jepicone

Don_M

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Well, let's put it this way: If the antenna was bad, you'd be missing many more stations besides KCBS. Your antenna was built by Winegard (they call it the Square Shooter), and it has a good reputation for UHF reception. KCBS-DT actually broadcasts on channel 43 and is at maximum power, 1,000 kW, so it's got to be related to antenna location at your end. Repositioning sounds like a good idea notwithstanding the pitfall you mentioned, but first I need to ask: Where is the antenna, indoors our outdoors? How and where is it mounted? I presume you're running a coax downlead from the antenna to a splitter and then two cables from the splitter to each TV. Is that right?

At less than 10 miles out, you were wise not to put an amplifier on the antenna, and it's still not a good idea. Most amplifiers would overload that close to the transmitters.

jepicone

Thanks for the reply. Thanks for confirming it was not the antenna.

I am not sure of the exact cabling because I didn't do it. We had a professional do it as part of a some upgrades to a house we just bought.

The antenna is located in the attic on the metal mount it came with. (I wanted a roof mounting; my wife wanted the attic.) We actually have 3 TVs. I didn't mention the last one because it is an old analogue TV with a converter box. I can't see the splitter near the antenna in the attic but of course it must be somewhere.

Since my last posting the reception for KCBS-DT has gone from spotty to not at all. (Re-scans don't even acknowledge the existence of this channel any more.)

We actually did not have this problem with KCBS-DT in March and April of this year. Nothing in our TV or antenna set up has changed, so this just seems odd that the reception of this one digital channel goes from perfect to spotty to none in the course of 3 or 4 months.

Thanks again for your help and suggestions.

Don_M

Three TVS and an attic mount? You're suffereing quite a bit of signal loss in the cabling, even amid such strong signals. Here are your alternatives for better KCBS reception:

* Re-locating the current antenna to the roof.

* Adding a pre-amp such as Winegard's HDP-269 to the attic antenna. My earlier comments about pre-amps assumed two TVs. With the antenna in the attic and three TVs, a low-gain, high-input model is needed to counteract those dropouts/reception losses.

* Replacing the attic antenna with a bigger, traditional-looking model. I'd suggest a Winegard HD-7694P. The 7694 sports significantly higher gain than your current antenna. I doubt you'd need a pre-amp with it.

Replacement would cost a bit more, but wouldn't mean paying for electricity to power the pre-amp. At 110 volts, the pre-amp consumes 22 watts an hour, or 16 kWh per month. That's nearly 30 bucks a year at 15 cents a kWh.

Piggie

Some people here in Gainesville that were missing channels dumped their un amped square shooter and even put up something as small as a Radio Shack U-75R since they were only attempting UHF. It solved their problems.

The U-75R is the wrong antenna for jepicone, but I brought it up to show how bad a square shooter receives. Even at close range, line of sight, they probably get too much multi path. That is the only reason I can figure I keep hearing that the SS missing some locally strong channel all over the country when it picks up weaker ones. It has to be because it has no directionality to speak about, thus picking up unwanted mulitpath.

I like the idea of suggesting he use a 7694p, as it's covers all the LA channels and has so much more gain they won't need an amp if they already get everything else. And if the problem is mulitpath a 7694p rejects a LOT more mulitpath than a SS.

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jepicone

Don M and Piggie:

Thanks to both of you for your excellent suggestions. I wish I knew about this forum months ago ! ! ! I would have saved me from buying the square shooter. Now that I am currently very low on money, I will probably have to wait until Fall before I can afford a new antenna. So, one last question. . .

Can I ask about a possibly temporary no-cost solution. We never use the third TV.
What if I unplug the RF coaxial cable from the wall receptacle. Will that help the gain for the other two TVs? What if I attempt to (gulp) reposition the antenna (right, left, up, down, diagonal)? Will that help or am I just spinning my wheels?

I know these ideas is lame, but any change I will gain a temporary fix?

Thanks, again. I really appreciate your knowledgeable advise.

Piggie

Just unplugging the third TV won't help. But easy solution, go buy a 2 way splitter, replace the current splitter with it. The loss is in the splitter not how many TV's are hooked to it. So a three or four way splitter has just as much loss with 1 TV hooked up as it does 4 TVs hooked up.

Finding where the contractor put the splitter may be the big challenge.

Reorienting the antenna may help. I have heard those that said setting it like a diamond helped on VHF but you are not reporting VHF problems.

You could try calling Winegard and tell the their antenna isn't working, you need a solution you can afford. Contact Us - Winegard

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Don_M

Not by itself, though you are onto something. Here's what to do: Unplug the cable, and then attach a coax terminator to the wall plate. Terminators resemble little caps; they're available at Radio Shack and some of the big-box hardware stores for a buck or so apiece.

Even better: Try to locate the splitter -- the contractor should be able to remember where he put it. (My money's on the attic, basement or a centrally-located closet.) Unscrew the cable leading to that room, and attach the terminator there. This prevents signals from "leaking" out of unused connectors, thereby degrading reception at the other two tuners. For the same reason, attach a terminator to any other unused splitter connection as well. Doing this might be just enough to bring back KCBS.

It might help, or it might not. Give yourself plenty of time; arm yourself and your spouse with cordless/cell phones so she can report results at both tuners; and don't hesitate to take a break if you start feeling frustrated during the process. Drive a nail or screw into a rafter or truss and use that as a temporary "mount" at each location if you can. At each trial location, remember to step several feet away from the antenna, and to avoid standing between it and the stations; this will prevent interference of any kind with antenna function.

Just in case this doesn't do you any good, leave your current antenna mount and mast in place, and move the antenna by itself around. This way, you can re-mount the antenna where it was without having lost anything more than time spent. If you find a better location, it's definitely the time to move the mount to take advantage of that spot.