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jtm
10-13-08, 01:10 PM
I am having a very strange problem with 3 OTA stations using an AM21. The New Jersey PBS HD station (NJN) broadcasts on channel 58-5. They also use 58-1, 58-3 and 58-4 for digital broadcasts. Recently, I get no picture with a "Searching for Signal " message on 58-5 (HD) as well as 58-3 and 58-4. 58-1 works normally. I have never had a problem for the past 2 years. Checking the signal level shows all stations at 100%. (The transmitter is about 15 miles away). My New York OTA's are all fine. I'm using a HDMI from the AM21 to a Yamaha RX-V1800 and then to a 50" Pioneer Plasma.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Grentz
10-13-08, 01:21 PM
Do you have another tuner on a TV or something that you can confirm that the sub-stations are still broadcasting?

It also might be that they changed their frequency assignment and Directv has not updated it yet (remember the OTA on the AM21/HR20 cannot scan, they just use the list given by Directv)
smassey22180
10-13-08, 02:34 PM
We are having the same issue with our HR20 on an OTA PBS in SC. It shows up in the guide but there is no signal. The TV OTA tuner gets this station fine. Both Savannah, GA and Charleston SC OTAs work fine. D sent a new HR21 to try to fix but have not sent the required AM-21 yet.

Although we live in SC, our OTA setup picks Savannah GA as the market. The PBS OTA is in SC and this must confuse the Directv software. You have a similar situation being set to a NY market trying to use a NJ station.
houskamp
10-13-08, 03:07 PM
you can add a second zip code also.. might try one near the station you are trying to get..
harsh
10-13-08, 03:17 PM
Is this another one of those part-time channels?

I can see where the system would be tearing its hair out if the subchannels keep coming and going. If it is a part-time channel, you might try doing your channel scan while the channel is active. The alternate market method frequently works and hopefully doesn't require that you find a station with as many subchannels.
bpratt
10-13-08, 03:23 PM
Is this another one of those part-time channels?

I can see where the system would be tearing its hair out if the subchannels keep coming and going. If it is a part-time channel, you might try doing your channel scan while the channel is active. The alternate market method frequently works and hopefully doesn't require that you find a station with as many subchannels.
You don't do a channel scan with the AM21, the channel is either there or not there from the guide data.
Grentz
10-13-08, 03:30 PM
You don't do a channel scan with the AM21, the channel is either there or not there from the guide data.

I think harsh was referring to the signal strength screen.
David MacLeod
10-13-08, 03:48 PM
I have an odd issue too, my local pbs on am21and my hr20 ota list 2 subchannels (12-2 and 12-3) and another whole channel (13 through 13-2) that have no signal.
these have been like this since I've had the dvr's and have never had any signal.
using tv's to tune they are not even there.
seems the guide is listing the items even though they don't exist.
Grentz
10-13-08, 05:53 PM
Yes, I have the same thing. There are some extra channels from close but distant DMAs nearby that I cannot receive, but are theoretically in my area and would may be be possible to receive with a big enough antenna.
Spoffo
10-13-08, 09:31 PM
I had a similar problem with an OTA channel vanishing coming out of the freeze/forced re-boot fiasco a week or two ago. After a while, it was clear that the OTA database of channel allocation was corrupted. The fix was to completely re-do the OTA set up, starting with "reset local channels" and entering the zip code. just as if you'd moved. This forces the HR20 to dump the bad database and download a clean copy.

It worked for me in making the invisible channel visible again, and another guy out here in the Bay Area confirmed it solved the same problem for him. Your problem may have a completely different cause, but it would be worth a try.
billsharpe
10-14-08, 11:04 AM
There's an OTA station in the LA area with eight sub-channels. Only one gives me a signal, so I just deleted the extra ones from the OTA list. Actually, I deleted them all, as the one signal that shows up is a foreign-language station.

My summary report shows over 50 OTA channels available. The ones I appreciate are the HD channels for PBS stations, which aren't carried as HD locals yet (and I wonder when THAT will happen?)