Customer Reviews

PCT International CM7777 Titan 2 Signal Amplifier

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I purchased this amp over a year ago and found that it was just the ticket. I researched my purchase on several websites and determined this was the best within an afordable range (There was one overseas with less noise but it was over double the cost). I had a cheap amp from a home improvement store that gave me reception but with the upgrade to HDTV I was getting dropouts more than I would like. I purchased this amp and no more drop outs, it gave me a boost in 20 points on my Sony Bravia digital reception over the cheapo booster. I suspect the negative reviewer installed it wrong. There are separate inputs for VHF & UHF that you can combine to one input but if you do not you would eliminate your VHF channels (2-13) or UHF (13-69) entirely which would explain loss of these channels.

UPDATE 1 May 2010: With the analog shutoff now history, and every analog TV without a converter box or cable showing 68 channels of snow, the local strong station WMBC is now gone. I replaced the antennacraft 10G212 preamp with the CM7777. Due to three stations (7,11,13) moving back to high VHF I had to get a high VHF antenna. I got a Winegard YA1713. The 7777 has a separate VHF input which allows you to combine the two antennas with less loss than if you used a splitter.

The lower noise figure of 2dB allows me to get a stronger signal on my weak station (WNYW FOX 5). It still drops out a bit but it is better than with the Antennacraft preamp.

One more thing - just be careful when tightening the screws in the preamp (if you've opened it to switch from combined VHF/UHF to separate or to switch off the FM trap). I broke one screw because I tightened it too much.

Also don't use the rubber boots if you are using compression F connectors. They won't fit. Discard the boots and get some self vulcanizing silicone tape (rescue tape) instead to seal off your connectors. Compression F connectors are pretty water resistant anyway but the silicone tape adds that extra layer of protection.

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Old review:

I live in Northwest NJ (Sussex/Wantage), which is a deep fringe area because it is blocked by hills and 49 miles from the empire state building.

I am a ham radio operator and have an 86 foot tower for ham radio use. My CM4228 is there, as is this CM7777 preamp.

Build quality of this preamp is good. The casing is made of metal unlike many of the others which are cheap and made of plastic.

Performance is good. It helps me overcome the cable loss of 210' of RG6 cable and helps pull in the weak signals from New York and Philadelphia.

I like that it has separate inputs for VHF/UHF.

But this pre-amp made me lose channel 25-1 (physical 24) and gave me dropouts on some other channels which were previously dropout free. No matter how I adjusted the antenna it did not pick up these lost channels. Previously I had an Antennacraft 10G212 which pulled in almost everything. The Antennacraft is also about half the price of the CM7777. I suspect it can't handle the overload from the nearby (~15mi) WMBC analog which contains zero programming that interests me. The good news is that WMBC is moving away come 02/17/09 so hopefully it will get a little better.

Channel Master used to be a great company that had some really great products, when they were owned by Andrew Corp. I have quite a few products from Andrew and their build quality is excellent. But CM had to be sold off when Commscope bought out Andrew, and last I heard CM closed their last US plant this year. So unfortunately I think the once great company Channel Master will be gone soon. The name will remain, but the products just won't be the same anymore.

I've got to believe the reviewer that had problems didn't hook this thing up correctly or follow the directions. I did the same thing myself and the results were awful. When following the directions, however, the results are simply amazing. I get stations - both analog and especially digital that I couldn't get before. I didn't do a signal strength comparison, but I'm guessing that it must at least double the signal. I called Channelmaster and talked to a real person in North Carolina who helped me prior to the sale. I ordered from Crutchfield's and got the unit the next day with standard shipping. I'm getting signals that, according to [...], show that I'm 20 to 30 miles closer to the towers. I could not be more pleased, and would recommend channelmaster products and Crutchfields anytime.

I bought two of these units for use in a fringe area. One works as advertised and provides me with signal strength sufficient to lock stations from over 90 Km distant (line of sight) using a 19 dB Yagi antenna for the UHF combined with a 15 dB antenna for high-band VHF. I replaced a 15 dB antenna amplifier with the Channelmaster unit because of its higher advertised gain (23 dB).

Without any feed-line amplifier I get no usable signals. With the 15 dB amplifier I lock most but not all of the OTA signals in the UHF band but nothing in the VHF high-band. In particular I cannot lock the ABC and CBS affiliates that put their HDTV signals into the VHF high-band (7.1 and 13.1), and I cannot even detect the two VHF feeds from the PBS station (9.1 and 9.2) that are low-power and intended for local reception.

With the higher gain 7777 amplifier I can lock all the signals. Surprisingly I can lock the two PBS feeds in the VHF high-band. These are transmited at 100W ERP yet I get decent lock on both feeds!

The problem I had with the amplifier was that the first unit I received was DOA. Being a long ways away from vendors it is a pain to return for replacement. I noticed the F-connector on the power box was loose so I opened the box and determined that there are cold solder joints on the board. I resoldered these and now get 23VDC on the line, but the amplifier doesn't pass any signal. Opening up this box shows was a lousy piece of S&*t is inside. Surface mount components and sloppy solder joints all over the board. The Chinese manufacturer is evidently not doing any quality control. I kept this unit (for the spare PS) and tried again with a different supplier. The second unit works fine as described above.

If it works, fine. If not then be prepared to return it for a replacement and hope that you get one that was assembled on a day when the assembly slaves got a hot breakfast.

This is the pre-amp that all the others wish they could be. It has the lowest noise to boost available. If you're putting in an antenna, in the stix, this one pre-amp will be the difference between signal an no signal.

Using this together with a CM deep-fringe combination antenna, a DB-8 UHF-only antenna, and an old RadioShack combo antenna that just won't quit working. I'm combining the RadioShack and DB-8 with a channel combiner into the UHF input and the CM into the VHF input. Signal gained significantly. I'm on the other side of a 1000' hill which is between me and the transmitters at least 25 miles away, and am getting 18 channels (5 HD), not including the analog crap which I just can't watch anymore...

Being in a fringe area of reception, I purchased a XG91 high gain antenna. This did pull in some stations, but the 50-100 feet of RG-6 cable to get the signal to the TV with the antenna on the roof reduced the signal strength below what was required for viewing. The CM7777 comes to the rescue. A low noise, low loss, high gain amp is perfect for this situation, and I'm happy with the build quality and performance. This unit should outlast the antenna.

Using this Channel Master 7777 pre-amp made all the difference for us. It is far superior to the "Shack" pre-amp I spent almost as much money on. The 7777's low 2db noise and very high 28db gain is what we needed to overcome 100 ft of coax and our 30+ mile distance to the nearest Boston towers. Once powered up, our channel count went from a spotty 15 channels to a solid 26 channels plus some others that come in on good weather days.
We live in a valley with the tower obscured by the hills, plus many tall oaks and pines surrounding. Regardless, this pre-amp plus the Antennas Direct ClearStream4 antenna on the roof with a 10ft mast allows us to watch TV without a cable bill!!
I would recommend this pre-amp to anyone looking to overcome internal signal losses and will be buying another one for my father-in-law (even more distant than us).

I am very pleased with this product. I purchased a RS model and found no improvement (actually lost signal on some channels) and returned it. I purchased this unit and checked each channel before installation for signal strength and then again after. Most channels increased by from 1-3 bars (on a 10 bar scale) and channels that either didn't come in at all or or were on-again/off-again some days became steady. I have no complaints and would definitely recommend this product.

i had a old channel master preamp and amplifier and thought if i upgraded it would do better. the old one was about ten yrs old. i have trees all around my house. but i have a very large antenna and it rotates and it on top of my chimney. i am able to pick up about 25 channel but they come and go which was my problem with the old channel master system. the new system didn't help nor hurt me. except for 70 dollars and a half of a day of trying to get better reception. hope this helps someone!!