Dish 6000 OTA Questions

[Larry]

Is it normal for the OTA reception on a 6000 to fluctuate? I can have a 90+ strength one minute and after channel up or down get something in the 70's on the same channel. Of course, I am also getting signal breakup and loss on a few OTA channels. I don't want to rule anything out, but if I get 90+ my antenna should be OK. (It's new with digital quality RG6 going to the 6000.) The satellite HD is excellent. So, what does anybody think? Is it the 6000, the module, or what?

[DarrellP]

You're probably experiencing multipath. Do you have a clear shot to your towers? Or are there buildings, trees, hills in your way? How big/good of an antenna are you using? How is the Analog reception?

Where are you located, that is the most important question you need to answer.

[Larry]

I am in the Tampa, FL area. So there are definitely no hills to worry about. Actually, I think I have a pretty straight and clear shot to the towers. I downloaded info on direction from AntennaWeb.org and then used a signal strength meter to get the best signal I could (of course that doesn't mean I did a real great job since I was tweaking, checking the meter, and sweating profusely all at the same time). As the crow flies, I am probably slightly less than 30 miles from the towers.

I am using a Radio Shack VU-90XR antenna on the roof. It has an 80" boom and is rated at 90 Miles VHF and 70 Miles UHF. Since I'm splitting the signal to go to various places, I am using a good 10db amplifier in the attic (rated up to 1000MHz) that I got once upon a time from the cable company to boost the signal before I get to the splitter.

I should add that two of the digital channels here are VHF. NBC (8) broadcasts its digital signal on channel 7 and FOX (13) broadcasts its digital signal on channel 12. I'm not sure if most of my problems are on these two channels or if it only seems that way because they are the ones getting the most air time currently.

Thank you for your interest and response. Initially I wondered if this was perhaps just a quirk of the 6000, but from your response it looks like the problem goes deeper. Hopefully there is some help out there for me.

[Greg Johnson]

I'm not an antenna expert by any means. I did do my own install with very good results though. I think that amp you're using is your problem. You should get a Channel Master preamp model 7777 that is for VHF/UHF. I got all my stuff from Starkelectronic (http://starkelectronic.com/allamps.htm) Just scroll down a little and you'll see the 7777.

Greg

[Mike Richardson]

Disconnect the amp, and then temporarily use couplers to have the output of your antenna go to only your 6000. Then see if it breaks up, etc.

[nostar]

I think that multi-path (ghosting) is the most likely problem, as was already stated. At 30 miles from the towers, I don't think you need much amplification, just a good roof top u/v antenna. Do you have a rotor? How do analog channels 8, 3, 10, 44, 38 and 13 look? Is there ghosting? If so, the digital signal probably is ghosting as well.

I know WTSP (CBS) channel 10 (digital 24) is in Holiday, Fl and may require a rotor for optimum reception.

Also, I think that I would temporarily eliminate the amp and the splitters to see if they may be contributing to the problem.

[boba]

The 8VSB in the 6000 isn't the best tuner out there but it is adequate for your thirty mile distance. The fluctuation in your signal reading suggests some type of interference, possibly generated in the amplifier circuit or coming in over the air. I agree with other posters first run the antenna straight to the 6000 if the signal stays stable you problem is probably the amp. If the fluctuation is still there it probably is coming in over the air, a reflected signal a distant station skipping in, or hardest to combat something locally generating a signal. If it is over the air the easiest solution may be a larger antenna that is more directional.

[DarrellP]

I'm about 30 miles from my towers and I have an external splitter that runs the signal to the bedroom, then inside my HT room, it splits again to: 1)TV, 2)6000, 3)VCR and I am not using an amp and have a great signal on analog and digital, UHF & VHF.

[Larry]

First of all, continuing thanks to all who responded. When I got home from work today, I lost the amp and connected directly to the 6000. The signal went away a few times and again I noticed that doing a channel up and channel down would vary the signal strength and that it seemed to stay right around whatever strength was there when I got a good lock. Then the weather got cloudy, the signal increased, and everything is grand. I left the amp out of the circuit, but replaced the splitter. Right now there are no problems. In addition, the pictures on the analog channels are super, so I have to believe I did a good job on aiming the antenna. My friend is going to bring his 6000 over this weekend and we should be able to rule out more things then.

BTW, nostar you are correct about channel 10 and Holiday. I live close enough that I do get a signal from my antenna even though it's pointed in the wrong direction, but the signal really is borderline. I might need to add an additional yagi to really get it right, but first things first. ;)

[wiz]

The Stark Electronics does offer a good selection of amps online. Be sure to check the specs, an amp with 10db of gain might have 8 db of noise. Its best to go with the least amount of noise, say 2 db. The noise in the gain can result in a worse picture.

[registeredUn]

My 6000 exhibits the same behavior but it doesn’t seem to affect the quality of the picture as the signal strength creeps back up after a few seconds.