[time-nuts] Any reason not to use one power amplifier and splitter for distribution amplifier?

[Dr. David Kirkby (Kirkby Microwave Ltd)]

I was looking to make a 10 MHz distribution amp to feed test equipment with
the output of a GPSDO.

I see this

http://m.ebay.com/itm/201244302355

16-way Minicircuits splitter on eBay which I got for $40. I guess the loss
is around 12 dB.

I actually bought another for $35 which was similar but  one of them, the
isolation data made no sense,  so given their low cost I just bought both.

I suspect internally these 16 way units might have a pair of 8 way dividers
as there are two isolation figures,  depending on what ports one is
measuring between

Is there any reason not to just drive that with 22 dBm or so of power to
get 10 dBm at each of 16 ports?

Is 10 dBm an optimal value?

I see several distribution amp designs witb one amplifier on each output,
but is it just a lot less hassle to split a higher power amp.

I have a range of Minicircuits amps in my junk box in little enclosures,
which means a distribution amp can be built from just 3 main components

* PSU
* Power amplifier
* 16 way splitter.

That seems a *lot* simpler than many designs I see.

I was looking to feed it with an HP 58503A or similar device.

I do have an amplifier in my junk box which will produce 27 dBm. If I
combined that with 16 x 5 dB attenuators I could improve the isolation by
10 dB, but I am unlikely to find the attenuators cheaply, and buying new
would add at least $200-$300 to the price, for what I suspect is no
significant benefit.

Dave