HELP! Have 4 OTA's I am trying, NO RESULTS

[danrw84]

hello everyone
i posted yesterday and got some great advice. today I went to frys, and i bought 4 OTA's, to try them all out and see which one works best,
well, none work.
Here is what i have, and here is what i did
I got the Silver Sensor, hooked that up to the Anttenna RF in the back of the HR10-250, kept it in my room, NOTHING. No singnal at all. Checked all the frequencies, 0 signal.

So then I try the RCA amplified ANT525, which is plugged into the wall. That doesnt work either, same, no signal at all .
I even take it outside and put it up as high as i can, still, nothing.

So then I move onto the CM 3010 Stealthtenna. Have that outside, up high, on my terrace, nothing with that either.
I checked all the channels and (6-1, 8-1) etc.
I did go through the guided setup and enable SAT and OTA ,.. What am I doing wrong here?
I live in Rancho Bernardo, right by the Freeway, 15, i Have a few trees near the house but there are no buildings in my way
What is going on here? I am definatley disapointed none of this is working
Can you guys who have a lot of knowledge give me some advice?
Thanks in advance.


Dan

[wanzong]

Make sure you are pointing your Antenna in the correct direction. I use antennaweb to get transmitter locations.

[Markman07]

What happens if you bypass the tivo? (of course your tv would have to have built-in tuner)

[AstroDad]

are you sure you are checking the right frequencies? It's not the same as the channel number

[Runch Machine]

Just to be more clear, your local channels have both an analog channel and a digital channel. Go to antennaweb.org, put in your zip code and it will show you the digital channel number to tune your Tivo to when you are checking the signal strength. For example, in Minneapolis, WCCO channel 4 has their digital broadcast on channel 32. When I tune the Tivo's signal meter to 4, I get NOTHING. However, if I go to channel 32 and get the signal there and the display between the signal meter shows 4-1.

In normal operation Tivo knows that in my area channel 32 should be displayed as 4-1 and that when I tune to 4-1 it actually goes to channel 32 to get the signal.

[fjwagner]

you also need to do a scan for the channels via the menu and settings.

[danrw84]

i have tried pointing these things in multiple directions! ive tried hooking them directly to the reciever, inside the room, and also using the additional cable DTV installed in this room, and putting the OTA's outside, and even on the roof. the indoor and outdoor models.
I have run a channel scan and "no additional digital channels were found"
what is going on?
shouldnt i at least be getting a little bit of signal?
i ran a check in antennaweb, and i am anywhere from 8 to 35 miles from the towers. the only thing i have are a few large eucalyptis trees in the area right near my house, but not enough to make a problem i dont think
what in the world am i doing wrong?
I am not exactly sure how to POINT the antennas correctly, but i have tried ALL possible angles and am getting nothing. kill me!

[danrw84]

i tried hooking it directly to my TV.... going through the channels i am picking up BAD reception on some channels currently. So i am picking up a bit of a signal. I am going to play with this a bit and see if i can zero anything in,
does this mean something is wrong with my hr10-250? or because i am getting such a bad signal so far, is that why?
i have snowy screen, sometimes can make out a bit of image, and real crackly to no audio .
what do u think?

[litzdog911]

Where are you located? From the description of your reception, that sounds like you're tuning in your ANALOG channels on your TV, not the digital HDTV channels. And if you're getting bad reception of your Analog channels, then your HDTV reception on the HR10-250's tuners will be very difficult.

If you provide your zip code we can check the AntennaWeb site also and see what HDTV channels are within your reception area.

Also, check out the "Local HDTV Reception Forum" at http://www.avsforum.com and find the thread for your nearest city. There you can find out which antennas work the best in your area.

[danrw84]

best way to look up my location is this

San Diego, CA 92128 and for address put 11728 corte templanza

its not my address, but it is only a few blocks away :)

what do u think? do i need to pick up one of the large channel masters and mast it?

[danrw84]

i am going to go return the ota's that didnt work
should i pick up a large channel master? which one will be best?



dan

[reh523]

I would say you would be fine with this one (http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=ANC4228) but, you need VHF also (CH 8). And the anteena I recomended only has a 15 degree path and you might need a little more (4228 is very directional) it also does well on the upper VHF band but I am not sure about ch 8.

Best advise before you spend more time or money is to spend your time at AVS Forums. Like in antenna topic (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=381623) or in local ota thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=376666&page=2&pp=50)

I found the following within 5 minutes of looking....

I have a question regarding OTA reception. I live in Mission Hills, just up from the 5 and Sassafrass. With my OTA antenna I am able to pull in WB, ABC, NBS, PBS, Fox and even WB out of LA. For some reason I can't get 8-1 or CBS at all or sometimes (rarely) it comes in fine like Saturday night and Sunday it came in perfect. Now today, Monday, nothing? What could be causing this problem. Do I have multipath issues? LIke I said, I am getting all the other channels form the same location as 8-1, but not 8-1 for some reason

TA Installer in SD for HTPC??
Anyone found a decent installer for OTA HD in San Diego? I'm in Carlsbad, and setting up an HTPC, and would like to get a bi-directional antenna for San Diego and LA stations properly set up. Any input appreciated.
Thanx, Joel

sdchrgrboy,
Have you tried using http://www.antennaweb.org yet, to map the direction of the various stations relative to your house? Antennas are directional and it sounds like yours is pointed to the SE where WB, NBC, and PBS are located; Fox is to the south. ABC and CBS are to the NW and it's common to have a problem receiving them if your antenna is pointed the other direction.

jbailey895,
Sorry, I have no recommendation re installers but I will say that you might want to get two antennas, and then use a dual-input tuner like the MyHD card. That's what I'm doing as I'm directly in-between the two hilltops with the various transmitters and my main UHF antenna is too unidirectional to pickup both directions.

Try Amerisat. I know they sell various antennas and do sat installs; maybe OTA as well? 858-505-1122

[TyroneShoes]

I can report that the 4228 gets 8.x very solidly. Details at hdtvprimer.com.

[finaldiet]

In your set-ups, it should be set at sat/ota to get your locals.

[danrw84]

yes, i went thru the guided setup and chose SAT and Off Air Antenna
the channels show up, the reception is just horrible (can only get it when plugged direct into tv)
Is there any local places besides say, a frys that carrys these antennas? anyone know if they are at sears or something?

i am so close to these towers i dont understand what my prob is. shouldnt an indoor just work fine?

[TyroneShoes]

...i am so close to these towers i dont understand what my prob is...
This new info might be a clue. The HR10 is susceptible to RF overload, while most HDTVs are not. If you are close, you might need to knock down the signal. If you have a unused splitter lying around (hopefully a 4-way) put that in line and see if there is improvement. Then go to RatShack and buy their variable RF attenuator. Put that in place of the splitter. Try dialing in attenuation while viewing the signal strength screen for OTA. If the reading goes up while you are adding attenuation, you are on the right track.

[danrw84]

would that be the case if it was hooked directly to the TV? which it was, and i got a horrible signal, some audio, white snow and few images....?
can u better explain your suggestion?thanks

[litzdog911]

would that be the case if it was hooked directly to the TV? which it was, and i got a horrible signal, some audio, white snow and few images....?
can u better explain your suggestion?thanks

This bit of information suggests that you really are NOT getting a good signal with whatever antenna you're using. Your TV seems to have an ANALOG over-the-air tuner, and if you're seeing poor quality with that tuner, then you will certainly have issues with the digital over-the-air signals.

Depending on your spare time, patience level, and willingness to deal with frustration, your best bet might be to seek the advice of a professional antenna installer. You can find qualified folks via the "Local HDTV Reception Forum" at http://www.avsforum.com.

[Ein]

OTA =Over The Air.