I just got a new HR10-250 installed. I am having trouble with my local HD channels when viewed through the DVR. I have split my attenna signal and the signal running straight to the TV looks great, but I get a lot of pixalation problems when watching through the DVR. Is this normal? Any suggestions? I have a new Samsung DLP HDTV. Thanks.
HR10-250 OTA Reception
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Splitters will reduce the quality of signal coming from the antenna. Many splitters will also reduce the signal more on one output than the other.
First, run the cable straight to the DVR and see if the problem goes away. If it does, then try swapping the outputs from the splitter. If that doesn't help, you may need an amp between the antenna line and the splitter.
It is not normal to have pixalation problems with the DVR.
First, run the cable straight to the DVR and see if the problem goes away. If it does, then try swapping the outputs from the splitter. If that doesn't help, you may need an amp between the antenna line and the splitter.
It is not normal to have pixalation problems with the DVR.
Thanks. I have tried sending the antenna feed directly to the DVR without a splitter and get the same problem. I have a Terk TV50 amplified antenna (I know it is not a great antenna). I am looking at other antenna's, but found it strange that I would get good reception on my tv, but poor reception on the HR10-250.
My H10-250 pulls in the OTA signals better than my HDTV, but that could just be because Sony didn't spend a lot of money on that part of my TV. Newer TVs may do better.
Ted
Ted
tff17 said:
I'm having the same exact issue. When I connect straight to the TV the reception is perfect. I can even get channels almost 40 miles away. When I connect to the DVR I get tons of pixelation and the signal is not constant. It will go from 80 to 40 back to75 down to 0.
Hi,
I got a HR10-250 a few weeks ago. Until then, I had been using a HTPC with 2 Dvico Fusion cards to get my local OTA HD channels (zipcode 60504).
When I first connected the antenna to the HR10-250, I was disappointed to see the behaviour many of you are talking about (pixalation).
It turned out that the old arrangement used a two-way splitter to feed both my Fusion cards on the HTPC. When I initially connected over to the HR10-250, I fed it a direct (non-split) feed.
For grins, I added back the splitter arrangement and no more pixalation! I guess the OTA signal levels were too high without the splitter in place.
I got a HR10-250 a few weeks ago. Until then, I had been using a HTPC with 2 Dvico Fusion cards to get my local OTA HD channels (zipcode 60504).
When I first connected the antenna to the HR10-250, I was disappointed to see the behaviour many of you are talking about (pixalation).
It turned out that the old arrangement used a two-way splitter to feed both my Fusion cards on the HTPC. When I initially connected over to the HR10-250, I fed it a direct (non-split) feed.
For grins, I added back the splitter arrangement and no more pixalation! I guess the OTA signal levels were too high without the splitter in place.
Thanks for all the input. What signal strength is everyone getting on the OTA feeds with the H10. Mine are in the 60 range, which I believe could be causing the problem. I ordered a new attenna today (Channel Master 4228) with a pre-amp. I'll let you know how it works.
I'm lucky to have most of my OTA stations broadcasting from the same mountain. I'm between 80-95 on the channels broadcasting from the mountain and between 70-80 for the three that are located east of me.
Funny that I installed an HR10-250 this past weekend and have the exact same problems with OTA. I have a Channel Master 4228 connected directly to the receiver and it was originally connected to an H20. On that I was getting a perfect signal on all channels. So I was surprised when I replaced the H20 with the HR10-250 and suddenly got a worse signal. I don't have any splitters but doesn't the DVR itself split the signal inside the unit? That might be lowering the signal strength and I might have to get a pre-amp. Does that sound right?
Like many newer HDTVs, the H20 has the newest ATSC "5th generation" tuner chipset that deals with poor signals multipath fluctuations, etc. a lot better than older tuners. The HR10-250 has an older OTA chipset that doesn't work as well.
If your signal is fluctuating, you have multipath. On analog TV, multipath would cause ghosting. On digital TV, it can result in A/V dropouts if the tuner can't handle multipath well. A good directional antenna and/or physically moving the antenna to another location will often fix multipath problems.
TERK OTA antennas are mostly overpriced junk. They are promoted a lot by bigbox stores because of their high profit margin.
If your signal is fluctuating, you have multipath. On analog TV, multipath would cause ghosting. On digital TV, it can result in A/V dropouts if the tuner can't handle multipath well. A good directional antenna and/or physically moving the antenna to another location will often fix multipath problems.
TERK OTA antennas are mostly overpriced junk. They are promoted a lot by bigbox stores because of their high profit margin.
I tried tweaking my setup again last night. Changed the attenna direction, ran the OTA directly into the tv, then the DVR, then split the signal and ran to both. I am still getting a better picture on the tv. My signal strength on the DVR fluctuates badly. I get my new attenna tomorrow. I plan on installing it on Saturday. Hopefully this helps. I'll let you know how it works.
Similar to how one signal strength meter will display a stronger level than another one (when given the same signal), two different meters may also display differening levels of signal fluctuation when fed the same signal.tff17 said:
Bottom line, your TV's tuner obviously deals with multipath-plagued signals better than the tuner in your DVR. Relocating your antenna or getting a more directional antenna are probably the only things you can do to solve the multipath problem.
Sorry for the dumb question-"what is multipath?" I have two HR10-250s. I have a Terk antenna(I know its crap). I split the signal at the antenna and send half about 15 feet to one HR10-250 and half to another HR10-250 that is 100 feet away. The signal travelling 15 feet has been giving me trouble. The other night the picture was freezing and pixilating. The same channel on the one 100 feet away was fine. Checking the signal strength-i see the same thing they talked about above. It fluctuates from 20 to 40 to 0 back to 40.
Today-everything is fine. Signals steady at 68 to 70.
What is up?
Today-everything is fine. Signals steady at 68 to 70.
What is up?
I think the problem with the HR10-250 is that it does not handle a strong signal very well. I bought an attenuator -6db to reduce the signal and this helped, i had to buy another one (total -12db) to clear up my picture, now I have no problems with any of my OTA HD channels! The attenuators are cheap and if it doesnt fix your problem just return them to your local radio shack...
Multipath is when the broadcast signal bounces off nearby hills, buildings or other objects. Te result is you get the original signal directly from the tower and one or more multipath signals that arrive a split second later. In analog TV the "later signal" would show up as one or more faint images to the right of the main image - hence the word "ghosting" in the analog world. In digital, multipath confuses older digital tuners that don't deal with multipath well, resulting in dropouts in audio and video.
Different lengths of coax will affect multipath problems, which may explain why the longer coax receiver is working ok. As cusemax said, you may need an attenuator on the shorter length of cable. Wind, weather, temp and humidity can also affect multipath. It can vary throughout the day, and from channel to channel.
The best way to solve the problem is to:
1: Get a better (NON-TERK) directional antenna that can focus on the main signal from the tower and null out the multiple bounced signals arriving from other directions (multipath).
2. Get a newer digital receiver like the DirecTV H20 that has better multipath rejection. The DVR version of the H20 will be available later this year.
I would get a better antenna - anything but a TERK. For specific antenna recommendations, post questions in the thread for the city you live in HERE. You'll get answers from folks in your area.
Different lengths of coax will affect multipath problems, which may explain why the longer coax receiver is working ok. As cusemax said, you may need an attenuator on the shorter length of cable. Wind, weather, temp and humidity can also affect multipath. It can vary throughout the day, and from channel to channel.
The best way to solve the problem is to:
1: Get a better (NON-TERK) directional antenna that can focus on the main signal from the tower and null out the multiple bounced signals arriving from other directions (multipath).
2. Get a newer digital receiver like the DirecTV H20 that has better multipath rejection. The DVR version of the H20 will be available later this year.
I would get a better antenna - anything but a TERK. For specific antenna recommendations, post questions in the thread for the city you live in HERE. You'll get answers from folks in your area.
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