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Tivo Premere signal loss

1K views 15 replies 3 participants last post by  jjeff 
#1 ·
I have the Tivo Premere and a Sony Bravia TV.
I have always had an issue with pixilating, mainly on 'edge' channels (either low or high end) using OTA HD antenna, where the signal coming through the Tivo is bad to un-watchable. Some days are worse than others which led me to believe that this is normal interference or weather related.
I decided to split the coax to the TV and Tivo. When watching the live signal to TV (not going through Tivo) then there is crystal clear pictures. Switching over to Tivo, then I get the bad picture again from the same time and channel, and of course the same HD rooftop antenna.

So I am assuming the Tivo has loss though the tuners.
Can anything be done about this? The newer Roamio Tivo any better?
Not sure I want to upgrade if this kind of problem is not fixed.

TIA for any advice!
 
#2 ·
Have you tried adding an amp to your coax line?

Remember that the TiVo has two tuners, so the input signal to each tuner has already been split once (inside the TiVo). Another potential issue is multipath.. the Premier's tuners have been accused of being overly sensitive to multipath. Try an amp first, as dealing with a weak signal is much easier than dealing with multipath.
 
#3 ·
No, I have not added anything. I had a pro antenna man come out and install the rooftop antenna.
I may have him come back and give his evaluation, but thought I would start here.
If I added an amp, I assume I should install it after the Tivo/TV split?
How much is too much? I have heard the signal can overload the Premiere.

Any recommendations for an amp?
As you surely see I am not too savvy on the details needed.
 
#7 ·
No, I have not added anything. I had a pro antenna man come out and install the rooftop antenna....
Is the antenna installation new? Another possiblity in addition to those already mentioned is signal overload.. if the stations you're having trouble with are too strong.
can you post the TVfool report for your location, and indicate which channels you're having trouble with?
 
#4 ·
This may sound odd but to get reliable signal on a couple channels with my Tivo HD I've installed a backwards splitter right before the Tivo, one side coming from the attic antenna one from a Terk HDTVi table top antenna. Running just the Terk I get a somewhat weak signal but just the rooftop I get breakups on a couple channels. I'm almost positive my issue is multipath but like the OP my Sony TV(and actually several other TVs of different brands) feed from the same antenna never breaks up. I'm thinking what the Terk does is to kind of cancel the multipath issue. I've tried attenuators with varying degrees of success but lately I've been using the Terk and rarely have issues.
I've tried moving the attic antenna a bit but due to rafters I'm only able to move it a few degrees before it hits something. Yes for whatever reason the Tivo seems to be very susceptible to multipath, even when other devices fed from the same antenna work just fine.
 
#6 ·
I've read the Romeo is supposed to be better than the Premiere(which is generally considered to be the worst for multipath) but then people have said the Tivo HD was supposed to be good too and I know what my experiences have been......
Multipath is very hard to narrow down and troubleshoot, if you don't have it any Tivo would probably work. The only way to know for sure is to try one in your situation, if it works great, if not try and purchase it locally so returning is easy. Also don't activate something like lifetime service until you know it will work for you.
Other than multipath on a couple channels, only at certain times, my Tivo HD works great and I consider it probably my best electronics purchase over the years.
 
#9 ·
Sounds exactly like my issue. You could try an attenuator as I tried and it did seem to help a bit but only using the second antenna do I get 99.5% problem free reception :)
Signal fluctuation is a classic sign of multipath or what was called ghosting in analog days. If you have easy access to your antenna moving it just a few degrees one way or another may help, that or a more directional antenna or like I did which is kind of a Rube Goldberg method, use another antenna to try and cancel out the multipath.
 
#11 ·
Since you didn't mention a rotor, I'm assuming the antenna is pointed W-NW?
All of your channels have very strong signal strength. As mentioned earlier, the Premier (of which I have four) is susceptible to both multipath interference and signal overload. At this point I'm thinking overload after seeing your TVfool report.

What model antenna do you have on your roof? (let's just make sure the pro installed the right thing)

Have you checked your coax cabling and splitter?
Have you tried connecting the TiVo directly to the coax prior to the splitter?

If the above suggestions don't help, that would be even more evidence of signal overload.

Next suggestion: install a 3-way or 4-way splitter, or add another 2-way splitter after the existing one (ahead of the TiVo). Splitters will reduce the signal level that the TiVo sees.

If none of this helps, it's time for you to take your issue to this forum section, where the real antenna experts are . . .
 
#13 ·
The antenna, if I remember correctly was a Channel Master, but can't be sure of that. It is square shaped and flat on a tripod, if that helps, and it is pointed NW.
The first split is on the mast to connect TV #2 . I split again just before the Tivo to the main TV, mainly for testing purposes.
I will try adding, or changing splitters, to see if that makes a difference. I may try a second indoor type antenna.

So . . . All good suggestions, and thank you. This gives me more insight on what I can do to improve this.
 
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