Any news on a fix for the OTA problem with the 443 software for the 622's? I've lost most of my OTA's. The ones that were in the high 90's previously are the only ones still coming in without problems (They're in the 70's now). Any channel that had a signal strength in the 80's or low 90's is either sporadic or a lost signal.
New Season starting soon - any news on a OTA fix for 443
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Well, I wish I had news, but I am not in the know. I finally got fed up this weekend and bought another new antenna. This one seems to reject multipath better which I assume is the problem with every other software version. No drop-outs yet on 443. It's sad that I have to buy a 75 mile antenna to pick up towers 9 miles away, but it works. I'll probably have too much signal next time they change the OTA tuner software. If it helps though, it is a cheap (29.99) outdoor aluminum job from Radio Shack (apparently they still sell antennas in the back of the shops.) It has replaced my Silver Sensor outside and been great so far.
I just put up the same antenna I believe, and have yet to have a problem..as far as a fix goes I have not heard anything yet either 
With that Radio Shack antenna, have either of you been able to pull in any stations outside of your aim? I've been considering it to pick up a local UHF/HD channel whose tower is 35 miles south of our antenna farm. Or would it pick up the farm stations which are about 10 miles away if I pointed it south? Sorry to go a little off topic. I am not having the L443 problem on my 622.
KAB, it is pretty sensitive to where I aim it at my house, but then again I am not the best person to answer this as where my other stations come from (youngstown) there is nothign but a forest sitting there, so that could be part of it, but I do know that with the antenna even my problem stations (low vhf) come in at 90% and my uhf come in at 96-98 and I am 35 miles from my antenna farm in cleveland.
I didnt want to think there was an issue but there is...all of my OTA stations are 95+ and i am having consistant breakups. Very frustrating...
KAB,
Are you saying you want to look THROUGH the antenna farm that's 10 miles away to see an antenna that is 35 miles beyond those? (total of 45 miles.... ish...) Just trying to envision what you're talking about.
See, I have a situation where I have towers only 7 miles from me and I have towers that are 42 miles from me. They aren't lined up one behind the other though. There is about a 30 degree angle separating them. I chose a CM4228 antenna because of its pattern. It has a strong lobe out the front for those distant towers, but it also has a weaker side lobe at about 30 degrees off that main one. So I aim it at the distant towers and pick up the 7-mile towers off a side lobe and this works extremely well. I haven't tested this, but I believe if I had both tower farms lined up one behind the other, that the 7-mile towers might actually be too close for that antenna.
On another note... I did discover that if I remove the reflector screen from the CM4228..... I can get Hockey Night in Canada out of Toronto off the BACK side of the antenna.
That's almost entirely over water at about 45 miles, so I'm not sure how relavant that is.
Our tower farm is to my west, less than ten miles. The rogue tower is about 30 miles to my SSW. nearly a 90 degree angle. Ya think the 4228 would work?KAB,
Are you saying you want to look THROUGH the antenna farm that's 10 miles away to see an antenna that is 35 miles beyond those? (total of 45 miles.... ish...) Just trying to envision what you're talking about.
See, I have a situation where I have towers only 7 miles from me and I have towers that are 42 miles from me. They aren't lined up one behind the other though. There is about a 30 degree angle separating them. I chose a CM4228 antenna because of its pattern. It has a strong lobe out the front for those distant towers, but it also has a weaker side lobe at about 30 degrees off that main one. So I aim it at the distant towers and pick up the 7-mile towers off a side lobe and this works extremely well. I haven't tested this, but I believe if I had both tower farms lined up one behind the other, that the 7-mile towers might actually be too close for that antenna.
On another note... I did discover that if I remove the reflector screen from the CM4228..... I can get Hockey Night in Canada out of Toronto off the BACK side of the antenna.
If it was 90 degrees, I'd say no because the 4228 has a very tight radiation pattern at 90 degrees. However.... I'm using it to hit towers 42 miles distant and I'm shooting through heavy trees (50 to 60 foot maples and pines) that are only about 30 feet from the antenna. If you have a lot of terrain between you and that rogue tower, then this may not work, but if you're pretty clear, then I'm fairly certain it would work. Sorry that's a bit vague, but here's what I would do...
Aim the sucker SW... a bit west of your rogue tower. I think that'd catch the main tower farm to your west off a minor lobe. Oh heck.... here's a link to a graphic of the 4228 radiation pattern. this'll make more sense if you see it.
Channel Master 4228
Oh, this also assumes you're talking UHF. I can actually receive higher VHF from those same towers that are 42 miles away channel 2 not so good, channel 4 so-so, channel 7 very watchable ... so the higher I go the better they get. But you'll see by looking at that radiation pattern that if your angle between the 2 targets is narrower, you get more into the radiation pattern and make better use of the antenna's natural gain.
I don't even use a rotor. I aimed it at the far towers, it picked up the close ones off that minor lobe and I locked it down. Done.
I'm very impressed with this antenna. And at $65 from a local antenna guy, I could hardly go wrong.
Most articles discussing the 4228 state that it has a beam width much narrower than 90 degrees.
The size of that antenna makes it ideal for situations requiring high gain but it can be problematic in situations that require such a wide beam width.
Still in all i have seen both the 4228 and the smaller 4221 do things that the specs would suggest they either cannot so or should not do as well as they do.
FWIW here is ana d for the 4228 stating that the expected beam width is only 15 degrees. Amazon.com: Channel Master 4228 Long-range outdoor rooftop UHF antenna: Electronics
The size of that antenna makes it ideal for situations requiring high gain but it can be problematic in situations that require such a wide beam width.
Still in all i have seen both the 4228 and the smaller 4221 do things that the specs would suggest they either cannot so or should not do as well as they do.
FWIW here is ana d for the 4228 stating that the expected beam width is only 15 degrees. Amazon.com: Channel Master 4228 Long-range outdoor rooftop UHF antenna: Electronics
Yeah but that makes it sound like it doesn't do anything outside that 15 degree beam width. When in fact it appears that beam width is only taking into account the main lobe. The major null on the 4228 is at 30 degrees. That suggests a main lobe wider than 15 degrees.
But be that as it may..... you're correct when you say that antennas like this can... and often DO... do things that aren't in the spec. I can speak about how mine performs, but there are so many variables in this ... terrain... cables lengths... etc.... you just do the best you can. My wife thinkgs it's ugly... "look like part of a bird cage"... (I used to have 9 breeding pairs of amazon parrots).... then I showed her a really nice yagi and she said..... "ok, that one looks like you're going to shoot something down".
*shrug*
But be that as it may..... you're correct when you say that antennas like this can... and often DO... do things that aren't in the spec. I can speak about how mine performs, but there are so many variables in this ... terrain... cables lengths... etc.... you just do the best you can. My wife thinkgs it's ugly... "look like part of a bird cage"... (I used to have 9 breeding pairs of amazon parrots).... then I showed her a really nice yagi and she said..... "ok, that one looks like you're going to shoot something down".
*shrug*
I've got one big hill and lots of evergreens to get through to get the Seattle stations about 25 miles away. The only antenna that has worked for me is the CM4248. It's one big ugly antenna (yagi) but it does the job.
2 w/ antenna combiner
You would be better off w/ 2 of 4221's. 1 pointing at the ant farm the other at the single tower then connect them thru a ant combiner. The other way would mean the use of a rotor. The pattern you are talking about on the main beam is 15 degrees which may mean 15 degrees off the center each way for a width of 30 degrees. Thing is it will not pick up something 90 degrees off center. That would be the weakest point of reception.
BTW 443 fixed my OTA problems.
You would be better off w/ 2 of 4221's. 1 pointing at the ant farm the other at the single tower then connect them thru a ant combiner. The other way would mean the use of a rotor. The pattern you are talking about on the main beam is 15 degrees which may mean 15 degrees off the center each way for a width of 30 degrees. Thing is it will not pick up something 90 degrees off center. That would be the weakest point of reception.
BTW 443 fixed my OTA problems.
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by the way I spoke too soon, all stations (excluding my fox which has 96+ signal) had breakups, my nbc has 86-88 signal strength and would break up, frustrating as my wife is VERY easily frustrated with this stuff sometimes.
stuart628,
are you by any chance shooting through trees? .... I have to go back and look at your post to see what kind of OTA antenna you have...
.... ok... 40" boom length ain't no 75 mile antenna. I don't care what their ad copy says. That's maybe a 30 to 40 mile antenna, tops.
Regardless, it *should* have pretty good multipath rejection.
What is your cable length and what kind of cable did you use?
Are you in a traffic pattern for a local airport? (I know that sounds dumb, but I live near Niagara Falls air base. You should see what C-130 and KC-135 can do to a signal! hehehe)
Do you notice the breakup more when it's windy? (normally this would mean you see it far less at night when there's little or no wind)
Is your cable run in close proximity to house power wires? (inside or out)
are you by any chance shooting through trees? .... I have to go back and look at your post to see what kind of OTA antenna you have...
.... ok... 40" boom length ain't no 75 mile antenna. I don't care what their ad copy says. That's maybe a 30 to 40 mile antenna, tops.
Regardless, it *should* have pretty good multipath rejection.
What is your cable length and what kind of cable did you use?
Are you in a traffic pattern for a local airport? (I know that sounds dumb, but I live near Niagara Falls air base. You should see what C-130 and KC-135 can do to a signal! hehehe)
Do you notice the breakup more when it's windy? (normally this would mean you see it far less at night when there's little or no wind)
Is your cable run in close proximity to house power wires? (inside or out)
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I've got a CM4228, best antenna I've ever seen. Pulls in all the local HD's as long as you point it in their direction. If I point them to Cincinnati (45 miles or so) I get all of those stations as well.
http://www.warrenelectronics.com/antennas/Jointennas.htm
If you go to two antennas you might look into these. I had limited success because I was working with really marginal signals to begin with but others have had good success. When I had two antennas the best solution I came up with was an electronic a/b switch from rat shack (came with a convenient remote control).
