DTV problems in 60099 - Page 4

I think he needs help from someone locally with OTA and coax cabling experience.

If you needed an amp with cable TV... you have more issues than just an antenna/reception issue.

The highest point is not necessarily the BEST point.


That's cable. As far as you know the amp may be causing the issues. Is the cable RG6? Is it shielded? As I said a direct connection to ONE tv would yeild more accurate results.

Well I don't visit my dad in Lindenhurst until late July. I would hope he would have solved his problem by then.


An amp would be common with multiple outlets and splitters. I'm guessing the Comcast guy didn't bother replacing any of the coax. Who knows what type or how old that is.

I have the Winegard HD-1080 myself, & I got WBBM-TV for 3 days, then lost it. Nothing I did would bring it back in. I had no problem with WLS-TV on RF 7. I also had no problems with most UHF stations either. I however was able to mount it on a pole above the roofline of my home. If that antenna would have kept WBBM-TV in, I was gonna buy a second Winegard HD-1080 for Chicago (the one I have now, which is 2 years old, is used just for WYIN). Since CBS went out on me with that antenna, I had to get something else, & just get a regular VHF antenna for CBS. I don't know what you're gonna do, but I thought I would share my experience with the Winegard HD-1080 antenna, & VHF-Hi. I still recommend it for UHF if you want something compact.

The VHF pattern on the HD-1080 is backwards from the UHF pattern. That's problematic unless the VHF stations are in opposite directions from the UHF stations.

http://winegard.com/kbase/upload/HD-1080.pdf

There are locations in San Diego between the UHF and VHF transmitters where the backwards pattern solves VHF reception problems nicely.

That unfortunately doesn't work for most of us in Chicagoland. Most of us in Chicagolandland, outside of the city of Chicago, have a line of sight with a small gap between the Sears Tower & the John Hancock. Because of that, most of us only have 1 antenna pointed at Chicago. For me, my antenna pointed at Chicago is pointed NW. Pointing the antenna SE might improve VHF, but some UHF stations might not come in at all, & I definitely won't get WWME-LD on RF 39 in that direction (have enough trouble getting them with the Winegard HD9032 & pre-amp).

if your TVs are HDTV why do you need a converter box?


How about testing it on each TV while it's outside? Which is what I meant.

Man up and ask your dad for help.

Different TV brands will have differnet tuners each with difference in quality.

I hope your new antenna works but I'm dubious of the manufacturer. Honestly you should be having this much trouble. Without knowing what it looks like around you location we can't tell if perhaps you getting multipath or interference of some kind or something else. Have you tried just one location outside? You can have hotspots and coldspots. I've got areas that give good reception but move the antenna 2 feet to the left or right or up or down or backwards or forwards and NOTHING. I know most people just want to hook up the antenna and be done with it and that's fine if you are getting in a strong signal, but if your recpetion isn't great sometimes it takes time to find the right spot.

You can purchase the "best" antenna in the world (spec wise) and it won't mean a darned thing unless the antenna is properly mounted in the "sweet spot" (if you can find one).

There is no "magic bullet" when it comes to antennas/reception. It takes time, patience, persistence, two people and compromise if you have to go higher for the mount (eave, roof, chimney, attic, etc.).

The alternative (if exhausted)... just subscribe to "antenna/lifeline" service to cable or FiOS (~$15 per month). You'll probably get all of the same channels you desire via OTA.

The point is his area is full of signal. Something is going on.




Not FiOS in Lake County it's U-Verse area. Not sure if they bothered to put FiOS in Zion. Cable in that area is provided by Comcast. According to people they don't allow Clear QAM of locals anymore. So he would need a box for each TV and that would only be in SD unless he sprung for the HD box which I'm not sure you can get a HD box and "lifeline". And if you could it would be pricy.

Not so. Comcast always passes local HD in clear QAM, everywhere, unless someone makes a mistake.

This recent post from a viewer in San Francisco who has Comcast says Comcast has cut way back the number of clear QAM local HD channels.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...php?p=21166794

How high do you have that Turk?( which by the way really isn't made for outdoors.) Also as I said moving it few feet left or right forwards or backwards as well as up or down can make a huge difference. You can't just stick in a spot and say "Well, it doesn't work here". Just like your inside test. Exactly how many spots did you try the antanna?

When you try out different spots, tune in the station you want and have someone look at the signal quality meter on the TV. Look for the spot that gives you the highest reading.

Lower quality??

Yeah... it's full of it.
And yes... something is going on. He needs someone to help him that has experience with OTA and cabling. Or... there's a nuclear power plant in his back yard.

A couple inches off the ground? You need to get that thng higher than that. No wonder you've been having issues. Do you have a ladder? You could set it atop of that. That should be 6 feet.

It's quite possible for QAM channels that were available to become temporally unavailable, for specific customers.

Comcast corporate policy is to provide all the local HD they carry in clear QAM. On a regular basis they also do system maintenance that can move the local HD channels to another QAM channel.

When this occurs the first thing to do is rescan for channels and this usually fixes the issue.

On some occasions, an individual customer may have a preexisting frequency trap on their incoming coax cable. Traps were used by Comcast to limit the channels received, based on what the customer was paying for. Comcast no longer deploys traps, but they may still exist in the field.

If the trap is for a frequency range the new QAM channels are moved to, a customer will not get the channels they were previously getting. In this case they need to contact Comcast and have them come out and remove the trap. This assumes they are a subscriber at a minimum to Limited Basic, the least video package that Comcast offers.

Some Comcast Internet only customers may lose some or all of the local HD channels they were getting when system maintenance is performed, if a trap is in place. Since they are not paying for video service, they can't really call to have a trap removed to solve a video problem. In most areas a Comcast customer can get Limited Basic video & Internet for the same or slightly less price than Internet alone, which may not be well known.

Another issue is that very few Comcast CSR's even know what QAM is. When a customer calls about having issues with QAM, you may well get told 'you can't get any HD without one of our boxes'. It takes patience and probably multiple calls to find someone who knows what QAM is and that can help solve the problem. Try escalating to a supervisor or ask for a technical supervisor.

The thing is none of those stations is weak. Seriously get it higher and see what the results are.

Purchase a coax from Monoprice. Test the antenna on the second floor or the attic. Borrow a ladder and test on the eave or roof.

Get over it and be a good cowboy. The antenna(s) is not going to work indoors, on the ground or sitting on a stack of chairs on top of a table. Get the antenna higher.

You can get 100' (pre-terminated) to properly test.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2