OTA works but not through HR10-250 box, why????

[cfox]

I just assembled my HD set up consisting of a new Samsung LN-T4061 LCD, a DirecTv HR10-250, a Triple LNB Dish, and a Antennas Direct DB2 UHF HDTV Antenna. I have the coax from the antenna split so it feeds both the HR10 and the TV directly. Everything works great except one local channel that is notorious because it's transmitter is placed low on their tower. (WTXF FOX Philadelphia) What's weird is that I get this station just fine when using the TV's tuner but not through the HR10 ( get a signal strength of about 20). Could the HR10 be stepping on the signal so much more than the TV? I've tried connecting the antenna diractly to the HR10 with not better result. I've moved the antenna a dozen times trying to get a better shot at the tower location, but still nothing. How could this be happening??? Would using an amplifier help at all???

[rminsk]

The HR10-250 uses first generation ATSC tuners which are very poor multipath rejection. Your new Samsung I think uses a third generation chip which does much better at rejecting multipath. A very directional antenna may help with multipath. A lot of people like the channel master 4228. You may also want to go with some sort of Yagi antenna.

For some information on antennas see http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4228.html
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/DB2.html

[newsposter]

how far out are you? I'm 40 miles out with an amp...125 ft run...and get a strong mid 60s and a bit higher for fox and the rest all stronger (except 57). It took many many hours to find a sweet spot though.

this thread is where you want to post for philly area.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=620626

[cfox]

According to AntennaWeb I'm only 2.4 miles from the Channel 29 tower. (Plug in zip code 19119) All the local station towers are on the same hill in Roxboro. All the other local stations are between 263 degrees and 267 degrees from my location. The channel 29 is at 293 degrees. So it shouldn't take much of an antenna, to pick up these signals. I only have a 50' run of coax from antenna to back of TV/HR10. Would a more directional antenna pick up more signal?

[rminsk]

I did not realize you where so close to the transmitter. Besides multipath the HR10-250 tuners can be over saturated by a strong signal. Some people have had luck putting attenuators in the antenna line. I think your local electronics store should have some sort of variable attenuator that you could try. A bit easier than a new antenna.

[newsposter]

on that other site, there's someone 4 miles from 29... i forget what he did and not sure he ever did figure it out...newsman i think was his name..EZ to search for 29 (i think)

[cfox]

Thanks newsposter, I have read many of the posts on that site. What's weird in my situation is I get a fairly strong signal (8 bars out of ten) for 29.1 on my TV's tuner but only 0 - 20 on my HR10-250 HD-DVR. I've tried every possible cable connection so it's not the cables or configuartion. My other OTA HD stations work on both TV and HD-DVR. I am on just over a ridge between from the towers with a line of thin maple trees I can't avoid. I was hoping the HR10-250 knowledge here might shed some light on this problem. I'll try posting the same question on the other site to see what those folks say.

on that other site, there's someone 4 miles from 29... i forget what he did and not sure he ever did figure it out...newsman i think was his name..EZ to search for 29 (i think)

[newsposter]

sounds perplexing. For the fun of it, put in a paper clip or hangar and see if you get 29 lol! (i think that would help figure out if it's too much juice but doesnt solve your problem, just a bit of a diagnostic)