OTA channels are constantly searching for signal

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NABRIL

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Aug 4, 2005
193
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Hello
My hopper 3 has the usb OTA dongle connected to the usb 2.0 port and I'm using the dish-supplied ota antenna.

As of 2 weeks or so, while watching my local channels, i constantly get the black screen of "the ota signal has been lost for channel...", the image pixelates, and the signal returns. This repeats many many times.

I've rescaned the channels many times, but it keeps happening.

1. Is there a newer ota dongle? Mine is 6 or 7 years old.

2. Should it be plugged into the usb 3.0 port perhaps?

3. What can I do because it's annoying as hell, especially during NFL games. The NBC channel seems to be the main offender.

Thank you

EDIT.. I'm on the H367 software
 
NABRIL said:
Hello
My hopper 3 has the usb OTA dongle connected to the usb 2.0 port and I'm using the dish-supplied ota antenna.

As of 2 weeks or so, while watching my local channels, i constantly get the black screen of "the ota signal has been lost for channel...", the image pixelates, and the signal returns. This repeats many many times.

I've rescaned the channels many times, but it keeps happening.

1. Is there a newer ota dongle? Mine is 6 or 7 years old.

2. Should it be plugged into the usb 3.0 port perhaps?

3. What can I do because it's annoying as hell, especially during NFL games. The NBC channel seems to be the main offender.

Thank you

EDIT.. I'm on the H367 software
Click to expand...
Thanks Bobby
It is a roof-mounted antenna that points in the direction of our locals, obviously. It has worked fine for many years, but as of late, it frustrates. On windy days, I assume that it moves up there at the highest point of our two-story house, and thus the signal fails. Perhaps??
 
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Is it possible that you are watching OTA but recording a Sat channel at that time and the Sat channel lost signal, thus you got the message? I think that's happened to me a couple of times during rain storms. If it's really windy outside, maybe the Sat dish is moving a bit.
 
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Cold Irons said:
Can't imagine movement affecting OTA. Given that it has worked fine but has many years of use, I'd suspect a loose or corroded connection up at the antenna.
Click to expand...
Good point. I'll try to get Dish to dix it, though they don't support OTA much, if any.
rvvaquero said:
Is it possible that you are watching OTA but recording a Sat channel at that time and the Sat channel lost signal, thus you got the message? I think that's happened to me a couple of times during rain storms. If it's really windy outside, maybe the Sat dish is moving a bit.
Click to expand...
Good theory, but when it's happened, I haven't been recording a sat channel. And the error message clearly states that I the signal to channel 006 has been lost.
 
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Is it a powered antenna or like the old school style with all the metal rods sticking out? If it's powered, your power adapter may have went out or something happened to the inboard circuitry.

Like mentioned already it could also be a bad connection too. So I'd inspect every single connector in the system. They should all be shiny inside on the metal parts and a pure white dialetric.

Small movements won't affect it much but check the mounting as well because if it has shifted more than like 20 degrees it can definitely lose signal.
 
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tjboston5676 said:
Is it a powered antenna or like the old school style with all the metal rods sticking out? If it's powered, your power adapter may have went out or something happened to the inboard circuitry.

Like mentioned already it could also be a bad connection too. So I'd inspect every single connector in the system. They should all be shiny inside on the metal parts and a pure white dialetric.

Small movements won't affect it much but check the mounting as well because if it has shifted more than like 20 degrees it can definitely lose signal.
Click to expand...
Thank you
It is not powered and looks like this. I will ask dish to come check it out, but i doubt that they'll come out for ota issues since they don't really support that. Getting to ot myself is tricky since it sits at the highest peak of my 2 story house.
 

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NABRIL said:
Thank you
It is not powered and looks like this. I will ask dish to come check it out, but i doubt that they'll come out for ota issues since they don't really support that. Getting to ot myself is tricky since it sits at the highest peak of my 2 story house.
Click to expand...
I have the same OTA antenna that Dish installed on my roof years ago. I ended up buying a new one when Solid Signal had a good sale on it a few months ago. I called Dish and set up the protection plan for a month and they charged me like $50 for a custom work order which I was fine with because like you I didn't want to go up on my roof. When I spoke to Dish I just had to explain that they installed the original one years ago. It took a little bit of explaining to the rep but it worked out for me in the end.
 
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I use that same antenna Televes diginova boss. My local ABC-12.1/NBC-12.2 station has been doing the same thing for months. It will show lost signal and then black out and come back on. But over the TV or the TABLO ota dvr I never see it. But Channel 12 finally came out a few months back and said they were making improvements to their transmitter so we might see problems in reception and to please be patient. Here we are in the new year and last night on the channel 12 substation 12.4 METV dropped out twice over the Hopper in less than 7 minutes. So I changed my ota dongle many times since I had a about 5 of them, and each one of them had the same problem and I concluded the ota dongle is just very sensitive to any fluctuations in signal.
 
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KAB said:
The OP said his dongle was 6 or 7 years ago. That coincides with the dongle that Dish stopped supporting with firmware updates, remember? The same thing happened to me. He needs to get the latest dongle
Click to expand...
My dongle cant get software updates, I think, unless it's done through the hopper and then via usb.
What model is the latest one?
 
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NABRIL said:
Thank you
It is not powered and looks like this. I will ask dish to come check it out, but i doubt that they'll come out for ota issues since they don't really support that. Getting to ot myself is tricky since it sits at the highest peak of my 2 story house.
Click to expand...
That antenna should of came with a power adapter. It's not always required though. Who installed it? Could be possible if someone else installed it that there is a power adapter behind TV or in attic. If you're sure there's no power adapter then your issue is the antenna itself or the USB adapter.

While technically imo, dish shouldn't set up work orders for ota issues, they do. There's not an actual work order type for troubleshooting ota so it just gets set as a regular service call and if anything needs replaced, the tech may not have it with them and even if they did may not replace without paying for it.
 
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NABRIL said:
My dongle cant get software updates, I think, unless it's done through the hopper and then via usb.
What model is the latest one?
Click to expand...
This is what you need...Non detachable USB cable.
When I said firmware, I meant Dish stopped THEIR efforts to "co-exist" with that dongle. They gave up on it. It was a BAD one.
 
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Can you connect a splitter and also feed the antenna to the TV as well as Dish? This is more for troubleshooting. Then, when you have the loss of signal message, switch over to the TV and see if it's having problems. I'm guessing, based on the "multiple channels" issue, it's probably cabling.

My next troubleshooting step (after hooking up the TV) would be getting a new dongle.

Another option (maybe) is calling an electrician(?) to get up on the roof to check the cabling. I think electricians are usually the ones who run antenna/cable in new built homes so they should be familiar with how to repair ends (if needed).
 
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