OTA issues

[henderson_tony]

Just got my voom installed and based on somethings i read on the board asked for the OTA and SAT feeds to be fed through seperate lines. This may of been a mistake since I practically get NO OTA channels. I read now in other posts this may of been a mistake as I am getting no power to my OTA. My question, is this something I can easily fix with an amp inside my house, or do I need to make a service call. Thanks,

TONY

 

[Sean Mota]

First what type of Antenna did you get? Do you see your local channels in the PG? You may have to make another service call.

 

[Ilya]

Just got my voom installed and based on somethings i read on the board asked for the OTA and SAT feeds to be fed through seperate lines. This may of been a mistake since I practically get NO OTA channels. I read now in other posts this may of been a mistake as I am getting no power to my OTA. My question, is this something I can easily fix with an amp inside my house, or do I need to make a service call. Thanks,

TONY

What type of antenna do you have? Did it come with a power supply (power inserter)? Do you get any signal at all on any of the OTA channels?

 

[rkr0923]

I have seperate lines run. No problems with the OTA I do receive but I can receive others if they would let me

 

[henderson_tony]

I have the Winegard OTA. I just noticed theres a small sticker that says "amplified". I don't know if it came with any sort of power supply or diplexor, but theres nothing hooked up now. My signal strength varies between 5-20 and the OTA power is 0! I can pick up pbs, pbsHD and thats it! I'm only about 11 miles from the towers as well. I was wondering if i could just buy my own amp for a reasonable price and save the hassle. (reasonable meaning cheap) thanks,

TONY

 

[Ilya]

I have the Winegard OTA...I was wondering if i could just buy my own amp for a reasonable price and save the hassle.

Assuming you have Winegard Sensar II (GS2000A), you can buy the PS-9370 power supply:



This is what Winegard recommends for this type of antenna. You can buy it from any Winegard's reseller. It costs around $20.

 

[Technut]

im using a 26db amp i picked up at radio shack see my link for pictures

my voom setup
free wifi in san antonio

Mr. C

 

[henderson_tony]

Thanks Ilya,

That was exactly the answer I was looking for, and am practically out the door to go purchase it this evening. I'd much rather spend the 20 bucks, and save the hassle of the service coming out. I can cancel my old cable that much sooner and the money will balance out. Hopefully this will do the trick, otherwise i'm saving the receipt. Thanks again.

TONY

 

[Technut]

i didnt have much luck with the wineguard antennas, and some of my locals are 15 miles away.i have my amp connected to the antenna end before my multiswitch, any one else have any luck with amps?

 

[Ilya]

i didnt have much luck with the wineguard antennas, and some of my locals are 15 miles away.i have my amp connected to the antenna end before my multiswitch, any one else have any luck with amps?

If it is an amplified antenna, it already has a built-in amplifier. Instead of adding another amp, you need to provide the power to the antenna itself.

 

[Ilya]

henderson_tony, how many STBs do you have? Are there any splitters between the antenna and the STB? This is important. If you are connecting the power supply, you need to make sure the voltage is passed to the antenna and is not passed to anything else. Check your wiring before connecting the power supply.

 

[Technut]

If it is an amplified antenna, it already has a built-in amplifier. Instead of adding another amp, you need to provide the power to the antenna itself.

ithought the stb provided power to the wineguards? I have 3 STB's how will this effect my setup,

 

[henderson_tony]

STBs??? As far as my setup, I have the SAT coming through one coax, and the OTA coming through another. I opted not to have the diplexer set up b/c I read this would be better for signal strength. SO, If I hook the power supply up, it should only apply to the OTA feed. Is this the info you were inquiring about?

TONY

 

[Ilya]

STBs??? As far as my setup, I have the SAT coming through one coax, and the OTA coming through another. I opted not to have the diplexer set up b/c I read this would be better for signal strength. SO, If I hook the power supply up, it should only apply to the OTA feed. Is this the info you were inquiring about?

TONY

Yes, sounds like you have only one STB (set-top box, a.k.a. receiver) and no splitters. Good! It simplifies your task. (It gets more tricky when the antenna is shared by multipple STBs). Just add the PS-9370 power supply between the STB and the antenna and you should be all set!

ithought the stb provided power to the wineguards? I have 3 STB's how will this effect my setup

Technut, in your case (since you have diplexers) the voltage is provided by the STB, so you do not need a separate power supply. But if you insert the RadioShack's amplifier, I suspect the voltage is no longer provided to the antenna and the built-in amplifier in the Winegard antenna does not work as the result. (I am not familiar with that amp, so I am just guessing here.)

 

[Technut]

let me clarify iam not using a wineguard. im using the old stye.i have tried without amp and only get half my locals.

 

[Ilya]

let me clarify iam not using a wineguard. im using the old stye.i have tried without amp and only get half my locals.

If your antenna does not have a built-in amplifier, then using the RS amp should not cause any problems, I guess...

 

[Technut]

how do multiple stb.s effect OTA?

 

[Ilya]

how do multiple stb.s effect OTA?

At least in two ways:

1. Splitters (or the multi-switch and diplexers in your case) cause signal loss, which needs to be compensated for with the amp.

2. If an amplified antenna is being used and the voltage is provided by the STB (which, as I understand, is not your case), the wiring should ensure that only one of the STBs provides voltage to the antenna, not all of them!

 

[Technut]

At least in two ways:

1. Splitters (or the multi-switch and diplexers in your case) cause signal loss, which needs to be compensated for with the amp.

2. If an amplified antenna is being used and the voltage is provided by the STB (which, as I understand, is not your case), the wiring should ensure that only one of the STBs provides voltage to the antenna, not all of them!

ty, great info.

in case i goto a amplified ant. how do i control only one stb gets voltage?

 

[Ilya]

ty, great info.

in case i goto a amplified ant. how do i control only one stb gets voltage?

Either the multi-switch itself must pass voltage to the antenna (not all of them do), or you should use a rather tricky wiring configuration. I think sat4me posted a diagram in one of the threads. I'll see if I can find it...
Ok, here is the link