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Fine Tuning my OTA Antenna. It sees the channel but won't show it ...
Posted by: chopper
Date: October 05, 2024 08:50AM
Following up from Herewith

Finally had a chance to turn on the TV last night.

We connected the rooftop antenna into the cable box on the outside of the house a few weeks ago. Previously this is where Charter/Spectrum fed the entire house with signal.

Now the TV gets a some OTA channels but not all of them that it did when wired directly from the rooftop antenna previously.

What's weird is that the TV recognizes that there is a signal there--like WPTV--but it won't show any pic or audio. It does this for a great many OTA channels.

Any ideas?
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Re: Fine Tuning my OTA Antenna. It sees the channel but won't show it ...
Posted by: MikeF
Date: October 05, 2024 08:59AM
Every splitter in the path will reduce the signal. You might need an amplifier on the antenna signal; the Charter/Spectrum signal may have had enough power to work through the losses, but the antenna alone may not be able to do it.
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Re: Fine Tuning my OTA Antenna. It sees the channel but won't show it ...
Posted by: chopper
Date: October 05, 2024 11:30AM
I have had this in my garage, unused, for 20 years. Will it work for OTA?

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Re: Fine Tuning my OTA Antenna. It sees the channel but won't show it ...
Posted by: TheCaber
Date: October 05, 2024 01:00PM
that will do to boost antenna signal.

has the tv been told to rescan its signal input since disconnecting the cable box?

might be worth doing (or redoing)


tv's newer than 2009 should be digital-capable. older ones, maybe not.

june 12, 2009 was when us tv stations had to go to digital broadcast



=TC



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2024 01:05PM by TheCaber.
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Re: Fine Tuning my OTA Antenna. It sees the channel but won't show it ...
Posted by: Bernie
Date: October 05, 2024 02:40PM
First is a Pre amp at the top of the antenna. Best signal to noise is there.

How many TVS. I used the Comcast wiring for a bit but then used some imagination and ran each room back to one of these Amazon






Staunton, Virginia
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Re: Fine Tuning my OTA Antenna. It sees the channel but won't show it ...
Posted by: RAMd®d
Date: October 05, 2024 03:16PM
For analog signals, a mast mount pre-amp can be a big help, almost a given.

Once a threshold is reached, digital doesn't need as high of an S:N for a good signal.

Start with kit that's already there, as that may be perfectly adequate.


From the previous thread:

I live on a hill overlooking the Mississippi river.

I have an OTA antenna on my roof.

It's on a 12 foot tall pole.

Signal is not a problem.



Would that I was so lucky.

About the antenna, not the mighty Mississipp.






I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.
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Re: Fine Tuning my OTA Antenna. It sees the channel but won't show it ...
Posted by: chopper
Date: October 05, 2024 03:18PM
Here are some pics of the antenna from a few years back when we put it up there.

I thought it was on a much taller pole.







If I run coax from the roof /antenna directly into the TV it pulls a bunch more channels.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2024 03:24PM by chopper.
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Re: Fine Tuning my OTA Antenna. It sees the channel but won't show it ...
Posted by: chopper
Date: October 05, 2024 03:20PM
There's no power up there without running an eight gazillion foot cord.
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Re: Fine Tuning my OTA Antenna. It sees the channel but won't show it ...
Posted by: bobinmurphy
Date: October 05, 2024 06:39PM
With the switch from analog to digital signals many broadcast signals got moved in the frequency bands and are now close to the cell phone bands. So if you live in an area with a number of close cell towers those signals could be overloading your TV causing reception issues. One HAM radio operator living close to me who has extensive real-world experience with antennas and signal strengths found that creating a simple band-pass filter gave him excellent results. He used a Channel Master CM-3201 and a KBFUSHI 4G/5G filter connected in series an inserted into his coax to solve his problem with reception. (Both can be found on Amazon for about $30 total.) I tried the same setup and saw only marginal improvement, but my antenna is installed in my attic. My neighbor tried the same and he reported quite a bit of improvement in his reception.

BTW, for attic installed antennas I found that placement with respect to A/C ducts has a very big impact on signals.
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Re: Fine Tuning my OTA Antenna. It sees the channel but won't show it ...
Posted by: Bernie
Date: October 06, 2024 06:04AM
The Channel Master amp I posted

" It includes built-in out-of-band filters & a 4G/5G LTE interference filter. "




Staunton, Virginia
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Re: Fine Tuning my OTA Antenna. It sees the channel but won't show it ...
Posted by: Bill in NC
Date: October 10, 2024 01:20PM
Quote
chopper
There's no power up there without running an eight gazillion foot cord.

a quality powered amplifier will inject power via the coax.
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