"Un-amped" is a bad word to some on here.. be careful! (lmao) ((eats popcorn))
It cost me $130 and countless hours reading for the Amp 101 class. (Worth it) Even though it all had pretty much been said already, I had to buy a meter ($130) and see it with my own eyes for it to click.
A couple sets of my 3W amps only boost the signal path 4 - 5% of 1W, which was set by the 11dBm worth of input the amp received from the P4 RC. That was my first lesson. Second was this...
Though these types of amps may help a bit in a interference free environment, any other place, IMNO (the N being 'new') you might as well hook straight up to the RC and have a lot less to deal with, (especially if in an area where distance/penetration isn't important, like up for quick pictures/video within VLOS) "UNLESS" your using a quality amp with AGC, (Automatic gain control) and band pass filters, which helps keep the output clean and constant on TX, and reduces the noise floor for a clean RX, (most important for us) which will help penetrate things like noise from other devices in the area, trees, rocks, buildings to a certain point, etc.... Pick your set-up for the situation your flying in. It's nice to have that choice and that choice is important to many here. Hope this helps. (How'd I do IBV? LOL)
Edit - More cable = more signal loss hence the need for signal boost to help make up the difference.
