622 Great OTA tuner

[mike1973]

Wow, switched from DTV to Dish yestersday, love the 622!! Much better pq than dtv on sd and hd. Had an external antenna for OTA HD, had tried indoor ones with the HD Tivo but they never worked. Well, hooked up a silver sensor to the 622 and have over 85% on all OTA channels!! I can finally take down the ugly outdoor antenna!!!


Mike

 

[Jolard]

Congratulations, and welcome to Dish!

I have been impressed with the OTA tuner in my 622 as well. I am using a ridiculously small indoor antenna, and I am doing fine!

 

[Pepper]

I don't have experience with any other digital OTA tuners but so far I am very impressed.

Right now I'm using an indoor "rabbit ears" with the UHF loop replaced by a big piece of wire, positioned where it gets best signal, and an antenna amplifier. I'm getting the digital versions of a couple stations I could never get the analog version of.

Planning to replace this with a "real" outdoor antenna on a cool day.

 

[ClevelandRob]

I was close to posting a new thread discussing the problems I have had with the 622 OTA tuner.

The interface is great, records fine, but my signal strength isn't too good. Most stations work without problem 75% of the time, but the station I will be watching the most only works 25% of the time. I've repositioned my antenna numerous times. All stations work 95% of the time when NOT run through the 622 but through my HDTVs built-in tuner. Any time the signal strength dips below about 72 on my 622, the station goes out... I get that "signal lost, channel up or down" message and takes a while to lock in again.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Is there a trick to the 622 that I'm not aware of?I'm using a amplified antenna. Can I get a stronger amplifier? Should I mount my antenna outside?

I'm hoping I can get this resolved before football season or E* adds Cleveland HD LIL.

Thanks.

 

[bhelms]

Does anyone have any suggestions? ... Can I get a stronger amplifier? Should I mount my antenna outside?

I'm hoping I can get this resolved before football season or E* adds Cleveland HD LIL.

Thanks.

You've answered your own question! The obvious choice when an indoor antenna is giving dubious results is to mount something outdoors. Check www.antennaweb.org using your zipcode or exact address to see what channels are available to you, relative locations, distances, etc., and their recommendations for antennas that will work. Sounds like you're in an area where even a simple omnidirectional outdoor antenna will siffice. You probably won't need a preamp, at least not initially. Try it without one and add it later if you need it. (Wish I were so lucky!)

BTW - Even when E* (or D*, for that matter!) adds HD LiLs, the results OTA are usually superior in terms of picture quality, and neither sat. provider will offer all the DTV subchannels that the broadcasters offer, YMMV...

 

[ClevelandRob]

Thanks... I've been to that website before. I still don't know what that tells me!

* green - vhf WKYC-DT 3.1 NBC CLEVELAND OH 291° 11.9 2
* green - uhf WBNX-DT 30 WB AKRON OH TBD 290° 12.2 30
* red - vhf WOIO-DT 19.1 CBS SHAKER HEIGHTS OH 291° 12.3 10
* red - uhf WUAB-DT 43.1 UPN LORAIN OH 288° 13.4 28
* red - uhf WEWS-DT 5.1 ABC CLEVELAND OH 286° 13.2 15
* red - uhf WJW-DT 8.1 FOX CLEVELAND OH 283° 13.0 31

I'm 13 miles or less from all towers. Is that good? The antenna I have is good for attic installations, but I fear it will not hold up with high winds. Does the length of the Coax run from the antenna to 622 make a difference? Should the Amplifier be closer to the Antenna? Right now it is at the TV. Would that make a difference.

Also... my antenna is unidirectional, but since the compass locations are between 283 and 291, this shouldn't be a problem, right?

 

[120inna55]

...I'm using a amplified antenna...

I seem to recall some people on this board stating that the 622 is especially sensitive to over-amp'd signals. A quick rule-out would be to disconnect the amplifier.

 

[scott78945]

I have been having problems with my OTA on the 622. Signal strength can be at 95%+ but it is always pixelating. I have an external amplifier on so I will have to try to disconnect that to see if thats the problem. I never had any probs with my 942. I have my Channel Master 3228 set up outside on a digital rotator as my channels are in a wide spectrum.

 

[ats7627]

Thanks... I've been to that website before. I still don't know what that tells me!

* green - vhf WKYC-DT 3.1 NBC CLEVELAND OH 291° 11.9 2
* green - uhf WBNX-DT 30 WB AKRON OH TBD 290° 12.2 30
* red - vhf WOIO-DT 19.1 CBS SHAKER HEIGHTS OH 291° 12.3 10
* red - uhf WUAB-DT 43.1 UPN LORAIN OH 288° 13.4 28
* red - uhf WEWS-DT 5.1 ABC CLEVELAND OH 286° 13.2 15
* red - uhf WJW-DT 8.1 FOX CLEVELAND OH 283° 13.0 31

I'm 13 miles or less from all towers. Is that good? The antenna I have is good for attic installations, but I fear it will not hold up with high winds. Does the length of the Coax run from the antenna to 622 make a difference? Should the Amplifier be closer to the Antenna? Right now it is at the TV. Would that make a difference.

Also... my antenna is unidirectional, but since the compass locations are between 283 and 291, this shouldn't be a problem, right?

Rob,

Omnidirectional antennas are more prone to multipath which can cause lots of problems with digital tuners. All but 1 (UPN) of your stations are within 8 degrees. A good directional antenna would be a much better choice. Be careful, some of your stations are transmitting on VHF as well as UHF.

 

[diat150]

I find that the 622 has a excellent ota tuner.

 

[bluezeus]

I am new to this site so this is my first post. I just upgraded to HD and I found I am getting a better signal strength through my 622 than I did connecting directly to my tv. So far no problems and enjoying my Hd.

 

[gokamoto]

We want a decent indoor antenna for our 622 and would be happy with even just 2 of our digital local stations. We have something that our Dish installer gave us for free that doesn't do a great job but is able to get CBS and ABC right now...but the quality is choppy even though the signal strength is normally in the 70s.

Would the silver sensor that the first post here mentioned be a good choice or is there some other recommendation? Where should we buy the antenna? I checked Dishstore and didn't see anything.

My zip code is 92130 and I'm in San Diego, CA.

 

[jenec2000]

I'm 85 miles from El Paso Texas.
I have a $25 UHF Radio Shack antenna mounted outside.
I get 75 to 90 on the 4 network locals using th OTA tuner.
I get great reception.:

 

[Jim5506]

I'm 85 miles from El Paso Texas.
I have a $25 UHF Radio Shack antenna mounted outside.
I get 75 to 90 on the 4 network locals using th OTA tuner.
I get great reception.

There was a fellow on the Albuquerque thread of AVSForum a couple of weeks ago who was moving to Alamo and inquiring about HDTV reception. Good to hear you can get El Paso. I suggested he might be able to since the transmitters are on the mountain down there and it is flat flat between.

 

[splat10]

i did a swap out of an 811 with a 622 and the 811 blows away the 622 in OTA reception. I never once had a drop out with the 811 and the 622 can't even lock onto a station that was 88+ on the 811. I am amplifiying the antenna so that may be somthing to try but as far as i'm concerned the 622 OTA is no where close to the 811 in signal strength. I am only 13 miles from the transmitter too.

EDIT:
After reading this thread I did some investigating and found that i had the one way filter / attenuator on the antenna feed before feeding it into the 622. I removed it and BAM waaaaaaaaaay better signal now, i'd say even better than the 811. So moral of the story, make sure that the FCC filter is not between your antenna and the 622 in. Split off your antenna to the tv2 and put the filter there.

 

[Jim5506]

Page 75 of your 622 manual, that attenuator is for the UHF remote input, not the OTA input.

 

[Fgsilva]

I'm having EXACTLY the same problem! I actually get signals that go from 72-96% (when I'mon the "add locals menu" that's what it shows) but every once in a while the pic pixelates, and I get the same error message. I'm using an indoor amplied radio shack antenna. Is it possible that the signal is too strong for the 622? I tried an outdoor UHF radio shack antenna also just slightly above the roof but it didn't work at all in the past with my HD Tivo. I'm about 25 miles from my towers and I live in an area with lots of trees. Somebody suggested maybe I'm having multipath problems? I don't want to spend too much for an outdoor antenna cause it's a rental and I may be out of there in a year. Any suggestions? I really prefer OTA cause the quality is way better than the HD locals that they're giving me (and I also get 3 more channels that dish doesn't have!).

I was close to posting a new thread discussing the problems I have had with the 622 OTA tuner.

The interface is great, records fine, but my signal strength isn't too good. Most stations work without problem 75% of the time, but the station I will be watching the most only works 25% of the time. I've repositioned my antenna numerous times. All stations work 95% of the time when NOT run through the 622 but through my HDTVs built-in tuner. Any time the signal strength dips below about 72 on my 622, the station goes out... I get that "signal lost, channel up or down" message and takes a while to lock in again.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Is there a trick to the 622 that I'm not aware of?I'm using a amplified antenna. Can I get a stronger amplifier? Should I mount my antenna outside?

I'm hoping I can get this resolved before football season or E* adds Cleveland HD LIL.

Thanks.

 

[scott78945]

I can attest to the same things as above. My CBS is at 95% most of the time and it pixelates something awful. Most of the time you cannot even see the screen. My 942 NEVER had any problems with the OTA. So I can only assume that its not my setup but the box. Maybe a bad OTA tuner?

 

[mike1973]

I'm having EXACTLY the same problem! I actually get signals that go from 72-96% (when I'mon the "add locals menu" that's what it shows) but every once in a while the pic pixelates, and I get the same error message. I'm using an indoor amplied radio shack antenna. Is it possible that the signal is too strong for the 622? I tried an outdoor UHF radio shack antenna also just slightly above the roof but it didn't work at all in the past with my HD Tivo. I'm about 25 miles from my towers and I live in an area with lots of trees. Somebody suggested maybe I'm having multipath problems? I don't want to spend too much for an outdoor antenna cause it's a rental and I may be out of there in a year. Any suggestions? I really prefer OTA cause the quality is way better than the HD locals that they're giving me (and I also get 3 more channels that dish doesn't have!).

Try an unamplified antenna. I never had good luck with amplified antennas(Unless you are using a preamp and such) and I have seen people saying they do much better on the 622 without amplification. I use the Silver Sensor, and know a few other people who have good luck with it. I have seen them at Sears and ebay too.


Mike

 

[scott78945]

I need an amplifier otherwise I can't get the channels in. I just want my 942 back...