What are your signal levels on the CBS, NBC and Fox channels as reported by your TV?

 

My tv doesn't tell me that.

 

I'm fairly sure that signal strength reporting is a required feature. The information may be buried in the "add channel" submenu.

If not, what is the make and model number of your TV (or its associated converter box)?

 

Do you happen to know which model of OTA adapter you are using? Some of them perform better than others. The one with the best performance (as reported by many people) is the newest white AirTV dual-tuner OTA adapter.

Just a shot in the dark, but it is possible that you could have LTE interference. Some OTA tuners do a better job of handling that than others. I have a spare LTE filter I could send you, if you would like to try adding that, to see if it improves your signal / scanning at your receiver.

 

The signals on the dish I get are 85 to 95. I have a booster and filter on it. Just received a new adapter from dish 3 weeks ago.

 

I'm wondering if the booster is too much for the dongle. Too much can be as bad as too little.

Did this OTA adapter replace a previous adapter and everything else stayed the same?

 

That's not it. Only recently put the booster on and it raised my signal by 20 points.

 

Do you happen to know which model of OTA adapter you are using? Some of them perform better than others. The one with the best performance (as reported by many people) is the newest white AirTV dual-tuner OTA adapter.

Any chance to see it ?

 

The OTA dongles from Dish are not equal to the tuners in most TVs. You could also say that about the MT2 plugin module for 722K.

That being said - you need to do everything possible to really use them. GOOD antenna, good RG6 cable, possibly good preamp and / or distribution amp, etc. But as stated above - too much is as bad as too little.

Start with sites that offer info on where your stations are in relation to your location. www.rabbitears.info is a good one that was put together and maintained be a fellow enthusiast, and it provides more info (extracted from the FCC's database) than the commercial versions. I'm thinking that even at 10-20 miles from my stations, I need to look at upgrading some of my OTA distribution.

 

Is this the airtv adapter everyone says is good? It will work with the dish hopper?

 

Is this the airtv adapter everyone says is good?

This doesn't look much like my AirTV "dual" adapter.

I' It will work with the dish hopper?

It might but I'm not sure it is the model you want.

The AirTV dual adapters are miserably hard to find as they've been out of production for quite a while.

 

I have had problems with my OTA Dish recordings showing up pixelated. DISH has no remedy, but it started several years ago when Dish had a software upgrade. It seems sporadic--sometimes if I restart the Hopper with Sling, it works ok. Not sure which generation of OTA adapter I have--but tried plugging it into various USB ports. Signal strength from OTA antenna is very strong on all channels (which are many more than if I paid $12/month for DISH locals). Watching them live is flawless.

One issue am not sure if could be part of the problem. When I reduced my receivers from 2 to 1, the adapter coming straight from the DISH outside, had 2 sets of outputs, but now only need one but imagine need DISH tech to come out and do this.

There are several other internet-related boxes sitting just above the DISH receiver--Fibernet hub, then ethernet switch and a Calix router (used to use Linksys Velop router and thinking of going back to it). Any ideas on all these various issues?

 

I have had problems with my OTA Dish recordings showing up pixelated. DISH has no remedy, but it started several years ago when Dish had a software upgrade. It seems sporadic--sometimes if I restart the Hopper with Sling, it works ok.

One possible workaround is to set an AutoTune timer for the show that comes on before the show you want to record on that OTA channel. This seems to "wake up" the OTA tuner and give it time to resolve the pixilation issue before the recording starts.

Another option would be to simply upgrade to a newer OTA adapter. People who had the exact same problem you described were reporting much better results shortly after they switched to the AirTV dual-tuner OTA adapter. For whatever reason, that seemed to fix their issues.

 

AT least one on the main board of IRD

 

Not helpful.

 

I have a Smart TV in the basement hooked up to my antenna and pickup over 30 channels without moving the Antenna. I have the same Antenna hooked up to my Fabulous Hopper and get maybe 6 channels, that in my opinion “Sucks”! I guess Dish wants you to buy more packages, but most of my local channels are not available to me because I’m in the wrong zip code! Over my Antenna connection to my Smart TV, I’m picking up stations from over 75 miles away, wonder why the Hopper Connection can’t, sounds like a Update is in order DISH!

 

I have a Smart TV in the basement hooked up to my antenna and pickup over 30 channels without moving the Antenna. I have the same Antenna hooked up to my Fabulous Hopper and get maybe 6 channels, that in my opinion “Sucks”!

The difference between my Sony TV and my HWS with a black AirTV dual-tuner adapter is one low-power station and the two local NEXTGEN TV stations. I get 56 channels on the Hopper and 64 on the TV (six of which are the ATSC 3.0 stations). While not perfect, it is certainly great.

 

Perhaps we will see a picture of its PCB and will find out what tuner chips used there.

 

How is this going to do anything more than add to your personal pile of minutiae?

psanrules' offer notwithstanding, chances of obtaining an AirTV dual tuner model are small. This thread is about improving the situation, not determining what the devices are made of.

 

3-23-2023 at 12:49 PM - PDT

@psanrules

I would be GREATLY interested in your Dual OTA Adapter by AirTV. I DO NOT want to take it apart, I actually want to try replacing my Lark Dual OTA Adapter that I just got a couple weeks ago. I didn't realize that the Dual OTA Adapter Manufacturer actually made a difference. I bought my Lark version from Amazon. I thought, when I bought the Lark, that the OTA Antenna did most of the work, NOT the DISH Dual OTA Adapter.

How much do you want for the AirTV unit?


TimeLord04

[EDIT:] 3:55 PM - PDT

@psanrules

Thanks for EVERYTHING. Can't wait to get this AirTV Dongle in my hands!


TimeLord04

 

Your AirTV dual-tuner OTA adapter is on its way, TimeLord04. Enjoy!

 

3-24-2023 at 2:14 PM - PDT

@psanrules

Thanks, again, and thank you for the prompt shipping.


TimeLord04

 

Just curious if the AirTV dual OTA adapter worked for you? Here it is 2025 and I am having the same issue. I have the Dish OTA adapter and can get 26 channels but if I plug the coax into tv bypassing adapter, I get 50 channels. Dish no longer sells the OTA so I was hoping for an alternative. I have the Hopper 3. I see the Dish adapter is available on Amazon, eBay etc. but I don’t know if buying the same thing again will make any difference.

 

It is possible that your antenna signal is weak (or too strong) on those channels for the OTA adapter. The automatic gain control may have failed but I kinda doubt it.

Measuring OTA signals is particularly difficult without specialized equipment but if you buy a new one from somewhere that has an understanding return policy, you should be able to recover at least some of your investment.

As an aside, if your TV supports NextGen TV signals, that will add to the channel count.

 

You can also get external NextGen TV tuners - i have the Zinwell one I bought from Channelmaster. Seems to work OK, providing an EPG (that it can get from your internet connection (I use ethernet on mine, but they assumed everybody uses WiFi (which has some issues in my house).

Picture quality - yes, I can see some improvement on my Samsung 4K TV (no ATSC3 tuner builtin). OTOH, the TV tuner seems to be better than the Zinwell (more ATSC1 subchannels), and it is certainly easier to use.