Hi, all. I have spent a few hours now reading this and other forums, and I am at my wit's end. I apologize that this is so long, but I want to explain what I know and what I don't.
My brother lives in Hampstead, NC (zip code 28443). He recently purchased an HR20 receiver with 5-LNB dish. His goal is to watch the Super Bowl in High Definition. One would think this would be easy...
The nearest CBS affiliate is close enough to deny him a DNS waiver but not close enough for him to actually receive an OTA signal. He has started the process of getting the signal strength physically measured, but it will not be done in time for the Super Bowl. So DirecTV will not give him the national signal from NY.
As mentioned, the OTA signal is too weak. He is looking into better / more expensive OTA antenna equipment, but that is looking expensive, and there is no guarantee it would work.
DirecTV does not carry the local CBS affiliate in HD.
Soooo... I had him "move" to Greensboro, NC, which is 150 miles away. I figured that should be close enough to pick up the DirecTV spot beam for WFMY (Greensboro CBS affiliate), which DirecTV does carry in HD.
And it is working... for SD. He gets all of the Greensboro stations just fine in low-def. But the corresponding HD versions of the channels show "no signal" when he tunes to them. He called DirecTV, and the technician said that his SD channels are on satellite 101 and the HD are on satellite 99. His sat 101 transponders all show a signal strength of 80 or better, which is consistent with his receiving the Greensboro (and national) stations in SD.
For satellite 99, transponders 2 and 4 show a strength of 80+. 1, 3, 5, and 6 show zero. The rest show "N/A". He receives the national stations (e.g., Discovery channel) in HD just fine, so there is no obvious general problem with his HD setup.
Here are my questions. Are the HD spot beams so tightly focussed that the signal strength could be zero just 150 miles from the origin? Or are these symptoms more likely a problem with his dish and/or receiver?
Finally, does anyone have any other suggestions?
Thanks!
My brother lives in Hampstead, NC (zip code 28443). He recently purchased an HR20 receiver with 5-LNB dish. His goal is to watch the Super Bowl in High Definition. One would think this would be easy...
The nearest CBS affiliate is close enough to deny him a DNS waiver but not close enough for him to actually receive an OTA signal. He has started the process of getting the signal strength physically measured, but it will not be done in time for the Super Bowl. So DirecTV will not give him the national signal from NY.
As mentioned, the OTA signal is too weak. He is looking into better / more expensive OTA antenna equipment, but that is looking expensive, and there is no guarantee it would work.
DirecTV does not carry the local CBS affiliate in HD.
Soooo... I had him "move" to Greensboro, NC, which is 150 miles away. I figured that should be close enough to pick up the DirecTV spot beam for WFMY (Greensboro CBS affiliate), which DirecTV does carry in HD.
And it is working... for SD. He gets all of the Greensboro stations just fine in low-def. But the corresponding HD versions of the channels show "no signal" when he tunes to them. He called DirecTV, and the technician said that his SD channels are on satellite 101 and the HD are on satellite 99. His sat 101 transponders all show a signal strength of 80 or better, which is consistent with his receiving the Greensboro (and national) stations in SD.
For satellite 99, transponders 2 and 4 show a strength of 80+. 1, 3, 5, and 6 show zero. The rest show "N/A". He receives the national stations (e.g., Discovery channel) in HD just fine, so there is no obvious general problem with his HD setup.
Here are my questions. Are the HD spot beams so tightly focussed that the signal strength could be zero just 150 miles from the origin? Or are these symptoms more likely a problem with his dish and/or receiver?
Finally, does anyone have any other suggestions?
Thanks!
