SO.. again Locked

**sdhoward6** · 01-05-2010, 09:31 PM

So what a joke this forum website tends to be "jay" the admin likes to lock threads when people have genuine complaints and "escapevelocity" calls people obnoxious for pointing out the fact that he or she just refers people to a website. My orginal complaint was " NO Signal" only after 8pm!!!!?? wondering if anyone in America is having the same problem I went to Tvfool.com and the graphs showed me that i should receive signals from 20 channels, however with out changing anything other than time of day i get a no signal and in my orginal post i said i was in San Diego Ca, even sent my zip code to the Gurus for help and told them the brand of converter and antenna, yet to no unveil still referred to the other website. That just shows graphs and tables to the average joe mean nothing, other than frustation and aggervation.
TV Signal Analysis Results
Here are the results for your location. The transmitter database was last updated on January 5, 2010. For more information about these plots and how to interpret them, please check out the Signal Analysis FAQ.
TV Fool

**Jason Fritz** · 01-05-2010, 09:45 PM

lol. We're not asking you to interpret your TVFool results, we'll do that for you.

ok, so now that you've posted your TVFool results, what channels do you have difficulty receiving after 8:00PM.

**sdhoward6** · 01-05-2010, 09:57 PM

all channels black no signal. could it be a junk box? apex dt502, also time and date read Dec 31 1969. hmmmmm

**sdhoward6** · 01-05-2010, 10:01 PM

also called apex and they referred me to simply buy their smart antenna, yeah right like i really want to do that, I have already spend enough to cover two months of cable

**EscapeVelocity** · 01-05-2010, 10:04 PM

Try pulling the plug on the converter box, and plugging it back up. Reboot it.

**Aaron62** · 01-05-2010, 10:26 PM

Originally Posted by sdhoward6

all channels black no signal. could it be a junk box? apex dt502, also time and date read Dec 31 1969. hmmmmm

This was actually a pretty common problem with some of the converter including the Apex. If you tried what EscapeVelocity recommended and it didn't work, try this: Lost Channels on your Converter Box? Try the Memory Erase Scan <---This worked for me once.

**Trip** · 01-06-2010, 06:43 AM

I have the Apex box and it does some weird things. Mine goes haywire if I try to tune it to one particular local signal.

- Trip

**DTVuser2009** · 01-06-2010, 08:24 AM

When the date and time go i call bad box myself. it's not long before other ROMs inside it go kaput. on converters the RTC (Real Time Clock/CMOS Clock) is on a chip and not a battery as with a computer, to make it more permanent, so when those chips go it throws a proverbial wrench into the works. these units are built as cheap as they can get.

Date and time dating to January 1, 1980 or even the 60s and 70s (didn't know that was possible) can confuse anything. it not only won't receive the program guide data but won't tune because some boxes won't tune to a channel with 'no data' and if the guide is dating to 1969, i highly doubt anything's being shown. Some boxes 'forget' channels that aren't showing program data, and of course being stuck in the 60s doesn't help.

If a hard reset (unplug it, wait 10 minutes, plug it back in, turn it on) doesn't work, and going to 'reset to factory defaults' or 'factory reset' (menu depends on box) and doing the former doesn't fix it, i'd return it (if possible) and replace it.

HD Tuners are still out there available and they also convert to analog; they cost more, but work and more reliable.

**sdhoward6** · 01-06-2010, 03:44 PM

Tried all above and still no avail will be returning it to Best Buy in the next couple of days, meanwhile got an ad for att uverse, they offered me free install! setting up an appointment with them as I type this. Sorry for the crabass attitude "free tv" shouldnt be this hard to get atleast in the 2010. I can stream live tv on my phone and Ipod however a 3 inch screen kinda sucks to watch all the time.

**DTVuser2009** · 01-06-2010, 05:17 PM

I had serious trouble with DTV before the transition--in 2008 and into 2009. for the longest time i had a few of my favorite channels go MIA and it took tons of work to get them all back--with a few extras...now weather dependent, i now get a total of 27 channels--some as far away as 100 miles+, that weren't there when analog was around. that's three below a very basic Dish Network package...and doesn't cost me a monthly fee.

The only thing is to those who have never had satellite, the occasional weather-related fade causing picture blockiness and 'no signal' warnings comes with the territory i'm afraid. satellite users consider it a trade-off, we have to get used to it too. since it rarely happens to me any more, i would take it over that annoying as hell 'PSSSSHHHHHT! static when wind blows on analog anyday.

I live far away (more than 50 miles) from most of the channels i picked up with analog--in fact, i only got one or two with a decent picture. it took two 12dB amps wired in series plus a set of high quality Satellite-grade cabling to get those extra channels.

now a good converter helps a ton! i use a Samsung HD Tuner for most of my DTV viewing in my living room--my bedroom TV, used rarely and only when checking the weather in the event of an approaching storm (one of my channels is a 24/7 radar and it's a lot better at early warning before the NWS sets off the alarm--i live in a mobile home and cannot afford the late warning for tornadoes or winter storms) uses the most recent Magnavox converter, the MW9