losing channels

[krisman]

I am from zip 37841. I have 11 channels that i can get with my antenna, including 4 channesl of ion. I was watching it one night last week with about a 60 signal. the next night i turn it on and nothing, like a 3 signal. so i do some turning and rescanning and still isnt doing anything. i cannot figure this out as ion was one of my strongest stations. the same thing happened with abc, luckily i got it back this morning. would the kind of converter box i have have anything to do with it? are there stronger boxes that might help to get better signal or possibly more channels?

 

[boba]

We need much more information than a discription of your problem.
What converter box are you using?
What do you use for an antenna?
Where are you located zip code?
How long have you had this problem?
Do you have just 1 TV with problem or is it happening on more than 1 ?

 

[krisman]

ive been having this problem for 3 days now, it was working fine but now i cant even pull in ion. im using a vhf and uhf separate antenna. antennas direct and yogi i think it is? and a winegard pre amp. im using a radio shack brand converter box (which could be my problem) but it seems like a high quality box. i just have it on one tv.
heres the report
TV Fool
37841 zip code
i know a guy from my city that is pulling in about 16 channels to my 11 using a wal mart box, and he isnt using anything but a combination uhf vhf antenna with no preamp at all.

is all of this even going to matter if congress gets rid of free tv?

 

[boba]

How are your 2 separate antenna connected togther? The models of your antenna would be really helpful but probably unknown to you.

A first guess would be that you have a problem with your pre amp. Try removeing all parts from the system and see what your reception looks like.

Do you really believe FREE TV is going anywhere?

 

[krisman]

well thats easier said than done, my pole is 30 feet high and i cant take it down by myself. but my 2 antennas are 5 or 6 feet apart. well its the same system that "nostaticatall" has. i cant really remember his name or i would look it up and tell you. but anyway yes i do have the preamp to where i can get to it. i have it wrapped in plastic wrap, maybe it could have gotten water in it or something. so youre saying the converter boxes are all about the same? it wouldnt have anything to do with getting anymore channels or better reception?

i would hope that free antenna tv woldnt go anywhere since the governemt spent all this money on converter boxes and going digital, but i saw where congress was trying to do away with antenna tv, have you heard this?

 

[Splicer]

You may have a bad RG6 connection is what I'm thinking. Or water might have migrated in in. Why would you wrap anything in plastic?

Furthermore:

is all of this even going to matter if congress gets rid of free tv?

Congress has no intention of getting rid of free OTA TV. That shouldn't be a consideration for you at all.

 

[krisman]

how are you getting 43 channels? seran wrap just sounded like a good idea at the time, what should i use?

 

[Splicer]

You can see how I get 43 channels from 2 different DMA's in my signature. All 3 antennas are on one 10' mast.

As for the plastic wrap, you shouldn't need to use anything. What model pre-amp are you using?

 

[krisman]

winegard ps 1503 does that sound right? for the preamp that is. i have it mounted near the bottom of my antenna pole and it said to keep indoors is the reason im keeping it covered. i just thought it was mandatory. anyway i have that, the converter box i got from radio shack (again, would all converter boxes do about the same or do some have a weak front end tuner kind of like a fta box?) and i have 2 antennas, vhf and uhf, one is an antennas direct and one is a winegard and thats all i can remember. are you telling me that you have 3 antennas on a pole? how would you even do that? id like to be able to get more channels but i dont want to get too complicated though

 

[Splicer]

winegard ps 1503 does that sound right? for the preamp that is. i have it mounted near the bottom of my antenna pole and it said to keep indoors is the reason im keeping it covered. i just thought it was mandatory.

What you have is a power inserter, for a pre-amp. It should be indoors as it is not weather proof.

anyway i have that, the converter box i got from radio shack (again, would all converter boxes do about the same or do some have a weak front end tuner kind of like a fta box?) and i have 2 antennas, vhf and uhf, one is an antennas direct and one is a winegard and thats all i can remember.

The box is, as has been said earlier, fine. Yes there are better boxes, but what you have should do the trick since it was doing the trick before.

are you telling me that you have 3 antennas on a pole? how would you even do that? id like to be able to get more channels but i dont want to get too complicated though

My antenna setup. However, the bottom antenna is lower. The bottom deflecter sits on top of the PVC pipe the mast clamps are attached to.

You live a messy area according to your TVFool plot if I recall so the likelyhood of getting 16 channels is a hope and a prayer in my opinion. Not saying it can't be done, but you have to be situated right to do it. 43 channels is the most I have heard about but I am sure there are others that get similar results. Oh, BTW, I worked in the CATV field for over 27 years so know a little about setting up antennas.

As I said. It sounds like a bad fitting/connector/power inserter either corrosion, water or poor quality materials. The wind might have blown the antenna off alignment. You could be getting multipath now with no leaves on the trees. A building could have been built causing multipath. A whole slew of reasons that it could be but it will be a process of elimination to find the cause(s). Check the balun connection, the balun itself, the fittings, etc...

 

[boba]

From the description of an indoor power supply placed at the bottom of the mast wrapped in Saran Wrap I would start with a VOM checking for output voltage. With plastic wrap and an indoor pwer supply trapped condensation is enough to kill it.

According to my DTV PAL i'm getting 53 services.

 

[krisman]

alright im back to my original channels now, the antenna must have been blown off by very little. so this morning i woke up and it was blown to about 90 degrees off so i figured i would scan just to see what happened, i picked up like 5 extra channels i wasnt getting before. i am wanting these channels, but in order to do that i would have to be pointing at 2 different directions at the same time, does anyne have any suggestions on how i would do this? i would like to get all the directions at once, it looks like you are doing this and thats how you have so many channels.

i have the preamp plugged up inside but the diseq o whatever, there is no way that i can get it inside so i have to try to keep it waterproof from outside, do you have any other suggestions besides seran wrap?

also, im going to have to anchor the pole down better, i will probably have to go with guy wire, but for now i am just going to monkey wrench it down ttight at the bottom and hold it underground with a screwdriver, at least until it warms up to where i can do a better job, so this means the antenna pole will have to come down 5-10 feet. how will this affect my reception?

 

[Splicer]

You won't know until you shorten it the 5'. We hope it won't affect anything negatively. To point at 2 directions at once, get another antenna, depending on the band of the desired new channels. You see my picture. That's how it's done.

 

[krisman]

the problem with additional antennas is i already have 3 on my mast already. would the vertical antenna like you have pick up from all 4 directions? and would it have the strength that mine does? to be able to get about 75 miles away? i think i have this one

Antennas Direct 91XG UHF TV Antenna (91XG) - Antennas Direct - 91XG - 853748001910 - 91XG 91-XG 91 XG 91 GX xg91 Antennas&sku=853748001910

was wondering if this one would pull in from all directions and have about the same strength

Channel Master 4228HD 8-bay HDTV/UHF TV Antenna (4228-HD) - Channel Master - 4228HD - 020572030168 - CM 4228hd CM-hd4228 CM-4228 4228 HD4228 HD-4228 4228-HD 4228HD 4228 cm4228hd cm4228 cm4228hd cm-4228 hd cm4228hd Antennas&sku=020572030168

 

[krisman]

its not pretty but there it is