I was getting all local HD channels for months over the air, but all of a sudden I was only able to receive one - this has lasted now for three weeks. Nothing changed with my setup. I have since tried several different antennas, all with the same result. I'm totally lost about what to do next. I really don't want to go grovelling back to Comcast if I can avoid it. Any advice to get local HD channels without resorting to cable?

We might be able to help you if you give us more information. For starters, where do you live? How many stations in your area broadcast in HD? Are you getting their SD OTA signals okay? Have you contacted the "missing" stations to ask whether they've done anything to their equipment? Are all the missing stations on the same tower? There are a lot of changes going on right now as stations prepare for the analog shutoff, and there will be even more changes (including power changes and antenna moves) after it. Which brings up another question: has your market transitioned already? If so, maybe they're in the middle of some equipment changes and have HD turned off temporarily. Just some possibilities...


Patty

Thanks Patty. It looks like I'm in your neighborhood - right in San Francisco. So, as you know, virtually all the stations broadcast from Sutro Tower. The only one I am receiving is KRON, and to answer your questions, none of the SD stations are coming in either. I have not called the stations, although I have looked on their websites and didn't see in any notification of changes. Does that help?

Jared

Hi, Jared.

Drat, I'm sorry to tell you that as far as I know, the stations on Sutro, San Bruno, and Monument are all broadcasting just fine. I just skimmed through several and they looked good. Also, I'm on a list for email alerts from KQED, and they haven't mentioned any work on Sutro for weeks now. And no one has changed frequencies recently, so you shouldn't need a rescan. (Although that's always a good thing to try when channels go missing.) So I'm afraid the problem is on your end. :(

I was just trying to help someone in another thread who is only getting KNTV in Palo Alto. That might be an easier situation to troubleshoot, because KNTV is currently the only digital station in the area that's broadcasting on VHF, so his problem is likely related to UHF hardware or settings. But the fact that you're only getting KRON can't be related to that. KRON is pretty high power, but so are some other stations on Sutro.

You might try posting a query in the "San Francisco, CA - OTA" thread of the "Local HDTV Info and Reception" forum. Perhaps someone there (such as former KGO engineer Larry Kenney) will have an idea on why you're only getting KRON.


Patty

could be that the atmospheric changes between you and the transmitters have changed ie: something is blocking the signals

If you had them, and then lost them suddenly, it's got to be an equipment malfunction. You said youv'e tried a different antenna... have you tried a different balun? Since you are getting 1 channel, it shouldn't be your tuner.... so it must be your balun or your coax. Do you use a pre-amp?

Have you tried power cycling (remove plug from wall) your TV and/or tuner and reperforming a channel search/scan?

If you had them, and then lost them suddenly, it's got to be an equipment malfunction. You said youv'e tried a different antenna... have you tried a different balun? Since you are getting 1 channel, it shouldn't be your tuner.... so it must be your balun or your coax. Do you use a pre-amp?


Alpha has to be in the right track. Has to be a hardware (equipment) problem. If you're in SF proper, a paper clip inserted into the antenna jack should be enough to get you the stations that broadcast from Sutro. Try that.

Indoor or outdoor antenna? What type?

Single set or multiple sets?

FWIW, the guy in PA had the cable plugged into the wrong connector on his tuner....

Steve

Jaspurs,
Have you done a resccan for channels since Feb17th?
Many of the channels you were receiving may have stopped their analog transmissions and therefore have reverted from their temoorary OTA digital channel frequency back to what was their analog channel frequency.

Jaspurs,
Have you done a resccan for channels since Feb17th?
Many of the channels you were receiving may have stopped their analog transmissions and therefore have reverted from their temoorary OTA digital channel frequency back to what was their analog channel frequency.
This is what I'm thinking too.

Several of the stations in my area ceased their analog broadcasts on their VHF channels and switched their digital broadcasts from their UHF frequencies back to their VHF frequencies.

I had to rescan to get them back.

Jaspurs,
Have you done a resccan for channels since Feb17th?
Many of the channels you were receiving may have stopped their analog transmissions and therefore have reverted from their temoorary OTA digital channel frequency back to what was their analog channel frequency.

AFAIK, none of the San Francisco stations that turned off analog (three of the four actually went to nightlight programming) on Feb. 17th have moved their digital channels since then. Only one of them is even planning to move back to its original analog frequency. But because almost all SF stations are on Mount Sutro, and hardly any SF stations went off on Feb. 17th, the ones who did can't really do anything yet. Everyone's staying put (both regarding channel assignments and physical antenna locations) until after June 12th.

Also, Jared mentioned that he's only getting KRON. He should also be getting all the big network affiliates, and none of them have made any changes recently.


Patty

Thanks all for your suggestions. I tried unplugging the tv and rescanning, and it actually worked to some extent. I got quite a few more channels. Unfortunately, for some reason the major networks are still missing (which is strange because CW is coming in, and as far as I know they share a transmitter with the CBS affiliate). In any case, I've unplugged and rescanned several times and used two different indoor antennas: a cheap traditional Radio Shack antenna and a TERK HDTVa. No difference either way...

Jared, did you try my idea of asking for suggestions in the SF OTA forum?


Patty