protective coating allow use of the amplifier for indoor or outdoor applications.
Product Details
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Product Description
There is nothing worse than having a great TV to watch your favorite programs, while having a grainy or pixilated (digital cable) picture. Motorola BDA amplifiers give your TV signal a boost while maintaining full compatibility with all of your cable services. Simply install the BDA-S1 where your cable or antenna comes into your house and begin enjoying a better picture, faster downloads, and a more reliable HD or Digital TV signal. With a name like Motorola, how can you go wrong? The BDA-S1 is fully compatible with all cable TV standards, cable boxes, cable modems, routers, HDTV and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this Motorola BDA-S1 and the PCT amp to try head to head. BTW, the PCT amp is also sold as a Channel Master product. The specifications of the PCT and Motorola amps are so similar that it seemed likely that they both contain the same integrated circuit.
PCT 1-PORT BI-DIRECTIONAL CABLE TV HDTV AMPLIFIER SIGNAL BOOSTER WITH PASSIVE RETURN PATH
This BDA-S1 certainly has the more impressive enclosure with its large, heavy and black enclosure worthy of "Tim, the tool man Taylor." However, nothing is inside of either product except one integrated circuit chip, so neither product is really superior to the other in that regard. The enclosure on the PCT is perfectly adequate.
Swapping out the Motorola and PCT amps a few times, I found that they performed identically on all stations, whether strong, extremely weak, or middle of the road. Both amps cleaned up the glitches on all of the stations that I expected to receive in pristine condition. Both amps allowed me to add one low power analog station that I couldn't receive without an amp. Neither amp caused any degradation to the quality of any station. Both amps produced identical signal strengths on all channels as measured by the on-screen signal strength meter of my plasma.
The short story is that I've given the PCT amp five stars. This Motorola BDA-S1 gets four stars for delivering the same excellent performance but at a higher price.
Read on if you're interested in the conditions of the comparison. If not, you're done.
I dropped Comcast as of June 1 in favor of broadcast HDTV and Netflix streaming. My antenna farm is located in the loft of a detached garage. Currently, my UHF antenna is the primary antenna, augmented by two VHF antennas that only receive one channel each.
WINEGARD HD9095P UHF High-Gain 39-Element HDTV Antenna
Antennacraft Y5-7-13
Winegard YA-1713 High Band VHF HDTV Antenna
There's a lot of wiring loss before the signal gets to the TV. The two VHF antennas are joined in a Monster Standard RF Splitters For CATV Signals MKII - 2 Way RF Splitter, the output of that is joined with the UHF in a Blonder-Tongue ZUVSJ, followed by 125 feet of RG6 quad shield through the detached garage, then underground to the basement of my house, and then on to the plasma. As the system has grown, I found that I needed to add an antenna amp.
The detached garage doesn't have electricity, so each amp was used in remotely powered mode. The amp being tested was placed just after the Blonder-Tongue ZUVSJ in the garage using a one foot jumper. Neither amp includes a power inserter, so the remote power was provided by using a Pico-Macom HLSJ as a power inserter from inside the basement of the house. I have 100 feet of quad shield between the power inserter and the amp. During the testing, I also had 25 feet of quad shield from the power inserter to the plasma.
Finally, pay no attention to the geniuses who insist that products like the PCT and BDA-S1 signal amplifiers cannot be used with broadcast HDTV signals. A good RF amp is a good RF amp. Both products cover the entire broadcast TV spectrum and then some, and both have an input noise figure of about 2.5 db. Both products deliver exceptional performance as antenna amps, exactly as their specifications would suggest. True, neither product is packaged for direct exposure to precipitation, but that's an entirely different matter from saying that they only work on cable TV. There is a lot of really bad advice in these customer reviews.
PCT 1-PORT BI-DIRECTIONAL CABLE TV HDTV AMPLIFIER SIGNAL BOOSTER WITH PASSIVE RETURN PATH
This BDA-S1 certainly has the more impressive enclosure with its large, heavy and black enclosure worthy of "Tim, the tool man Taylor." However, nothing is inside of either product except one integrated circuit chip, so neither product is really superior to the other in that regard. The enclosure on the PCT is perfectly adequate.
Swapping out the Motorola and PCT amps a few times, I found that they performed identically on all stations, whether strong, extremely weak, or middle of the road. Both amps cleaned up the glitches on all of the stations that I expected to receive in pristine condition. Both amps allowed me to add one low power analog station that I couldn't receive without an amp. Neither amp caused any degradation to the quality of any station. Both amps produced identical signal strengths on all channels as measured by the on-screen signal strength meter of my plasma.
The short story is that I've given the PCT amp five stars. This Motorola BDA-S1 gets four stars for delivering the same excellent performance but at a higher price.
Read on if you're interested in the conditions of the comparison. If not, you're done.
I dropped Comcast as of June 1 in favor of broadcast HDTV and Netflix streaming. My antenna farm is located in the loft of a detached garage. Currently, my UHF antenna is the primary antenna, augmented by two VHF antennas that only receive one channel each.
WINEGARD HD9095P UHF High-Gain 39-Element HDTV Antenna
Antennacraft Y5-7-13
Winegard YA-1713 High Band VHF HDTV Antenna
There's a lot of wiring loss before the signal gets to the TV. The two VHF antennas are joined in a Monster Standard RF Splitters For CATV Signals MKII - 2 Way RF Splitter, the output of that is joined with the UHF in a Blonder-Tongue ZUVSJ, followed by 125 feet of RG6 quad shield through the detached garage, then underground to the basement of my house, and then on to the plasma. As the system has grown, I found that I needed to add an antenna amp.
The detached garage doesn't have electricity, so each amp was used in remotely powered mode. The amp being tested was placed just after the Blonder-Tongue ZUVSJ in the garage using a one foot jumper. Neither amp includes a power inserter, so the remote power was provided by using a Pico-Macom HLSJ as a power inserter from inside the basement of the house. I have 100 feet of quad shield between the power inserter and the amp. During the testing, I also had 25 feet of quad shield from the power inserter to the plasma.
Finally, pay no attention to the geniuses who insist that products like the PCT and BDA-S1 signal amplifiers cannot be used with broadcast HDTV signals. A good RF amp is a good RF amp. Both products cover the entire broadcast TV spectrum and then some, and both have an input noise figure of about 2.5 db. Both products deliver exceptional performance as antenna amps, exactly as their specifications would suggest. True, neither product is packaged for direct exposure to precipitation, but that's an entirely different matter from saying that they only work on cable TV. There is a lot of really bad advice in these customer reviews.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
The cable signal entering my house is somehwat low power (we live at the end of a long line), then it gets split 2 ways to a cable modem and a main distribution amp, each getting -9dB of signal (per the cable modem diag page). Then one of the legs from that DA gets split another four ways. The lines directly off the DA had an okay digital and analog signal. The lines off the 4 way splitter had a rather noisy analog signal but no digital TV would detect any of the digital channels, much less attempt to pixelate.
I connected this amp just before the initial 2-way splitter. The cable modem indicated +3dB and the SNR of the digital signals were improved on the lines directly off the DA (although there was no visual difference of course). The lines off the 4-way splitter now have a very clear analog signal as well as sufficiently high signal to receive the digital channels.
Excellent amplifier and easy to install. The retail versions may include a coax cable for power, but this one doesn't but it provides for remote powering if you want to put it even closer to the pole (the closer the better, so you aren't amplifying the noise too) [you'll need a power inserted to do this].
I connected this amp just before the initial 2-way splitter. The cable modem indicated +3dB and the SNR of the digital signals were improved on the lines directly off the DA (although there was no visual difference of course). The lines off the 4-way splitter now have a very clear analog signal as well as sufficiently high signal to receive the digital channels.
Excellent amplifier and easy to install. The retail versions may include a coax cable for power, but this one doesn't but it provides for remote powering if you want to put it even closer to the pole (the closer the better, so you aren't amplifying the noise too) [you'll need a power inserted to do this].
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
When Comcast decided to do their digital transition, one of the DTAs would not activate properly. The only advice Comcast offered was to "remove any splitters." That was not really an option without losing cable service to most of the house.
After replacing the cable run to the problem DTA with new cable, I was now able to activate the DTA but the signal was still degraded to the point that several of the channels were unusable. Internet search indicated that the problem I experienced is not uncommon and suggested an amplifier.
Of course, Comcast will send a tech out to fix, but it is at homeowner's expense. I was not willing to pay them to fix a problem they created.
Installed amplifier--quick and easy. There was a comprehensive installation sheet, but it was not really necessary since amp inputs and outputs are well marked. Before installation, signal strength at the DTA input was about 15db with a S/N ratio of about 25. After installing the amplifier, the signal level is 1.5db and the S/N ratio is 37. Works great and I didn't have to pay Comcast to fix the problem. My only complaint is that I had to do it in the first place. My cable service wasn't broken before they implemented their transition. After, I have lost service to two TVs (unless I want to pay them extra for additional DTAs), I have a rat's nest of wires behind each of the TVs where I installed DTAs, and there is no particular improvement in service (unless you count several additional channels which are completely worthless.)
But this isn't about Comcast--it's about the amplifier.
Five+ stars. Solidly built, as you'd expect from Motorola.
If you're having problems after Comcast "improved" your service, I highly recommend you take a look at this solution.
After replacing the cable run to the problem DTA with new cable, I was now able to activate the DTA but the signal was still degraded to the point that several of the channels were unusable. Internet search indicated that the problem I experienced is not uncommon and suggested an amplifier.
Of course, Comcast will send a tech out to fix, but it is at homeowner's expense. I was not willing to pay them to fix a problem they created.
Installed amplifier--quick and easy. There was a comprehensive installation sheet, but it was not really necessary since amp inputs and outputs are well marked. Before installation, signal strength at the DTA input was about 15db with a S/N ratio of about 25. After installing the amplifier, the signal level is 1.5db and the S/N ratio is 37. Works great and I didn't have to pay Comcast to fix the problem. My only complaint is that I had to do it in the first place. My cable service wasn't broken before they implemented their transition. After, I have lost service to two TVs (unless I want to pay them extra for additional DTAs), I have a rat's nest of wires behind each of the TVs where I installed DTAs, and there is no particular improvement in service (unless you count several additional channels which are completely worthless.)
But this isn't about Comcast--it's about the amplifier.
Five+ stars. Solidly built, as you'd expect from Motorola.
If you're having problems after Comcast "improved" your service, I highly recommend you take a look at this solution.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Motorola Signal Booster BDA-S1
Boosts signal by 32x is a crock of crap. It's 2x, maybe not even that much. I must have received a unit that slipped by quality control. Does quality control even exist anymore? Read more
Published 4 months ago by Saved Forever
Works Great, Even with newly installed cable
We had our basic cable installed and the picture quality looked choppy. I was searched online and found that this amplifier was helping many people with older cable. Read more
Published 4 months ago by I. Martinez
Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but doesn't work at all for me
When I installed this between my cable box and the cable from the wall, it did nothing to improve the picture, so I tried it at the other end of the cable-where it comes out of the... Read more
Published 6 months ago by S. Scheide
Does what you hoped it would do
Comcast user in Ca. Running a cable modem and an HD box off 1 co-ax in (set-up was cable in - to junction box - to cable modem OUT and cable box from TAP). Read more
Published 7 months ago by Byron Thompson
Motorola Signal booster
The seller packaged this item very carefully and shipped it post haste. The product is excellent and did what it is advertised to do. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Trini-Dad
Motorola Signal Booster BDA-S1 1-Port Cable Modem TV HDTV Amplifier
It does help boost your signal significantly. Does not always help especially if your cable provider does not give you anywhere near the speeds they claim.
Published 7 months ago by Pops
Not happy....
I purchased this Motorola BDA-S1 and it died a few days after I received it. Amazon asked me to deal with the company that sold it through Amazon, CableTVAmps. Read more
Published 7 months ago by thomas marlin curry
Excellent Digital HDTV Antenna Amplifier
This Motorola BDA-S1 is an excellent amplifier. I'm using it with a digital HDTV antenna and am able to receive well over 20 channels perfectly. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Amazon Reviewer
Great product lacking good instructions
Using it on the first floor, next to the TV, it picked clearly stations 60-90 miles away (Windsor's CBC, Toledo's PBS - in the Metro Detroit area .. Read more
Published 8 months ago by L. I. Tobos
Worked for me
Using an InfiniTV 4 tuner with Windows Media Center (Windows 7).
Before adding the BDA-S1 booster:
signal level -26 dBmV
SNR 26 dB
After adding... Read more
Before adding the BDA-S1 booster:
signal level -26 dBmV
SNR 26 dB
After adding... Read more
Published 8 months ago by J. Vannoy
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