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Seattle, WA - OTA - Page 218

post #6511 of 9739
5/11/08 at 5:38pm
we moved and need to replace our antenna as it dropped off the back of the truck and got dinged up. it's not working so well.

would a Radio Shack 15-2160 be a good choice to replace it with? if not what would be? i'd like to try and get something we can pick up locally but am not opposed to going online if the price is right.

Also if i gave our cross streets in can someone still tell me what direction we should be pointing to try and get all channels? we seem to always have a problem getting channel 13. we're at 14th ST NE and M St NE in auburn

thanks for your help, i'm always recommending this site to others who are amazed we get HDTV OTA.

ETA after checking at www.antennaweb.org it says we need a (blue) medium directional with pre amp to get most all the channels we want 13.1 is at 283 degrees and the rest are at 326-331 degrees most are 22miles away with fox being 31. the 2160 is only a (yellow) small directional so i'm not sure that will work.

do we need UHF only antenna? or a VHF/UHF combo? i'm getting confused trying to figure this out.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #6512 of 9739
5/11/08 at 10:09pm
Another candidate antenna is a Channel Master 4221, which can be bought at McLendon Hardware for $25 (at least in the Renton store--don't know about the Sumner store).

I live north of you, near Petrovitsky Road and 140th Ave SE (east of Valley General hospital). I started with a RS 15-2160 and used it from 1999 until this year. With it I was able to get 13.1 from Gold Mountain near Bremerton and all of the Seattle stations on Queen Anne Hill and Capitol Hill. I was not able to get channel 13 (west) and Tiger Mountain stations (PAX, etc., east) at the same time. I could swing the antenna to get one or the other. I was not concerned about PAX or the other Tiger Mountain channels.

Now with the 4221, I get almost the same results, for Bremerton and Seattle towers, solid reception. I changed antennas because the trees around us grew up and began to block signal paths to my 15-2160 mounted above my fireplace chimney. The 4221 is mounted below the eave of my house, shooting under those same trees.

So, with you being further south, the separation between Bremerton and Seattle towers would be less. Your issue for channel 13 might be the big hill to your west (I am guessing that your address is more in the valley and not on top of the hill, but I could be wrong). Dan Kurts or Quarque could tell you more about topology issues.

Good luck!
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post #6513 of 9739
5/11/08 at 11:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zyland View Post

I wrote an email to the station manager yesterday asking about this. If I hear anything, I'll let you know.

clarification: KCPQ is licensed in Tacoma but the broadcast antenna is actually near Bremerton.

Cool about the email.

Even on Gold Mountain on Bremerton (I had to look that up), channel 13's transmitter is still 2.5x further away than KING's antenna on Queen Anne. I've looked at the radiation pattern for KING before, and it is peanut shaped, biased North and South with the weak spots toward the East side and to the West. I am almost in the fringe but only 9 or 10 miles from the transmitter, which just plain sucks. Hopefully the post analog shutoff signal will be more omnidirectional when (if) they re-align the radiators on their antenna.

The screwy part is that I am up on the hill on the Bellevue/Redmond border, next to Microsoft's campus but still in a weak spot. There is a hill running to West/SouthWest (Bridal Trails area), but everything else has plenty of signal, so I don't know what to make of it. The lay of the land is a be-yotch! Fortunately I am moving at the end of September, hopefully to a better reception area.
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post #6514 of 9739
5/12/08 at 12:20am
thanks Dave for the tip on the channelmaster 4221. i might have to check that out. we hooked up the 2160 and we got a lot better signal than we have for a while on 4,5,9,11, 16, and 22. 7 was weak but not flickering, no 13.

we are in the valley so the west hill might be blocking us. it does seem that if we move it to get the most channels we lose 13 and vice versa.

the current antenna is mounted on the roof of a two story house if that info is needed.
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post #6515 of 9739
5/12/08 at 12:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ts_peach View Post

we moved and need to replace our antenna as it dropped off the back of the truck and got dinged up. it's not working so well.

would a Radio Shack 15-2160 be a good choice to replace it with? if not what would be? i'd like to try and get something we can pick up locally but am not opposed to going online if the price is right.

Also if i gave our cross streets in can someone still tell me what direction we should be pointing to try and get all channels? we seem to always have a problem getting channel 13. we're at 14th ST NE and M St NE in auburn

thanks for your help, i'm always recommending this site to others who are amazed we get HDTV OTA.

ETA after checking at www.antennaweb.org it says we need a (blue) medium directional with pre amp to get most all the channels we want 13.1 is at 283 degrees and the rest are at 326-331 degrees most are 22miles away with fox being 31. the 2160 is only a (yellow) small directional so i'm not sure that will work.

do we need UHF only antenna? or a VHF/UHF combo? i'm getting confused trying to figure this out.


ts_peach
Ch13 is a bear down there. The hill is in the way, even though it doesn't look like it on the topo program.
Until Feb09, you need a UHF to get 13. After, you'll need a VHF. Problem is, no one makes a high gain combo antenna. You will need to use a Jointenna to couple any ch13 with your main antenna. A single antenna is tough because the rest of the Seattle channels are strong which tends to cause the tuners internal amp to turn down its gain. That makes getting the much weaker 13 really tough. If you put an ampifier on the antenna, the Seattle channels will overload it and the tuner. An amplifed ch13 coupled to the other antenna with the Jointenna is the trick.

Problem is, all this may not work because of the hill.
And even if you do get it working, in 8 months, you get to do this again with a different antenna for 13, with a different Jointenna. It might be easier then. Or not. We won't know until they actually do the changeover. No way to test anything until then.

Ain't this fun ?!?!

Dan
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post #6516 of 9739
5/12/08 at 9:37am
thanks for the information. i looked at the jointennas. to possibly get 13 to come in i would need to have a UHF for channel 13? what is the actual channel number for them? looking on the jointenna site it lists 3 models for the UHF channel range and i don't know which one i'd need.

and then in 8-9 months we'd need to have the VHF one for channel 13?

assuming the hill would cooperate, the channelmaster UHF/VHF attenna that was dinged up in the move does still recieve signal (we have been using it with limited success for awhile). so i would just need the jointenna to see if it works (which are of course nonrefundable to buy online from the first place i looked )
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post #6517 of 9739
5/12/08 at 3:46pm
Hurray! Success! and we didn't need to buy anything new. it turns out that we had a bad cable at the new house running from the antenna to the outlet (it had been there before we moved).

it took a few hours and trying three or four different antenna combinations but we had a RS 15-2186 indoor/outdoor amplified antenna pick up fox so i figured we could get it on the roof. turns out our old one that got banged up in the move still worked fine. it would have been a lot easier process if we had known the cable was no good (but we had a cable to replace it onhand). in essence we were only tuning in channels through the bad cable i think. anyways everything now comes in nice and strong.

so take that big hill!
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post #6518 of 9739
5/12/08 at 6:18pm
ts_peach,

Another winner.

Enjoy your HDTV watching!
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post #6519 of 9739
5/12/08 at 9:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ts_peach View Post

Hurray! Success! and we didn't need to buy anything new. it turns out that we had a bad cable at the new house running from the antenna to the outlet (it had been there before we moved).

it took a few hours and trying three or four different antenna combinations but we had a RS 15-2186 indoor/outdoor amplified antenna pick up fox so i figured we could get it on the roof. turns out our old one that got banged up in the move still worked fine. it would have been a lot easier process if we had known the cable was no good (but we had a cable to replace it onhand). in essence we were only tuning in channels through the bad cable i think. anyways everything now comes in nice and strong.

so take that big hill!


ts_peach
Persistance pays for a lucky location!
Buy a Lotto & Mega ticket tomorrow.
You're the first one I've heard of getting 13 in the downtown area.
Let us know what happens next Feb when 13 switches over.
Curious, what tuner are you using?
Dan
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post #6520 of 9739
5/12/08 at 11:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanKurts View Post

ts_peach
Curious, what tuner are you using?
Dan

i was wondering what might happen come next february, i'll let you know. the tuner we are using is an LG3510a that i picked up through this board two 1/2 years ago.

i was flipping channels all night just to see fox come in it took my dad and I 4ish hours to figure it all out and i in the end after we had figured out the bad cable and still couldn't get it to tune in, it was by chance that i realized that after he had done a rescan of availalble channels that when he tried manually turning it to 13-1 he really needed to be trying 18-1, that information was thanks to antennaweb.org . anyways the process was complicated but at least it's all working for now.

Anne-Marie
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post #6521 of 9739
5/14/08 at 8:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ts_peach View Post

i was wondering what might happen come next february, i'll let you know. the tuner we are using is an LG3510a that i picked up through this board two 1/2 years ago.

i was flipping channels all night just to see fox come in it took my dad and I 4ish hours to figure it all out and i in the end after we had figured out the bad cable and still couldn't get it to tune in, it was by chance that i realized that after he had done a rescan of availalble channels that when he tried manually turning it to 13-1 he really needed to be trying 18-1, that information was thanks to antennaweb.org . anyways the process was complicated but at least it's all working for now.

Anne-Marie

ts_peach
I would bet a lot of your success comes from the LG tuner. It's a good one, sometimes. I own one for testing. Some of the ones I've run across are amazing, others just average. They didn't have consistent capabilities, sadly. Retired mine after the Samsung H260's came out. Hang on to it, and keep it well ventilated. Heat is about the only thing they die from.
Enjoy the HD!
Dan

BTW, did you ever work at Boeing, Plant2?
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post #6522 of 9739
5/14/08 at 9:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanKurts View Post

ts_peach
I would bet a lot of your success comes from the LG tuner. It's a good one, sometimes. I own one for testing. Some of the ones I've run across are amazing, others just average. They didn't have consistent capabilities, sadly. Retired mine after the Samsung H260's came out. Hang on to it, and keep it well ventilated. Heat is about the only thing they die from.
Enjoy the HD!
Dan

BTW, did you ever work at Boeing, Plant2?

nope never worked at Boeing

i'm glad i got the LG tuner then, was contemplating a samsung which i hadn't heard very good things about. thanks for the tip about ventilation.

Anne-Marie
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post #6523 of 9739
5/18/08 at 3:46pm
The other evening, Friday evening, I could barely get a viewable signal for nearly all my channels. Once it started to get dark, things came back to normal. To my knowledge, things have been fine since then.

Was there some atmospheric event that could have caused this?
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post #6524 of 9739
5/21/08 at 10:01am
Hei, today I went to my local Radio Scratch with coupon in hand, to try and buy a converter box. I asked for the "Echostar box", but they don't carry it and have never heard of it.

My understanding is that those who know, are looking for the Echostar box, true? If so, where?
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post #6525 of 9739
5/21/08 at 10:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by quantumstate View Post

Hei, today I went to my local Radio Scratch with coupon in hand, to try and buy a converter box. I asked for the "Echostar box", but they don't carry it and have never heard of it.

My understanding is that those who know, are looking for the Echostar box, true? If so, where?

The "Echostar Box", otherwise known as the DTV Pal or TR-40, has not been released yet.

Please see this thread on the subject: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1001979
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post #6526 of 9739
5/21/08 at 11:22am
Thank you Whidbey. Hope my coupons don't expire by the time it's out. Just got them.

Is the TR-40 indeed the one to get?
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post #6527 of 9739
5/21/08 at 2:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by quantumstate View Post

Thank you Whidbey. Hope my coupons don't expire by the time it's out. Just got them.

Is the TR-40 indeed the one to get?

I'm only interested in it to see what the program guide and event timer will be like. Beyond that, feature wise it seems the same as most of the other boxes. As far as it being "the" box to get, it's too soon to tell.
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post #6528 of 9739
5/23/08 at 9:18am
Hi, I put up a db4 with amplifier recently--I wish I had found this site before buying but oh well. I'm up in Arlington (103 ave ne / 132 st ne) and we can't get cable. Satellite or OTA is our only choices. Currently we do OTA for our analog TV's (large antenna on roof) but I decided to trade up and purchased an HDTV and that's why I put the db4 up on the roof. I've been experimenting with moving the antenna around per antennaweb's coordinates and I'm getting okay results I guess. Initially I got KCTS HD (channel 9.1, 9.2, 9.3 I think) and KIRO HD (7.1, 7.2) but not much else. After adjusting the direction it was facing, I lost those channels but now I get KING HD (5.1, 5.2), KVOS digital, CW11 digital, and FOX HD (13.1, 13.2).

I hope I'm using the right terminology--HD for greater than 480i and digital for SD otherwise?
KING seems to tile more than the others--is this a sign of a weak signal? Would increasing the antenna's elevation get a better signal?
What options are there to get the other digital signals without having to constantly change the direction the antenna is facing?

I don't have anything that indicates signal strength--I'm just using the built in tuner on the HDTV. Also, I do see other analog channels but I'm not interested in those 'cause they're going away. Besides, what's the point of watching analog stations on an HDTV?

Thanks,
Peter
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post #6529 of 9739
5/23/08 at 9:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nwdiver View Post

Hi, I put up a db4 with amplifier recently--I wish I had found this site before buying but oh well. I'm up in Arlington (103 ave ne / 132 st ne) and we can't get cable. Satellite or OTA is our only choices. Currently we do OTA for our analog TV's (large antenna on roof) but I decided to trade up and purchased an HDTV and that's why I put the db4 up on the roof. I've been experimenting with moving the antenna around per antennaweb's coordinates and I'm getting okay results I guess. Initially I got KCTS HD (channel 9.1, 9.2, 9.3 I think) and KIRO HD (7.1, 7.2) but not much else. After adjusting the direction it was facing, I lost those channels but now I get KING HD (5.1, 5.2), KVOS digital, CW11 digital, and FOX HD (13.1, 13.2).

I hope I'm using the right terminology--HD for greater than 480i and digital for SD otherwise?
KING seems to tile more than the others--is this a sign of a weak signal? Would increasing the antenna's elevation get a better signal?
What options are there to get the other digital signals without having to constantly change the direction the antenna is facing?

I don't have anything that indicates signal strength--I'm just using the built in tuner on the HDTV. Also, I do see other analog channels but I'm not interested in those 'cause they're going away. Besides, what's the point of watching analog stations on an HDTV?

Thanks,
Peter

Actually, you're right at the edge of the range for a db4 antenna. An amplifier is probably a necessity. The Channelmaster 4228 (8-bay UHF) might work better. Chances are increasing the height of the antenna will help. KIRO, KING, KONG, & KOMO are on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle. KCPQ I believe is across the sound. The others are on Capitol Hill. If I was setting up your antenna, I would first select KONG (analog 16) and orient the antenna for best reception and minimum ghosts. Multipath is the enemy of digital TV and is the same as ghosts on analog. After setting up for analog 16, then check the digital performance. Good luck!
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post #6530 of 9739
5/24/08 at 12:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by nwdiver View Post

Hi, I put up a db4 with amplifier recently--I wish I had found this site before buying but oh well. I'm up in Arlington (103 ave ne / 132 st ne) and we can't get cable. Satellite or OTA is our only choices. Currently we do OTA for our analog TV's (large antenna on roof) but I decided to trade up and purchased an HDTV and that's why I put the db4 up on the roof. I've been experimenting with moving the antenna around per antennaweb's coordinates and I'm getting okay results I guess. Initially I got KCTS HD (channel 9.1, 9.2, 9.3 I think) and KIRO HD (7.1, 7.2) but not much else. After adjusting the direction it was facing, I lost those channels but now I get KING HD (5.1, 5.2), KVOS digital, CW11 digital, and FOX HD (13.1, 13.2).

I hope I'm using the right terminology--HD for greater than 480i and digital for SD otherwise?
KING seems to tile more than the others--is this a sign of a weak signal? Would increasing the antenna's elevation get a better signal?
What options are there to get the other digital signals without having to constantly change the direction the antenna is facing?

I don't have anything that indicates signal strength--I'm just using the built in tuner on the HDTV. Also, I do see other analog channels but I'm not interested in those 'cause they're going away. Besides, what's the point of watching analog stations on an HDTV?

Thanks,
Peter

Peter
You're in a pretty good spot. The only thing that would bother you are trees for maybe a 1/4 mile. After that you're line of sight, a good thing. You are 35 miles from the main channels, though, so you want to get a bit more gain. A 4228 might help if you're not buried in trees. Also a good preamlifier, like the Channel Master 7777. If trees are an issue, then a yagi style antenna would work better, like the Channel Master 4248, or something similar.
Most newer HD sets have some kind of strength indicator somewhere in their menu's. Break out the owners manual and check again. Direction is not that critical from where you are. About 235 degrees, give or take. Trick is finding a spot where they all come in. It takes some patience, but can be done. Be aware that moving the antenna 8 inches in ANY direction can make or break. Once you change it, wait a good 30 seconds for the tuner to catch up to the changes.
The fact you're getting as much as you are now, though, says you're almost there.
Keep us posted on the progress.
Dan
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post #6531 of 9739
5/24/08 at 5:05pm
I have been receiving 33.1-33.4 perfectly for 6 months using a CM4228 but in the last week the picture quality has deteriorated but the signal strength continues to be good (80%). The problems is that the picture gets blocky and there are audio dropouts. The analog picture is perfect. Has anyone else experienced this kind of problem?

Second problem is the loss of lip sync and brief freezes during some PBS HD (9.5) programs. I have been trying to figure out if it's a problem with my set (Vizio VU42LF) or the OTA broadcast. I suspect the set because my neighbor with a similar setup but a different set doesn't experience the problems. I've seen some indication of problems with PBS HD programs and was wondering if anyone else has had similar problems or is receiving a good signal with the same set.

Thanks

John
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post #6532 of 9739
5/24/08 at 10:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by finlay648 View Post

I have been receiving 33.1-33.4 perfectly for 6 months using a CM4228 but in the last week the picture quality has deteriorated but the signal strength continues to be good (80%). The problems is that the picture gets blocky and there are audio dropouts. The analog picture is perfect. Has anyone else experienced this kind of problem?

Second problem is the loss of lip sync and brief freezes during some PBS HD (9.5) programs. I have been trying to figure out if it's a problem with my set (Vizio VU42LF) or the OTA broadcast. I suspect the set because my neighbor with a similar setup but a different set doesn't experience the problems. I've seen some indication of problems with PBS HD programs and was wondering if anyone else has had similar problems or is receiving a good signal with the same set.

Thanks

John

John
The strength indicator is not measuring actual signal level, just signal to noise ratio. For the last six months you could have had 100% readings, yet really had lousy reception all along. HD reception will always look perfect. When you get near the edge of the tuners ability to lock on, you're seeing the results. It could be leaves on trees filling out, a house being built in your signal path a mile away, who knows. I highly doubt it's your TV. Double check your connection on the antenna, where the balun attaches. Also, if you didn't seal your balun well, they can allow water to seep in around the end where the two wires go into the plastic. In time, it rusts out. Water inside will definitely give you goofy results. If in doubt, just replace it. Another one at Rat Shack is only a few bucks. And put a new end on the cable, too.
Dan
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post #6533 of 9739
5/25/08 at 3:51pm
I am thinking about getting rid of my Comcast HDTV and getting an Antenna. I currently reside in an apartment. What would be a good suggestion for an antenna that hopefully isn't too bulky. Also what channels might I be able to get in HD. Thanks!
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post #6534 of 9739
5/25/08 at 5:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CHUCKCHILLOUT View Post

I am thinking about getting rid of my Comcast HDTV and getting an Antenna. I currently reside in an apartment. What would be a good suggestion for an antenna that hopefully isn't too bulky. Also what channels might I be able to get in HD. Thanks!

Depends on where you live.
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post #6535 of 9739
5/26/08 at 10:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CHUCKCHILLOUT View Post

I am thinking about getting rid of my Comcast HDTV and getting an Antenna. I currently reside in an apartment. What would be a good suggestion for an antenna that hopefully isn't too bulky. Also what channels might I be able to get in HD. Thanks!

Post back with your location (cross streets is sufficient) and folks here can tell you what your reception will probably be like. Realize that most indoor antennas don't do very well in our area. But the Philips Silver Sensor is generally regarded as one of the best.
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post #6536 of 9739
5/26/08 at 7:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Hendrix View Post

PBSHD(9.5) - I've been experiencing problems with this channel for about the last 3 or 4 weeks. Before then I had no problems. But now for about 80% of the time when I tune into PBSHD, I'll be watching it through my MCE HTPC and after about 5 minutes, it'll blink out for about 1/2 a second, be fine for a minute, blink again for about 1/2 a second, and then on the third blink it'll give me a "Video error" warning and tell me I need to restart MCE. Restarting MCE doesn't always solve the problem.

I don't have this problem on the other channels (KOMO, KING, KIRO, KMYQ).

Did PBS change something in their signal? Didn't they add another subchannel to their lineup? Did that take away bandwidth from the PBSHD channel? Or, do I just need to re-align my roof antenna (which is not a fun thing to do)?


Has anyone found a fix for this "video error" when viewing kcts-hd on xp/wmc? If I convert the recorded programs from .dvr-ms to straight .mpg, the video plays with no errors. I hope Microsoft provides a fix soon.

Perhaps an engineer at KCTS might know what's going on?
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post #6537 of 9739
5/27/08 at 12:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DanKurts View Post

John
The strength indicator is not measuring actual signal level, just signal to noise ratio. For the last six months you could have had 100% readings, yet really had lousy reception all along. HD reception will always look perfect. When you get near the edge of the tuners ability to lock on, you're seeing the results. It could be leaves on trees filling out, a house being built in your signal path a mile away, who knows. I highly doubt it's your TV. Double check your connection on the antenna, where the balun attaches. Also, if you didn't seal your balun well, they can allow water to seep in around the end where the two wires go into the plastic. In time, it rusts out. Water inside will definitely give you goofy results. If in doubt, just replace it. Another one at Rat Shack is only a few bucks. And put a new end on the cable, too.
Dan

Thanks Dan,

My signal strength measurements come from a PC ATSC tuner card that gives me both signal strength (86%) and SNR (3.6db) - it locks on quickly and seems to stay locked but picture quality is poor. For comparison another 1400' up the hill from me is the broadcast tower for KVOS but while the signal strength is really high the multipath kills any reception.

I just redid (6 weeks ago) my setup thinking that my problems with PBS HD were due to poor signal quality. I ganged 2 CM4228s and redid all the connections.and everything was working great (though 9.5 didn't improve at all) and I'm even able to get good digital signal on KBTCDT 28.* most nights. 33.1 was great until 5/21 when it started having problems. I live 1100' up with a fairly clear shot to Seattle and the trees around me are all firs and cedars so new foliage may be an issue though I don't have the dramatic changes of hardwoods - haven't seen any new rearrangements either. The reason I can point to 5/21 is because I record a program nightly on 33.1 and on 5/20 and earlier I had good recordings but on 5/21 and after the recordings are poor. I am far away from the broadcast tower so atmospheric conditions are an issue but generally I get good reception on the Seattle DTV stations. Seems like whatever changed didn't affect others so I'm SOL for reception on ION 33 DTV.

Thanks

John
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post #6538 of 9739
5/27/08 at 8:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by finlay648 View Post

I have been receiving 33.1-33.4 perfectly for 6 months using a CM4228 but in the last week the picture quality has deteriorated but the signal strength continues to be good (80%). The problems is that the picture gets blocky and there are audio dropouts. The analog picture is perfect. Has anyone else experienced this kind of problem?

Second problem is the loss of lip sync and brief freezes during some PBS HD (9.5) programs. I have been trying to figure out if it's a problem with my set (Vizio VU42LF) or the OTA broadcast. I suspect the set because my neighbor with a similar setup but a different set doesn't experience the problems. I've seen some indication of problems with PBS HD programs and was wondering if anyone else has had similar problems or is receiving a good signal with the same set.

Thanks

John

KCTS HD is so bit starved that I think you need a really good processor in your receiver to get a good picture/sound. My sony xbr3 lcd can handle it pretty well, although I get intermittent 1/2 second audio dropouts on my audio amp when the dolby digital stream loses lock or something. My low-end philips 19" lcd doesn't do well at all with the low bitrate. Audio seems to be ok, but video is unwatchable with all the stuttering and frame drops. Completely aggravating, buy hey at least we can watch reruns of Bob Ross on the other KCTS sub-channels! NOT.

Edit to add: My philips is using QAM off Comcast, so my example isn't apples to apples comparison. The comcast STB does ok with the KCTS HD feed (occasional drops etc, just like my OTA experience with my Sony). So I guess my comparison should be: Comcast STB on QAM = ok, Philips low-end LCD tuner on QAM = sucks. Sony LCD tuner on OTA = ok, Philips low-end LCD tuner on OTA = ???. If I get some time, I'll go swap the Philips over to OTA and test. My guess is that the Philips will barf with the OTA connection too.
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post #6539 of 9739
5/27/08 at 9:15am
KCTS HD looks pretty good to me, using either my Vizio's built-in tuner or my Directv AM21 OTA tuner. I have no sound problems with any of these. Using my HDHomeRun tuner with my Mac Mini (which is a bit underpowered), I notice some frame dropping, but the audio doesn't have any problems there, either.

Tschall, who is an engineer at KCTS, shows up here occasionally and may have some helpful information.
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post #6540 of 9739
5/27/08 at 8:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by finlay648 View Post

Thanks Dan,

My signal strength measurements come from a PC ATSC tuner card that gives me both signal strength (86%) and SNR (3.6db) - it locks on quickly and seems to stay locked but picture quality is poor. For comparison another 1400' up the hill from me is the broadcast tower for KVOS but while the signal strength is really high the multipath kills any reception.

I just redid (6 weeks ago) my setup thinking that my problems with PBS HD were due to poor signal quality. I ganged 2 CM4228s and redid all the connections.and everything was working great (though 9.5 didn't improve at all) and I'm even able to get good digital signal on KBTCDT 28.* most nights. 33.1 was great until 5/21 when it started having problems. I live 1100' up with a fairly clear shot to Seattle and the trees around me are all firs and cedars so new foliage may be an issue though I don't have the dramatic changes of hardwoods - haven't seen any new rearrangements either. The reason I can point to 5/21 is because I record a program nightly on 33.1 and on 5/20 and earlier I had good recordings but on 5/21 and after the recordings are poor. I am far away from the broadcast tower so atmospheric conditions are an issue but generally I get good reception on the Seattle DTV stations. Seems like whatever changed didn't affect others so I'm SOL for reception on ION 33 DTV.

Thanks

John

I talked to an engineer at KWPX (33) today and he figures it's lucky that I'm getting any digital signal from KWPX since the tower is about 90 mi from me. So I'm thankful that I get as good reception as I do on the Seattle DTV channels and happy that I don't have to pay for cable or satellite. I hope that PBS fixes their HD signal so I can receive all the programming without problems.

Oddly enough I'm getting perfect reception today of the KWPX DTV signals for the first time in a week. For the record I'm currently getting 75% signal strength and 25 db SNR for 32. Hope that keeps up.

Thanks

John
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