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Albany, NY - HDTV - Page 72

post #2131 of 4965
2/7/06 at 7:47am
Thread Starter 
Dishiki, Timick1,

Contact TWC, you may have poor signal level to the STB.
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post #2132 of 4965
2/7/06 at 7:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by timick1 View Post

Yes, I get them on FOX(HD) and ABC(HD). I thought it might be my 8300-HD DVR... I record 24, LOST, Alias (when it was on), Prison Beak (when it was on), and I always get a dropout or 2 during each show. I was thinking that maybe there was a "bad" spot on the harddrive or something. I was watching the Superbowl live, and got the dropouts, too. Very annoying!

Superbowl had the audio dropouts on HD OTA as cable. It's not TW for that one problem.
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post #2133 of 4965
2/7/06 at 8:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MasterFX1 View Post

Dishiki, Timick1,

Contact TWC, you may have poor signal level to the STB.


Will do. Thanks
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post #2134 of 4965
2/7/06 at 9:17am
What qualifies poor/good signal level Master? Is there a % or a number?
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post #2135 of 4965
2/7/06 at 11:13am
Thread Starter 
I'm sure TWC technicians use a signal meter and have set number the signal must be above for HD channels to come in properly. (I don't know what that number or spec is)

Put simply, the tuner uses a process caused error correction to compensate for less than perfect signal. (Which is why a 90% signal is the same picture-quality as a 100% signal) When the error/bit ratio gets too high the tuner can no longer display a stable feed.
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post #2136 of 4965
2/7/06 at 12:32pm
They are coming out Saturday. They said I am getting a bad signal, and it's either the box or the line. Funny, since they just ran the line from the street 3 weeks ago.
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post #2137 of 4965
2/7/06 at 1:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dishiki View Post

They are coming out Saturday. They said I am getting a bad signal, and it's either the box or the line. Funny, since they just ran the line from the street 3 weeks ago.

Do you have the line split after it enters your house? The cheap splitters you can get for a buck or two leak. TWC will install new splitters at no cost to you, if necessary. If you make friends with the tech, they may leave you extra coaxial cable, too.
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post #2138 of 4965
2/7/06 at 5:18pm
It seems I only get freezeups on HDN but none of the other HDs. I do get intermittent audio drops on most of the others though. (SA3250HD).

Dishiki- also ask the tech if he/she can put terminators on any open ends of the splitters (if you have them). If not you can go to RS and buy them.
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post #2139 of 4965
2/7/06 at 6:40pm
Thread Starter 
I'm now receiving 13-3 OTA, a nonstop look at WNYT's Doppler imagery. It looks an awful lot like 6-3.
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post #2140 of 4965
2/8/06 at 8:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffD2. View Post

It seems I only get freezeups on HDN but none of the other HDs. I do get intermittent audio drops on most of the others though. (SA3250HD).

Dishiki- also ask the tech if he/she can put terminators on any open ends of the splitters (if you have them). If not you can go to RS and buy them.


HDnet has been freezing up on me lately also on TWC...at least as of last week. I have a friend also in Clifton Park that is having the same problem with HDnet. I'm assuming it a HDnet thing with TW.
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post #2141 of 4965
2/9/06 at 5:54pm
so today the directv installers came to install my ota outdoor antenna and my hd tivo. it has only been a couple hours but i gotta say i am kind of unimpressed. the biggest problem is that the only local channels i can pick up are fox and nbc. pbs, cbs, abc don't come in at all. when i spoke to the directv rep that sole me the tivo - they said that the ota stations will be almost as good as the dish stations and made no mention of the face that most channels wont even come in at all.

i am in scotia so its not like i am out in the middle of nowhere. wtf?? is it possible that the antenna they installed is crappy? or that they did not position it properly? or is there an adjustment on the tivo unit that can help the signal?

the installer did say that he was told that in august we will be able to get locals in HD over the dish. he said that i would need a new dish which would be free but he said i would not have to upgrade my new tivo.

so other than the lack of locals in hd, the biggest complaint is that the guide is way too slow to come up on the tivo.
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post #2142 of 4965
2/9/06 at 7:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdee1 View Post

so today the directv installers came to install my ota outdoor antenna and my hd tivo. it has only been a couple hours but i gotta say i am kind of unimpressed. the biggest problem is that the only local channels i can pick up are fox and nbc. pbs, cbs, abc dont come in at all. when i spoke to the directv rep that sole me the tivo - they said that the ota stations will be almost as good as the dish stations and made no mention of the face that most channels wont even come in at all.

i am in scotia so its not loke i am out in the middle of nowhere. wtf?? is it possible that the antenna they installed is crappy? or that they did not position it properly? or is ther an adjustment on the tivo unit that can help the signal?

the installer did say that he was told that in august we will be able to get locals in HD over the dish. he said thaqt i woul need a new dish which woul dbe free but he said i would nto have to upgrade my new tivo.

so other than the lack of locals in hd, the biggest complaint is that the guide is way too slow to come up on the tivo.

I'm near Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia and I can tell you that I receive all OTA channels just by poking an indoor antenna out of my attic window.
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post #2143 of 4965
2/9/06 at 7:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dkennedy View Post

I'm near Glen Sanders Mansion in Scotia and I can tell you that I receive all OTA channels just by poking an indoor antenna out of my attic window.

i am less than 5 minutes up rt 50 from there (close to walmart) so what could i be doing wrong?? what typw of antenna do you have??
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post #2144 of 4965
2/9/06 at 8:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdee1 View Post

is it possible that the antenna they installed is crappy? or that they did not position it properly? or is there an adjustment on the tivo unit that can help the signal?

1. yes, probably a crappy antenna, I hope it isnt one that "piggybacks" the dish
2. yes, probably not aimed in the proper direction.
3. tivo adjustment? probably not.

My guess is that the dtv installers dont have a clue about local ota hdtv reception and could probably care less.
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post #2145 of 4965
2/9/06 at 8:09pm
Aiming is very important. One suggestion posted earlier that worked for me is drag out a VCR or something and just spend some time trying to tune in the standard analog channels till they start to all come in clearer. Rotate, change length, adjust amplification, when done hook the antenna back up to the DirecTiVo and see what OTA HD stations are appearing. You may have to tweak a little more on occasion, but you should be much closer.

Also the Albany HDTV is a mixed UHF/VHF market. The two stations you listed are mapped into the VHF spectrum ( fox-7, nbc-12 ) so you should be adjusting the UHF section of your antenna to pick up the other stations.
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post #2146 of 4965
2/9/06 at 8:20pm
Thread Starter 
Back when I had (the now defunct) VOOM satellite service, the installer failed to properly hook up a diplexor. The diplexor (When properly installed) allows both the SAT and OTA signals on the same coax line. It also allows voltage to pass back from the STB to the Sat and Antenna (If it's an amplified antenna)

Originally the installer, who said he does installs for DISH and DTV as well, told me that the 3 channels he tuned in was all I could get. So I plugged in an indoor antenna in front of the installer and received all channels. I then instructed him to figure out why his install was not working properly. He came back two days later, saying he used the wrong type of diplexor. He swapped it out... problem solved.
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post #2147 of 4965
2/9/06 at 9:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BreakStuff View Post

1. yes, probably a crappy antenna, I hope it isnt one that "piggybacks" the dish
2. yes, probably not aimed in the proper direction.
3. tivo adjustment? probably not.

My guess is that the dtv installers dont have a clue about local ota hdtv reception and could probably care less.

yeah i am starting to think thats the case - when i asked him why i don't get all locals he said "i told ya - with the off air stuff what you get is what you get - theres nothing i can do" so when i can get some help i will have to go up there and redirect it. and honestly i haven't even see the antenna they mounted. i have been sick and it was freezing today so i wasn't about to venture outside. but when my fiancée came home she said it looks like "one of those wire things you use to cook hot dogs on the grill". so tomorrow i will venture out to look at it. at least if nothing else the cable is run so if i have to replace it i just have to drop in the new antenna, point it and connect the existing cable. but for now like i said when i can get some help i will try pointing this one properly.
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post #2148 of 4965
2/10/06 at 2:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdee1 View Post

i am less than 5 minutes up rt 50 from there (close to walmart) so what could i be doing wrong?? what typw of antenna do you have??


I tested with a Walmart $24 Philips 510 Mantis antenna. Also, my attic window is on the southeast side of the house. Before TW I had dish network and I can tell you if it's the same installers I had...they are clueless...
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post #2149 of 4965
2/10/06 at 4:58am
hmm - i have the phillips MANT 410 from walmart and because i dont have easy access to my attic, i had them set up in my living room and it seemed that no matter how i placed them i did nto get everythign clearly. i assume though that this is because it is in my living room.

once i canget some help i will just try re-pointing my antenna that they installed and see if that helps - i just hope that they did not install the wrong type of antenna.
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post #2150 of 4965
2/10/06 at 6:06am
ok so on my way out to work this morning i got a good look at the antenna in the daylight and i have no idea if its the right type (according to antennaweb i need a yellow one - how do i know if this one is a yellow one?) but the worst thing is that the antenna is pointed in the exact opposite direction. almost a full 180 degrees off!

so once i repoint it i hope it will be a lot better. and if it is, i am going to call and give those installers an earfull. not only am i frustrated that they don't give a damn about that part but i think that they should know about antennaweb.org and know that by taking an extra 10 minutes to properly point the antenna they will likely have much happier customers.

ok so i am kind of rambling but i just had to post about how far off the antenna was pointed.
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post #2151 of 4965
2/10/06 at 5:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BreakStuff View Post

..........
My guess is that the dtv installers dont have a clue about local ota hdtv reception and could probably care less.

Second that statement. A friend of mine applied for a job doing installations. He's lucky if he could set an alarm clock. He was accepted but turned it down because he didn't want to climb ladders in the winter and the excessive travel time, somtimes having to do cheap motels in other cities.
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post #2152 of 4965
2/10/06 at 6:36pm
Hey bdee-

I'm thinking in my head they might have installed a UHF only antenna.

Does your antenna look like anything on this page?

http://www.starkelectronic.com/allant.htm
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post #2153 of 4965
2/11/06 at 5:26am
yes it is almost EXACTLY like #4228 on that page. what does that mean? is it the wrong kind? can you show me an example of the right kind??
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post #2154 of 4965
2/11/06 at 6:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bdee1 View Post

yes it is almost EXACTLY like #4228 on that page. what does that mean? is it the wrong kind? can you show me an example of the right kind??

#4228 is a UHF only antenna.

I am in Guilderland and have the #3016, which is a UHF/VHF/FM antenna. It's mounted in my attic and I get every channel from the digital tower in the Helderbergs.

VHF Channels
13-1/12 WNYT-DT (NBC), Albany, NY 1080i
23-1/7 WXXA-DT (FOX), Albany, NY 720p

UHF Channels
6-1/39 WRGB-DT (CBS), Albany, NY 1080i
10-1/26 WTEN-DT (ABC), Albany, NY 720p
17-3/34 WMHT-DT (PBS|HD), Albany, NY 1080i
45-1/43 WEWB-DT (WB), Albany, NY 1080i
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post #2155 of 4965
2/11/06 at 6:40am
can you tell me where you got the 3016 locally?
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post #2156 of 4965
2/11/06 at 6:45am
ok so i went to the channelmaster site and that definitely is a uhf antena but whats weird is acording to antennaweb.org, the only 2 stations that are vhf are fox and nbc. those are currently the only 2 stations i get. weird.
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post #2157 of 4965
2/11/06 at 7:23am
Maybe TowerGuy can chime in here with the reasons why you can only get the two channels. He's knowledgeable on all things OTA.

I used antennaweb.org to choose the best antenna type for my location. You should do the same. I bought mine at SolidSignal.com, but only because they were out of stock at starkelectronic.com.

I have a Radio Shack UHF/VHF indoor antenna you can borrow to test out your reception. I used it before I got the #3016.



PM me if you want to borrow it.
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post #2158 of 4965
2/11/06 at 12:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlbanyHDTV View Post

Maybe TowerGuy can chime in here with the reasons why you can only get the two channels. He's knowledgeable on all things OTA.

I used antennaweb.org to choose the best antenna type for my location. You should do the same. I bought mine at SolidSignal.com, but only because they were out of stock at starkelectronic.com.

I have a Radio Shack UHF/VHF indoor antenna you can borrow to test out your reception. I used it before I got the #3016.



PM me if you want to borrow it.

hey thanks for the info - i actually have a phillips indoor antenna that i got from walmart that i used before i got the outdoor one. that one didnt work very well because it was just in my living room by the tv - i dont have easy access to my attic.

i think i still want to wait till i can get someone over here with a ladder to help me out and just turn the antenna to the proper angle and see if that helps.
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post #2159 of 4965
2/11/06 at 4:58pm
I dont think you should have a problem receiving the locals with the UHF only antenna that was installed by directv.
My antenna is UHF only (3021) and I can receive all the locals with a 75%-100% signal strength including the VHF channels. Just needs to be aimed in the right direction.
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post #2160 of 4965
2/12/06 at 10:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlbanyHDTV View Post

Maybe TowerGuy can chime in here with the reasons why you can only get the two channels. He's knowledgeable on all things OTA.

Try reaiming the antenna. The Channel Master 4228 has a much narrower beam on the UHF channels than the VHF channels.
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