I have a VIP722K receiver. I bought a Dish MT2 OTA Module for my receiver. Installed and scanned for channels. Found 66 channels and they are all listed in the Guide. While watching locals I get a error popup saying error code 739. It says the offair signal has been lost. Signal acquisition is in progress. Please wait... This can be on for seconds at a time or as long as an hour. Different channels same error message. Sometimes once a day sometimes too many to count. Is it the module or something else? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Signal loss after adding OTA antenna
- Thread starter steeerstuffer
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It may well be that your signal is too low or that you have multipath issues. Is it one particular channel or a bunch of them?
I have been chasing the same issue for years, I've found the tuner in the ViP receivers to be a pretty weak performer. I can use the TV built into my TV and have zero reception issues, but using the ViP tuner I get frequent 739 messages. Also in a storm, the ViP OTA tuner is completely unusable but the TV tuner works just fine.
I'm considering a seperate DVR just for OTA programming since my attempts to improve signal haven't helped.
If you start getting 002 messages on satellite channels, it's the OTA tuner causing it.
I'm considering a seperate DVR just for OTA programming since my attempts to improve signal haven't helped.
If you start getting 002 messages on satellite channels, it's the OTA tuner causing it.
I have found that my OTA channels can drop out if the signal drops below 75. My CBS station was the prime one I used and I finally spent about $80 for a Winegard, (UHF only) outside antenna. (All my network stations are UHF except for ABC) I tried 2 less expensive antennas from Walmart.com and took each back. Now I have a signal strength as high as 88 and have no problems. The OTA tuner is not near as sensitive as the tuner in my TV. My antenna is about 15 feet off the ground. Downside is it is about 1 foot wide and 8 to 9 feet long.
I have the same OTA problem on a Hopper3 sometimes but the same antenna is connected to the TV and no problem with the TV tuner.
There are a bunch of channels not just one or two. What do you do if it is multipath issues.
When mine is on a channel it can be 100 for the signal then all of a sudden it drops off and when it comes back on it is around 85 and goes up too 100 again. We bought an indoor antenna. Would an outdoor one be better fir what reason?
In my case, I would say there was a 90% or more improvement using what would probably be considered a 75 mile range outdoor antenna to lock in on a tower 35 miles away over flat ground in South Texas as compared to a twin "bow-tie" antenna mounted to the rear ladder of my RV and about 13' above the ground. The directional antenna that came on the RV was even worse. There was an airport in the direct line of sight between me and the transmitting tower. It is possible that air traffic caused me to see the dropouts you describe, as I suffered the same thing. I never hit 100 on any channel. The tuner has to have some type of AGC, automatic gain control, and if you hit 100 and things work like they did back in the 60's, something would have to react to keep the signal from overloading. BUT, I think the main problem is just cheap tuners.
FYI, you can go to antennaweb.org and get a list of channels and it will tell you the actual channel number and the indicated channel number you see on your tv, so you will know if a channel is actually on VHF or UHF. In my case, Channel 4 is actually broadcasting on something like UHF Channel 23. And, in the near future, there will be another round of channel changes. Apparently some of the UHF band is being reallocated to 5G and other uses and stations using those channels will move to another UHF channel. And, maybe, some of the few remaining VHF channels will move to UHF.
FYI, you can go to antennaweb.org and get a list of channels and it will tell you the actual channel number and the indicated channel number you see on your tv, so you will know if a channel is actually on VHF or UHF. In my case, Channel 4 is actually broadcasting on something like UHF Channel 23. And, in the near future, there will be another round of channel changes. Apparently some of the UHF band is being reallocated to 5G and other uses and stations using those channels will move to another UHF channel. And, maybe, some of the few remaining VHF channels will move to UHF.
Bouncing signal is a symptom of multi-path, signal coming directly AND reflecting off something to arrive a fraction of a second later confusing the tuner.
I have had my Vip211k for years and the OTA tuner is pretty good. Only one other tuner is more sensitive. Maybe I got a good one? I do use an outdoor antenna though.
An outdoor antenna would be better. With an indoor antenna, multipath can be caused by people moving around in the room. Even with an outdoor antenna, you may still get multipath for a variety of reasons, including living near an airport (for example) or even living on a busy street, with the signals bouncing off of moving cars. Getting the antenna as high in the air as you can may also help reduce multipath.
OTA tuner for my 612's is very good, not quite up to the TIVO tuner or the TV's tuner. But the OP has the new module that likely is the problem.
Just throwing this out there..........I have similar issue on my locals channels sometimes using H3. I live only 20 miles from my tv towers.Signal fades and my tv antenna is 25ft on the outside. I sent for a LTE Filter and will check if that works. I have several cell towers between me and tv towers. I'll update my info if it works
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The OP has a 722K and a MT2 module. That is not the new module. It is the one that slides into the chassis. I'm going to say that what he has described is definitely multipath issues. His indoor antenna is the likely culprit....
FWIW, using a good indoor antenna to pick up our NBC affiliate, which is blacked out, and I will occasionally get the same problem (box saying signal loss, trying to reconnect) while it's showing the signal strength at 100. It NEVER actually connects unless I tune to another channel and immediately tune back, at which point it connects no problem.
Thank you for the discussion regarding multipath issues. My CBS tower versus my NBC tower are about 13 degrees apart and the Winegard UHF antenna I bought is so directional that just a slight turn by hand will add 10 points to the NBC signal. Winegard HD9095P UHF HighGain 39Element HDTV Antenna is the antenna I used.
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