OTA Reception: Please HELP! :(

[KostaVan]

Hi,

I read these forums often and have finally registered.

I am having difficulty receiving any OTA channels. I have a Channel Master 4228 mounted on the roof and a Channel Master Preamp 7775. I live in Tuscaloosa, AL and am attempting to receive OTA signals from Birmingham which is 47 miles away. The cable run is 140 ft on RG6. I can't get any signal at all and was hoping there was something I wasn't doing right. I have already missed superbowl and hope not to miss March Madness in HD. Please offer advice on what I can do. If there was a local person I could call I wouldn't mind paying Installation fees to get this thing working.

Thank you in advance.

-KostaVan

 

[oljim]

Is the station full power? why do you have 140 ft of cable, is cable a going stright to ant or do you have diplexers.

 

[KostaVan]

Thank you for your quick reply. The antenna is on top of the barn in the back and I have to run the cable into the house and to the receiver. Cable goes from antenna to mast mounted preamp thing to preamp power supply to receiver. No diplexers or that type of stuff. It is using a seperate cable than the Dish. Thanks

-KostaVan

 

[KostaVan]

I am currently trying to get this thing to work....i layed the antenna back down on the roof facing the sky (no preamp installed) and come back inside. For no apparent reason i put the Frequency on 3 and find signal at 75-80. But this is VHF and I come to find this tower is 22 miles away!! The antenna is still laying down...what is going on? This is the only signal I have been able to get btw.

I also just figured out I get Frequency 7 at 80 (with antenna facing the sky) which is also VHF. This tower is 3 miles away

 

[oljim]

what do you use for HD tuner, do you pick up the local 5-1

 

[KostaVan]

I don't get a lock on 5-1 when trying to scan channels. I am using Motorola supplied by VOOM.

 

[rad]

Have you gone to www.antennaweb.org to see what channels your digital stations are on so you can concentrate on your CBS stations (to get the NCAA games)??

Another thing you can try is to tune an analog tuner to the channel the digital station you're trying to get to see if another analog station is interferring with what you want. If it is try to minimize that interferance and then see what happens on the digital station.

BTW:I thought VOOM was supposed to set their customers up and get then running for OTA ATSC stations, if that's correct how about going back to them and have them fix it???

 

[KostaVan]

The channels i am trying to receive (CBS) are outside my local channels. I have tried to tune only to CBS frequency with no luck. I just don't understand why its picking up VHF but no signal on UHF from birmingham.

 

[oljim]

To get CBS 42-1 you need to tune in ch30 DTV. Have you checked your conn. on cable, and check for voltage on cable at end where it hooks to amp at ant. No voltage will kill signal from amp
You should get all the stations from Birminham with the 4228.

 

[KostaVan]

oljim...

Thanks for your response.

I am trying to tune into 30 to receive CBS. How do I check for voltage? I bought a meter but don't think I know how to work it. Does the amp have to point towards the signal and be mast mounted or is the amp just electrical amplification? I dont have it mast mounted yet because I am trying to just pick up a signal before I make permanent installation. Thanks.

-Kosta

 

[slapshot1959]

Just checking,are you sure you have the correct side facing Birmingham? I just put one of these up and had it turned the wrong way and got nothing.

 

[KostaVan]

I have the side with all the prongs and everything facing birmingham and the wire fence facing away.

 

[KostaVan]

I am now getting 87 signal from CBS. But when I scan the channels it doesn't come up. I took the VOOM receiver from home in Florida to college in Alabama...can i still receive locals in ALabama or does this cause a problem? The receiver was previously scanned for channels in florida. Anyone have an idea? Thanks everyone.

 

[oljim]

I would remove all chs in memery and rescann

 

[oljim]

To ck voltage, center wire is pos. 16-20 V and sheald is grd, put anp on back or on pole just under ant.

 

[oljim]

You should also get NBC 13-1 DTV 52/FOX 6-1 DTV50/PBS 10-1 DTV53 and your local ABC. I would rotate ant for max signal when you get it up.

 

[KostaVan]

How do I remove CHS in memory?

I think the problem is that this box is programmed for Florida so when I brought it to Alabama the DMA map doesn't match. Is there a way to fix this so I can use the VOOM box to decode OTA signal or will I have to purchase a seperate tuner for OTA? Thanks.

 

[oljim]

No sure about voom, does manual say anything about it? Should be able call voom and ask. My Dish 921 can remove any or all DTV ch ,same with my Sami T-151 STB

 

[erh1117]

help -- hd ota issues

This may or may not belong in this forum...

I'm getting my Denver local digital channels using via the DISH 921 and a rooftop antenna. I get all but my local ABC affiliate fine off a rooftop Yaggi. I got greedy though and wanted ABC, so I added a DB4 aimed at ABC and combined the signals with a combiner. Now I have severe but sporadic multipath (I guess).

The symptom is that I'm having issues with the signal strength jumping up and down between 70 and 0 and then no picture. This happens on a variety of channels broadcasting from a variety of locations at different times of day and different dates. Sometimes all channels come in fine. Other times, I will lose Channel 2, 9, 7, or 31 (their digital channels) in this same manner.

I've had DISH replace the 921. Same result.

My antenna is a rooftop yaggi type with a combiner to a DB4 so I can get channel 7. No preamp or amp. Don't know the gain.

I'm told this could be "multipathing," but what baffles me is that things work well for a few days, then crap out again. Random times. Random channels. Random weather conditions. Also, I've tried an inline attenuator to dumb down signal strength in case one OTA was overwhelming another.

Some people have suggested to me that it might be the fact that I'm connecting two antennas and that it is the combiner. Is that correct? They suggest using a separate cable run off the Db4 for one channel (my tough to reach ABC affiliate) and the Yaggi for all other channels, but an A-B switch , not the combiner.

An installer has suggested removing the combiner and Diplex the signal from the two antennas on my roof and then separate them again at the TV putting an A-B switch between them to toggle between the DB4 (channel 7) and the Yaggi (all other channels). Yet, someone has also opined that this still would be mixing signals at the same frequency - there would be no way to reseparate them.

I didn't install it or the DISH and don't plan to get on the roof. Unfortunately, the guy who installed the DISH system knows less about antennas than my eight year old niece. And, who knows if the problem is reproducible when he’s here anyhow.

So, does anyone out there: (1) have any idea about solving the problem or (2) any good antenna experts here in the Denver area?

Or am I wasting my time because it is really a 921 issue due to the known crappy stability of the 921's terrestrial tuner (see http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=3951). If so, will L213 fix it?


Please respond to my email address erh1117@eazy.net