mbenonis said:
*Most
whip antennas require a
ground plane in order to work properly. While the details are complex (there are entire books on this topic), suffice it to say that you can't just slap an antenna on a cable and expect it to work - it will likely deliver poor to extremely bad performance compared to when it is attached directly to the receiver. If you are really interested in learning more, I suggest you get a copy of the ARRL Antenna Handbook - it's about $30-$40 and worth every penny if this is your area of interest.
That's very true. I'm a licenced
amateur radio operator and know more than the average joe about antenna theory. That
book is definately a fantastic read if you want to learn about antennas. It mostly covers ham radio HF communications (10 meters/29.7MHz and below), but there are some things in there about
VHF and
UHF communications. You may not have to buy it...your local library may have it; mine does.
I would advise against running a long length of cable. Keep it as short as you can, or use preamplifiers if you can't (expensive however). One thing you may want to research is the type of antenna you're using. The little whips on the backs of the receivers aren't the best antenna designs. You probably will have better luck with a properly tuned Yagi beam
array. They look like mini TV antennas that are mounted on their side. Yagis receive and transmit in a
pattern not unlike a
cardioid mic. The more elements the antenna has, the more directional it will be, and therefore the more
gain it will give you. Get four of these, they will likely be cheaper than buying two and a distribution amp. Lots of times the mic companies sell their own, but most of the time they are grossly overpriced. Look around. Antennas that have the correct frequency tuning and correct characteristic
impedance will most likely work with the correct
connector.
But I still vote for placing the receivers backstage if you need more signal. The only problem with this is that you can't easily troubleshoot them if something goes wrong with them while they're backstage and you're in the booth. But if that's not possible, use the antenna solution I talked about above.