Posted on 06/16/2009 11:52:16 AM PDT by raccoonradio
In my prior post, I wasn't aware that you are able to receive signals. Based on your description of inconsistent reception on different floors of your house, my first thoughts go to a wiring problem.
Are you connecting your antenna to the homes internal CATV wiring? If yes, there may be interference.
Do you have a lot of cable connectors and combiners/splitters in use? If yes, they cause signal loss. Try to minimize their use.
To isolate the problem, consider purchasing enough RG-6 to reach from your antenna to the house. One hundred feet should cost about $20. One by one, connect the cable directly from the antenna to each tv/converter box combo. Any difference? The problem should go away but if not, some but not all your tv's may have a built in converter The output of the converter box is overloading or somehow confusing the receiver of the tv. In which case you may need to bypass the converter box by directly connecting the RG-6 from the antenna to the tv.
At this point, we have
One Plasma DTV ready, HDTV hooked up to the 90.00 Winegard MS 2000 Round Television Antenna on the roof (on the old Directv pole) They said that we could split this with 2 tvs. When my DH tried to do that, we lost signal.
One 27” tv with a digital converter box on rabbit ears in our bedroom on the second floor of a tri-level (this tv doesn’t get channel 50)
One 19” tv with a DTV converter and a different set of rabbit ears and a different converter box on the ground level in the kitchen. (this tv gets channel 50 but not channel 2)
We get about 10 stations. 48317 zip. And lose some through the day.
All I used the Antenna Web site for was to get an idea how many stations were available, how far they were away and where to point the antenna.
We got a 90.00 round, flat antenna from the antenna manufacturer they recommended.
Sorry but I mistook your earlier post to mean you had a 90 foot tower. So, it sounds as if you got an omnidirectional antenna. All antennas I have seen that are round and flat are omnidirectional. They do well near large urban areas with nearby channels but don't do so well pulling in more distant stations. Some have a built-in signal booster, others don't.
We were supposed to be able to split that antenna between our plasma (HD/DTV ready) set and our older model regular tv with the converter box.
When my DH tried to do this, the signal was too weak to get any stations on both tvs.
Where is the round antenna physically located? It seems to be a rooftop mount. Does it have as unobstructed a line of sight to the stations as practical? You don't want to have the crown of the roof between the antenna and the majority of stations you are trying to receive.
What do you suggest?
Can you give me the make and model of the round antenna?
Concerning the rabbit ears, when a rabbit ear antenna faces a station, this means the ears point out 90 degrees from an imaginary line between the body of the antenna and the station. If the station is due North, the ears will point toward the East and West.
Early on while I was experimenting, I used a pair of rabbit ears sitting in a second floor window with the antenna facing the nearest cluster of stations shown on Antenna Web. If I didn't have the rabbit ears sitting in the window, I lost half the stations. If I closed the blinds, I lost half the stations. Try some experimenting along this line and see if you have similar results. If yes, a better antenna than your rabbit ears is what you need. In the meantime, send me the make and model of your round antenna and we'll see what we can do with it. If you don't mind, email me your zip code so I can see what Antenna Web says about stations in your general area.
Seems that we are getting posts crossed. Not a problem, I just wanted to make note of it.
We have a Winegard MS 2000 Round Television Antenna.
Oh and the zip is 48317
One Plasma DTV ready, HDTV hooked up to the 90.00 Winegard MS 2000 Round Television Antenna on the roof (on the old Directv pole) They said that we could split this with 2 tvs. When my DH tried to do that, we lost signal.
I checked your zip on antenna web and the stations are very close. 15 miles is really close and Winegard makes good stuff
Since your plasma tv seems to be your best tv and it's connected to the expensive antenna, let's focus on it.
What I'm suspicious of is
Bring one of your older TV's, it's converter box and rabbit ear that you know to be working at some level into the same room as the plasma tv is in. Set the older tv, converter box and rabbit ear down near the plasma tv. Preferably, I'd like everything to be close enough that the rabbit ears can be switched from the converter box setup to the plasma tv without physically moving the rabbit ears. Hook up the rabbit ears to the converter box and older tv.
Can you still get a signal on the older tv that is now colocated with the plasma tv?
All we want at this point is the rabbit ears directly connected to the plasma tv. Do you get a signal now on the plasma tv?
>>The winegard is being shadowed from your stations. Shadowing means some obstruction is blocking the line of sight from the station to the antenna.<<
Could pine trees do this?
No but at these frequencies, hills and man made structures can. However, you are so close to the stations that I doubt shadowing will be a problem.
I’ll do the tests you gave me tomorrow and write back.
10pm here and I want to do it with daytime signals.
Any reason why splitting the signal from the round antenna would not work?
10pm here and I want to do it with daytime signals.
Good suggestion.
Any reason why splitting the signal from the round antenna would not work?
The splitter is another variable which is part of the Winegard to plasma tv cabling that is under suspicion.
Once we get something working, we can add back these components in search of the culprit.
Assuming the splitter uses standard threaded connectors and can be easily disconnected, for the experiment, I would try and get it out of the picture.
However, if you know with certainty that it works it's up to you.
Chat with you tomorrow.
That’s what I’ve been told for years, UHF tougher to get. I remember in late 70s/early 80s Ch 38 in Boston used to tell
people to get a double bow tie antenna for their smaller
sets to get better reception of that station.
Some speculation on talkradio now about it (WBZ Boston):
“the antennas that were advertised as digital ready might only
be UHF not VHF...” Also: “the FCC is telling us we have to
re-scan and maybe you should unplug the antenna from the set,
unplug converter box, then re-connect both after awhile to
see if it re-sets”
One comment from the Boston radio-info.com board:
>>Well I guess viewer complaints about it did some good. I turned my TV on this afternoon and BAM. Suddenly WHDH as well as THIS TV are back. Signals are as good as ever on channel 42. I hope that they keep it this way. I don’t want to have to send Ed Ansin another letter. lol Thanks WHDH for listening. I’m a fan of people who correct problems. You’ve done good work today!
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