[sabex]

I just bought a indoor OTA antenna to try catch the Cowboys game in HD.
I have gone through the setup process and I can get a great picture on NBC. The problem is that the signal fluctuates wildly.

In the signal strength meter, I will see 100% on both tunes, but generally in the high 90's. Then it will go to 'no signal found' and back to 100% again.
While in TV mode, I can see great picture but then I get the odd pixellation, some picture freeze with loss of sound and the dreaded 771.

Is this a problem with the HR20 or a problem with antenna?

It is a 70 degree sunny day, no wind. I am 14 miles to the broadcast antenna.
Unfortunately, my TV does not have a ATSC tuner so I cannot check how well that works....

 

[harsh]

Is this a problem with the HR20 or a problem with antenna?

I would guess that it is a signal reception issue and not the HR20. If the situation improves (or gets worse at night or during weather), it is almost certain. Try moving your antenna around in the room (or outside, if you have the cable).

 

[ruesch37]

I just bought a indoor OTA antenna to try catch the Cowboys game in HD.
I have gone through the setup process and I can get a great picture on NBC. The problem is that the signal fluctuates wildly.

In the signal strength meter, I will see 100% on both tunes, but generally in the high 90's. Then it will go to 'no signal found' and back to 100% again.
While in TV mode, I can see great picture but then I get the odd pixellation, some picture freeze with loss of sound and the dreaded 771.

Is this a problem with the HR20 or a problem with antenna?

It is a 70 degree sunny day, no wind. I am 14 miles to the broadcast antenna.
Unfortunately, my TV does not have a ATSC tuner so I cannot check how well that works....

With my indoor antenna (which works great); if someone walks in the next room where the antenna is facing, the signal is lost until that person leaves the area.

 

[4DThinker]

My HR20 (until today) had the same problem on some (usually just one) station. But using just the TV to tune that station the problem was still there. I emailed the station and they have admited to be having problems with their ATSC broadcast signal and are "working on it".

 

[Tom Robertson]

I just bought a indoor OTA antenna to try catch the Cowboys game in HD.
I have gone through the setup process and I can get a great picture on NBC. The problem is that the signal fluctuates wildly.

In the signal strength meter, I will see 100% on both tunes, but generally in the high 90's. Then it will go to 'no signal found' and back to 100% again.
While in TV mode, I can see great picture but then I get the odd pixellation, some picture freeze with loss of sound and the dreaded 771.

Is this a problem with the HR20 or a problem with antenna?

It is a 70 degree sunny day, no wind. I am 14 miles to the broadcast antenna.
Unfortunately, my TV does not have a ATSC tuner so I cannot check how well that works....

You are so close to the towers you likely could pick up the signal with a light bulb as an antenna. What you are describing is usually multipath distortion (aka ghosting in the analog days). The best ways to get rid of multipath is adjust the antenna, try an attenuater inline, try an FM trap, and keep the antenna as close to the towers as possible inside the house.

Good luck,
Tom

 

[sabex]

With my indoor antenna (which works great); if someone walks in the next room where the antenna is facing, the signal is lost until that person leaves the area.

We can rule that one out. I live alone, and this all occurs while i am sitting stationary.
Perhaps if i tried not breathing? :grin:

 

[sabex]

You are so close to the towers you likely could pick up the signal with a light bulb as an antenna. What you are describing is usually multipath distortion (aka ghosting in the analog days). The best ways to get rid of multipath is adjust the antenna, try an attenuater inline, try an FM trap, and keep the antenna as close to the towers as possible inside the house.

Good luck,
Tom

According to antennaweb, the station broadcasts their analog signal from the same tower as their digital signal. So I plugged the antenna into the TV and used its NTSC tuner to find the desired station and check signal strength. The short version is my analog signal is VERY poor. Very grainy, with no ghosting that I could see.

One other point: the antenna has variable strength amplification. I turned that down to its lowest level and while i still get the occasional drops etc, it seems to be much LESS often.

 

[harsh]

The short version is my analog signal is VERY poor. Very grainy, with no ghosting that I could see.

One other point: the antenna has variable strength amplification. I turned that down to its lowest level and while i still get the occasional drops etc, it seems to be much LESS often.

These statements, while doubtless true, seem to argue against each other. The assumption from the NTSC statement is that your signal is weak, but the ATSC condition seems more like it is suffering from multipath which would have showed up as ghosts on the TV tuner. Is your digital station a lower frequency than the NTSC version?

I would try a directional antenna if it is practical for your location. You might also try removing the antenna from the end of the cable and see what happens. My "Mr. Coax" antenna that I used in college drew FM stations from more than 70 miles away. Mr. Coax was a 6' chunk of sun-rotted RG59 with the connectors pulled off.

 

[sabex]

These statements, while doubtless true, seem to argue against each other. The assumption from the NTSC statement is that your signal is weak, but the ATSC condition seems more like it is suffering from multipath which would have showed up as ghosts on the TV tuner. Is your digital station a lower frequency than the NTSC version?

I would try a directional antenna if it is practical for your location. You might also try removing the antenna from the end of the cable and see what happens. My "Mr. Coax" antenna that I used in college drew FM stations from more than 70 miles away. Mr. Coax was a 6' chunk of sun-rotted RG59 with the connectors pulled off.

Interestingly, as it got dark the signal drops slowed until they stopped entirely. I got so see the Cowboys screw up in glorious HD after5 all.
I have ordered a DB2 antenna from antennas direct based upon some feedback from AVS forums which should help for the long. I returned the other one to Walmart as it could get not get any of my other stations.

Thanks for the assistance. I am glad its not the HR20 as I would hate to have to return this one - it works so well!

 

[Crimson]

Where do you check signal strength on the OTA tuners?

 

[sabex]

Where do you check signal strength on the OTA tuners?

When you set up the OTA tuner, choose Edit Off air channels.
On the right is the signal meter option...

 

[HockeyKat]

I don't know if it's of any help, but we had OTA signal issues with our NBC affiliate yesterday, too. When we checked the signal meter, the numbers were pretty high, but the picture kept cutting out. We switched to the DTV HD channel (WBAL 11) for the rest of the night and didn't think to check back after dark. We figured it was an issue with the station, since other channels seemed to be fine for OTA.


Watching the CBS OTA channel now and everything seems great so far.

 

[sabex]

I don't think that was the issue I had.
Over the last few weeks (since the Santa update) I have been trying different OTA antenna and each of them has had similar issues.
This antenna was the first to get any 100% readings which is why I kept at it.
Last night was the first time I had tried any of them at night, though.

 

[tonyd79]

Try an unamplified antenna with low gain. You are either getting multipath distortion (since the signal is probably strong being only 14 miles away and you are indoors) or you are overpowering the tuner.

I had much the same problem with my HR10 and eventually solved it by buying a simple UHF loop (and not installing the VHF rods) at Target. Since I did that over a month ago, I have had very few drops.