Minneapolis, MN - OTA - Page 3

I recently upgraded to HD through D* (H10 box) and an OTA antenna. I receive strong signals on all the OTA channels except ABC (5-1, 5-2). Signal strength varies wildly and I usually can't get a signal. Is there something about channel 5's feed that causes more problems than the others?

It really depends how far you are from Shoreview and what type of antenna you're using. More info needed brother Marzo.

D

Me too, Marzo. UHF channel 50 is very hard for a lot of people to receive. In the summer it was the leaves causing multipath interference. In the winter it's the thermal inversion layers. Right now I'm watching KSTP's analog feed via D* and hoping that sometime this year we'll be able to get the local HD feeds from the new Spaceway satellites. (New PVR box required, though.)

Yeah, I'm probably not the best qualified for current local OTA issues... I've got Charter HD w/dvr and only use my OTA receiver to get kstp-dt and haven't even done that since the last MNF game :-)

D

Anyone have audio synch issues with KSTP's HD channel (5-1)? I upgraded to HD with Directv a couple weeks ago, and I've noticed this problem while watching the last 2 episodes of "Lost." The box is Directv's new receiver - model number H10. (The box is not the problem though, as the NBC and CBS local HD channels are fine)

I can switch to the regular channel 5 and everything is synched up, but I then switch back to 5-1 and audio is noticeably out of synch with the video.

I don't believe is a signal strength or dropout issue as I live in New Brighton and can see the Shoreview towers from my house. The setup guide in my receiver shows the antenna signal strength for my local channels is anywhere from 86-100%

Anyone else?

Anyone else having issues with the Fox 9 feed? I'm watching 24 and the logo on the bottom right is only showing Fox 9, the bottom half of the logo with KMSP doesn't show.

Yeah that logo is probably offscreen for most people.

As far as the feed goes, it was perfect for me last night.

-Mike

Thanks Mike, everything else was ok just couldn't figure out why the logo was so low.

I would suggest the largest yagi-style UHF only antenna you can find. I mounted a Radio Shack 15-2160 on my brother's house in Northfield, MN, which is about 40 miles directly south of the Shoreview antenna farm. It gets flawless reception on all the MSP channels, and surprisingly the St. Cloud channels as well, even though they are considerable off axis.

It is rated for 75 miles over "open terrain." You might try it and return it if it doesn't work. The main thing is get a highly directional antenna, preferably a yagi style.

I would suggest the largest yagi-style UHF only antenna you can find. I mounted a Radio Shack 15-2160 on my brother's house in Northfield, MN, which is about 40 miles directly south of the Shoreview antenna farm. It gets flawless reception on all the MSP channels, and surprisingly the St. Cloud channels as well, even though they are considerable off axis.

It is rated for 75 miles over "open terrain." You might try it and return it if it doesn't work. The main thing is get a highly directional antenna, preferably a yagi style.

why has the last couple smallvilles not been in HD? it letterboxes it in my tv for some reason, on the top and the bottom and sides, instead of a full hd signal filling the screen, has WB cheaped out or something?

Anyone having problems with WCCO (4-1) in the last week or two. I get all the local digital Twin City stations and have for the last year. In the last week 4-1 won't lock in, all the other channels pull in perfectly.

The signal appears moderately strong but it just wont lock in and pull in the picture. If I pull up the program info screen it briefly pulls up the description of what is playing but then blanks out as if it loses the info.

I have a Samsung SIR-T165 that has worked flawlessly till now.

I live in Rogers, MN and reception hasn't been an issue in the past.

did you rescan? that worked for my 23-1 channel problem, for the missing channel,
now i just get no sound from 23, my friend has the same missing sound so it is their problem

well tonight i watched smallville on 23 again, and the voice didnt match the picture, is this something that is going to be a problem long term for digital tv? alll the other stations worked fine

I was surprised I hadn't seen this more often. I had the exact same thing happen - SIR-T165 and all - but the problem seems to have fixed itself about a week/week-and-a-half ago. My problem sort of coincided with the length of time that I had snow on my roof. I've got an antenna in the attic - I just assumed that the snow was causing the signal to be blocked just enough so that I couldn't receive it anymore.

I had never had a problem receiving 4-1 before, and that was the only channel that I lost completely, although 9-1 was sort of blocky/intermittent for a few days.

I'm in Apple Valley, with a Radio Shack double-bowtie antenna in the attic, and, like you, I hadn't had any trouble receiving anything before, at least not for the past nine months or so.

Greg.

All Samsung SIR-T165 owners should check out the following link to a software upgrade.

http://product.samsung.com/stb_upgrade/

WCCO had turned on the broadcast flag for a few days by mistake. The software that shipped with the SIR-T165 can't handle this flag. Samsung will send you a serial cable and CD rom and instructions so you can upgrade the software yourself using a Windows based computer and a serial port.

WCCO turned off the broadcast flag after a few days. That's why the problem went away. It had nothing to do with snow. If you don't update your software and stations start using the broadcast flag, your Samsung will not work.

Hi gang...I have a TV5 Terk antenna (I know most people will say Terk sucks and I agree). I also have a SS 2000. For the most part all the stations are at 100% locked on my Samsung HD receiver. Watching the NCAA games in HD on WCCO-DT almost made me throw my shoe through the TV. There were consistent dropouts every minute or so. I constantly checked my signal strength and it was pegged at 100%. I tried the SS antenna and it did the same thing. So I guess I am wondering why I am getting any dropouts when my signal meter stays pegged at 100% all day long. It seems the other channels are better (not to bash any particular channels). I live in Roberts, WI (54023). About 28 miles from the towers.

hey mdfuller,
I am just up the road about 5 miles N of Roberts. I have an LG 4200a tuner and a roof mounted radio shack antenna. I receive all the MSP stations with no drop-outs or any other problems. LG's reception scale doesn't show an actual % but most of my stations are at about 60%. I think that number is purely subjective though - every manufacturers scales are different.

Sounds good. We might be the only two people in Roberts with HD

I think I might try a roof antenna this summer...if I put an antenna on the roof though (new house) and it doesn't fix my problem my wife might leave me.

So far 4-1 is coming in great for me during the Illinois - Milwaukee game. Go Panthers!

Just wanted to report that I can receive all but PAX with strong signals using an RS 15-1880 antenna sitting on a north wall shelf in the garage, in Rosemount, MN. For some (undetermined) reason I was unable to get anything with any antenna I tried inside the attic of the garage.

The Masters is looking great on WCCO-DT as I watch this afternoon!

Last year there were some problems. I really appreciate the excellent performance this year!!!

I've noticed that a few of you guys say that all of the stations come off of one tower in Shoreview.

If if you ever drive through Shoreview on 694, you can clearly see what looks like 3 towers right next to each other.

Maybe all the stations are on one of the three, but I don't see why.


Perhaps that's part of the problem some of you are having.

From a post by Runch Machine on the HDTV Twin Cities forum...

All channels except for 41 are broadcast from a set of side-by-side towers in Shoreview. 4, 5, 11 and 45 come from one pair of towers. 2, 9, 17, 23 and 29 come from a third tower about a mile away from the first pair of towers.

Does a person need an HD antenna to HD quality reception? Or does a strong UHF antenna accomplish the same result?

Nope, no "special" antenna needed. Any decent quality UHF will do it. (I personally use a Radio Shack U-75 and it works great at 22 miles from the antenna farm).

Hi all! I'm new to the HD game - just got the HD-TiVo today. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get any OTA channels. I'm in Hudson, WI (~20 miles from the towers, according to Antenna Web).

I have the Winegard MetroStar Amplified MS-2VRD antenna (looks like a small picnic table on top of my DirecTV dish). This setup worked fine last year when I had a regular DirecTV HD receiver. Unfortunatley, I realized I couldn't live without DVR, so sold the receiver until I could afford the TiVo version.

Just had the HD-TiVo installed today, and I can't get the OTA channels... However, sometimes if I don't plug the cable into the RF input all the way, I DO get a signal... Strange, no?

I tried buying an attenuator (due to talk on TiVoCommunity.com), but it still doesn't seem to work...

Any thoughts? I'm willing to buy another antenna if it'll help, but I don't want to go on the roof, and I don't have a ladder even if I wanted to...

Oh, and this receiver is in the basement, so I don't think rabbit ears would work well, although if they had RCA or F connectors, I could put them in another room and then connect them to my central wiring closet (I have multiple home runs of rg6 in every room)...

So much for watching Monday Night Football tonight
CW

As an update, DirecTV is willing to credit my account $75 to cover the cost of another antenna plus installation. Any ideas on where to go to hire someone to install it on the roof? Along the same lines, any recommendations (hopefully from someone in Hudson....)? I need to start researching this myself, but if someone else already has a solution that works...

CW

Will a PRE-AMP help?

I recently purchased a wine gard square shooter for use with MYHD computer card.

I get constant audio & video drop outs and pixelation on all (5-1 is worst) of the HD channels. (Antenna is on the roof peak but there are several trees in the neighbors yard that are higher) I am less than 5 miles north
from the Shoreview Towers that supply all the HD channels in the area. Some people have told me that if you're that close a pre amp won't do much for you. Any ideas on what model of preamp I should buy Or should I just give it up and blame the tree branches?