I think a couple of my channels might be too hot. The Recast seems to handle it better than the competition. I wish I had some good diagnostic information like I used to have with my Roamio.
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I think a couple of my channels might be too hot. The Recast seems to handle it better than the competition. I wish I had some good diagnostic information like I used to have with my Roamio.
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I get that low signal message, but there is never any breakup, so it might be erroneous, meaning nothing. There is no way I have a weak signal, when every other meter gives me 100%. Funny thing on the Recast OTA guide, something odd happened in the past couple of days. 8.1 KGW NBC Portland now has changed to XEQ TV out of Mexico City! In SS it is channel 9, which corresponds to XEQ in Mexico City! The rest of the guide is totally accurate. I have two Fire TVs. I reset to factory standards one last night and then signed in with wifi and everything. I checked and I got the current 8.1 KGW guide, not XEQ; but by the time I re added into all of my apps, 8.1 changed to 9 XEQ again. Really odd. Apparently the guide must have been updated in the period of adding apps. Hopefully Tribune or whoever get the mistake taken care.
More than likely, the signal is too strong or you're getting some multipath.
Most of these signal strength meters aren't a measure of field strength -- they are a measure of signal quality and that can be negatively impacted by distortion or multipath.
I am 12.2 miles from the 5 translators. I originally bought a Antenna Direct 91XG high gain yagi as I wanted some distant translators. well after digital those went away and are too directional to get now. Our translators (Megler MT) are pretty much LOS, but their power is all over the board.
2 (26) KATU 5KW ERP
6 (34) KOIN 536 watts ERP
8 (17) KGW 5KW ERP
10 (23) KOPB 5.7 KW ERP
12 (21) KPTV 1.86 KW.
KOIN 6 even though 12.2 miles away can be affected by weather conditions, being so weak. Many in the area cannot even get a lockable signal or it comes and goes. Probably too much signal for 3 of the translators, as one meter graph nearly pegs (KATU). I might have a bit of over kill. When KOIN replaces the translator that will handle 3.0, their CE tells me that they will be using 5 KW ERP. Having a CM booster probably adds to the situation. A few years ago, I even changed by RG6 to RG11, and the length is about 80 feet, so little loss there. But the Recast must be more sensitive as I get no issues with any other tuners. But the message on the Recast has only shown a couple of times and there was no loss of signal or breakup.
I was in BestBuy over the weekend, and saw an open box 4-Tuner Recast for $150. As I had had worse results with the AirTV and Tablo, I decided on a whim to buy it. I set it up Saturday night, and I haven't seen any low signal errors on any of the big 4 networks so far. Makes me wonder if all the fiddling with the AirTV and Tablo to fix apparent signal issues with them happened to fix whatever the Recast was complaining about. Anyway, again after dealing with the competing products, I think I am going to keep this recast. Worst case, I'll have access to locals when the next retransmission dispute comes to my market.
I only saw the weak signal message a couple of times and I did not see any breakup on the local. I may have too much signal, as the message was on our strongest translator.
My wife and I haven't used our Dish equipment for going on 2 weeks now. Based on this, it is looking unlikely that we'll be sticking with Dish beyond our 2 year contract expiration. The one possible hiccough is the upcoming September 5 repack date for most of our local channels. Hopefully that won't introduce any reception issues.
FWIW: Here is a quick rundown of what we have been using:
Amazon Fire Recast
4 x 4k Firesticks
Sling Orange
Netflix
Hulu
Prime Video w/ HBO and CBS All Access channels.
Once F1 season is over, we might drop it and add YouTube Premium until F1 comes back.
FWIW: Here is a quick rundown of what we have been using:
Amazon Fire Recast
4 x 4k Firesticks
Sling Orange
Netflix
Hulu
Prime Video w/ HBO and CBS All Access channels.
Once F1 season is over, we might drop it and add YouTube Premium until F1 comes back.
This issue with the wrong guides has been fixed. The last one was OTA KGW Portland giving me XEQ 9Mexico City!. Anyway this week I noticed the correct KGW NBC guide is back. I have no idea what happened, but it is fine now out to a 2 week guide. The Dish 211k receiver OTA guide is terrible except for a few diginets. All of the networks are showing wrong guides and guides from other cities. Some channels have no guide. I am very happy with the Recast as I can also DVR anything I want with a correct guide.
My only complaint was to have to use a smart phone to set it up. Luckily my one S4 worked, but what about people that only has a flip phone? Amazon should set it up so the customer can use a laptop as is done for much stuff.
I still really like my recast but there is definitely room to improve on it. The weak signal error is extremely annoying, I get it even when my signal is good. Also your internet connection has to be fast and if you live in a large house WiFi cannot have dead areas other than that it’s pretty good.
Agree on the weak signal error, but even with that, it still does the best at pulling in several of my local stations compared to the alternatives.
I have had at least one guide data issue where a new episode wasn't recorded. I was hoping the Gracenote data would result in more reliable recordings.
Overall though, it is pretty great, especially considering the cost.
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