[bmar]

Hey all -

LONG time lurker, first time poster. Now have OTA running (thanks Earl!! or should I say thanks "Santa" - although am I the only one to notice that the second test roll out came on the first night of Hanukah? Should we be thanking Hanukah Harry? ) and, thankfully, been bug free.

Question for you all: What would you consider minimum optimal signal strength for locals? During setup, most of them are hitting in the mid 70's range. Only one hits in the 90's. If I adjust my antenna, I can get some to bump up, but I lose strength on others. So, in order not to "rob Peter to pay Paul" the happiest place seems to be where I am right now, where all the signal strengths seem to be in the 70's range.

My pictures seem to be clear and not seeing any overt breakup. So - should I be worrying about this at all? What do I lose by not having signal strengths higher?

Thanks...!

 

[wakajawaka]

I think 70' are fine as long as it's a good steady signal. I used to have multipath issues so even signals in the 80's and 90's would drop out frequently. But now with multiple antennas connected with Jointennas I get consistent reception with signals even in the 70's.

 

[Oliwa]

As long as the signal is consistently in the 70s you're good to go. Picture quality will not improve with a higher signal strength.

 

[bonscott87]

With OTA so long as you have a strong lock that is steady it really doesn't matter. If you have a 45 but it's steady you are good to go. I've got one station that is about 45 and it comes in just fine. There is no rain fade to worry about either. It's not like satellite where you want as high as possible to lessen rain fade. OTA it's all about the lock. Sure higher is better but don't sweat a nice strong lock at a 50 strength. It's digital, you either have a signal or you don't.

 

[tunce]

I have about 50 with my indoor antenna and have no problems. It does bounce but when it does it goes up to 57 never lower then 50.

 

[Cobra]

where in the settings can you find the antenna strength test, I know where the satelite signal strength is, but I dont see anything for an antenna

 

[Oliwa]

If you have a 45 but it's steady you are good to go. I've got one station that is about 45 and it comes in just fine.

That seems awfully low to me. I thought the threshold was around 60 or so.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just surprised.

 

[bonscott87]

That seems awfully low to me. I thought the threshold was around 60 or so.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just surprised.

I've gotten great picture with a signal lock of 30 before (when fudging around with things). Remember, OTA is different from sat, you just need a lock. On sat yes, 60 is about as low as you want to go. Once it gets below 50 you start having drop outs and lower then 40 or so it usually goes out completely. OTA isn't like that so long as it's steady.

Reason I have 45 on this one channel is because it's about 10 degrees or so to the east of the main tower clump I have my antenna pointed to (all the other stations are there). So I'm only getting a signal just enough from the side. My old E-86 in fact wouldn't pick this station up at all, 0 signal With the HR20 I get a good solid 45. I get 100% on all others (except the common problem with digital 2).

 

[Vuce]

I just got the HR20 (and still have my HR10 hooked up on another TV). How/where do you check the OTA signal strength on the menu? I did some quick poking around but could not find it?

 

[houskamp]

Also check http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=77279