OTA Reception this evening sucks

[invaliduser88]

Last night all digital channels were coming in just fine. Tonight half the channels aren't coming in at all. The other half are coming it with a lower signal percentage.

Could there be something atmospheric affect reception in my area?

Nothing with my configuration has change since yesterday.

And don't blame the smoke in Denver for this one.

[Mark Lamutt]

Most of your stations in Houston are broadcasting at full power, aren't they? Here in Denver, 3 of the 4 digital stations are broadcasting at low power, and I'm finding that with 2 of them, the signal is a little lower than now than it was during the winter months, and one of them the signal is much lower than during the winter. In my case I believe it is because of the foliage on the trees, especially when it's windy. Plus, I see greater signal strength when the weather's colder than when it's warmer.

Atmospheric conditions certainly can affect uhf broadcasts. Of course, if it was really windy yesterday, if you have an outdoor antenna, it may have moved enough to cause your reception problems.

Probably not much help, but that's the best I can do... :)

[invaliduser88]

Looks like it was atmospheric, everything looked better this morning.

I may try and retune the antenna tonight.

BTW, the only station not at full power is PBS. According to an email that I received from one of their engineers, they have no plans to increase signal until 2006. :(

[Mark Lamutt]

Well, at least your other stations are full power. The only full power station we have is Fox - the others are all embroiled in a battle with the county where the towers are located to get the digital transmitters built. There is a coalition of about 100 homeowners in the area that are being reall PITA's about this and keeping us from progressing forward. We don't even have our NBC, UPN and WB stations on the air yet, although KWGN is still looking promising for a November launch.

[Kevin]

There is talk of a solar eclipse...perhaps that might be affecting OTA reception in some areas?

[DarrellP]

Full power won't gain you very much, but it certainly saves the stations a lot of money by transmitting at a lower power level. Their is only a 3db increase for each doubling of power, so even if your station is currently at 1/4 power, you will only gain 6db when they go full power.

[RJS1111111]

Originally posted by DarrellP
Full power won't gain you very much, but it certainly saves the stations a lot of money by transmitting at a lower power level. Their is only a 3db increase for each doubling of power, so even if your station is currently at 1/4 power, you will only gain 6db when they go full power.

But double or quadruple power can make a crucial difference!

[invaliduser88]

Got home tonight and the same problem was happening again. At the same time, my VCR's analog tuner works just fine. I've tested with the same piece of coax going into the vcr and the 6000. The 6000 is reseting more and more when access OTA HD content. I assuming that my offair module is going bad.

[RJS1111111]

Originally posted by invaliduser88
Got home tonight and the same problem was happening again. At the same time, my VCR's analog tuner works just fine. I've tested with the same piece of coax going into the vcr and the 6000. The 6000 is reseting more and more when access OTA HD content. I assuming that my offair module is going bad.

Otherwise another $150 to replace it?

[invaliduser88]

Yup, only 4 months old...

BTW, the Out of Warranty charge is $69.99. Better thatn $150.

[invaliduser88]

The Dish tech that I talked to was such an idiot. Didn't know the the 8VSB could pick up analog as well as digital. Kept claiming that due to the fact that a digital ch scan picked up 1 of the 6 that I previously picked up, the module was fine. Who cares if it was 30 points less of signal and all kinds of digital artifacts and that I couldn't detect a single analog channel or ch.3 when I tried to play a video tape.

I had to basically demand that they RA the current module and send me a new one.

And wouldn't you know it! They sent the wrong module! 8VSB module for a 5000 receiver. Guess I'll have to wait ANOTHER week before I get my digital TV back!:nono:

[Ontarian]

Atmospheric conditions are probably at the heart of your problem. There is likely some co-channel interference that is disrupting the digital signal. Its essentially a competing signal on the same frequency as your local station. It could be very weak but enough to cause a problem. Try tuning in analog mode to that UHF stations and see if you can pick up a transmission there at the time of your problem.

[invaliduser88]

Got a replacement unit from Dish. Problem fixed. Life is good again! :righton: