My fellow villagers periodically turn to me with one common problem: the antenna with the amplifier suddenly stopped working.
Due to the fact that we have more than 50 km to the city, it is clear that without a good antenna with an amplifier, there is nothing special to catch here. The vast majority of the local population has LOCUS antennas, broadband, MV and UHF bands, based on a multi-element wave channel, with an integrated amplifier board.
The Ufa television center is still broadcasting 14 analogue channels, and many residents of our village already use this antenna to receive digital TV, which means that it makes sense to tinker with the repair of this amplifier.
Although the word “repair” is incorrect in this case, it’s rather “replacement with a similar one”.
The fact is that the amplifier board from the LOCUS antenna is on sale in some electronics stores, but for about 200 rubles apiece, and after replacing it for more than a year, for some reason it does not work.
Therefore, leaving quality issues on the conscience of the Chinese manufacturer, I chose other, inexpensive, and, as it turned out, more reliable SWA antenna amplifier boards for repairing these antennas.
Here is our hero - SWA 9999 antenna amplifier board.
It should be noted that the best results are obtained using the following board models: 9001, 9501, 6000, 3501, 2000, 9999 (listed in order of deterioration in gain quality). SWA cards with other numbers will not work, they are designed for other frequencies and have a weaker gain.
And this is the burned-out LSA-417 board from the antenna.
Side contacts are still useful from our motherboard, so we solder them.
We solder two copper single-core wires in insulation to the new board.
Thin shielded wiring from the decimeter section of the antenna is soldered parallel to the output of the balancing coil. Accordingly, the central core to the input capacitor of the board, and the braid to the earth bus.
The wire from the antenna body (white) is also soldered to the earth bus of the board.
To prevent the parts on the board from touching the antenna mount, we put a piece of plastic between them.
We connect the drop cable and insert the new amplifier board into the antenna box.
We solder the wiring from the board to the previously saved side contacts, insert them into the same place, then screw the side vibrators of the MV range to them.
We close the standard cover on the latches and tightly wrap the connection with electrical tape.
We connect the antenna to the TV and check the reception of channels right here on the ground. At least three to four of the most powerful channels must be received (albeit with interference). The local Bashkir canal, for example, is received directly on the ground, in color and without interference. Well, after checking, you can climb up to the roof or lift the antenna on the mast.
Thus, the low cost (56 rubles) and the ease of installation of the SWA board allow you to quickly restore the performance of the antenna.