Trouble w OTA HD reception

[chetwr]

I connected a radio shack hd antenna to my d*tv dvr and right away things worked great. That was 6 months ago. I recently started getting pixelation, so I began to work on the antenna.

Right now I have the antenna connected DIRECTLY to the HDtv, to rule out any DVR problem. I have it pointed 143 degrees south (zip 88005)
and 3 stations in El Paso (79935), and I'm about 45 miles away.
I cannot get any HD, only very crappy sd (on an hd program). I changed cables, no difference.

Has the antenna crapped out? How would I check it?
I had my wife look at the picture while adjusting the antenna, which has proved to be rather frustrating. Even if I show her HD from the satellite, she cant tell when it gets better.

I don't understand why it quit working, and why I can't get it back.
I've moved and raised the antenna, no help.

Chet
Frustrated in NM

 

[chetwr]

Just thought I'd let you know what I found, maybe it'll help some one else. I finally got mad and disassembled the antenna. Sure enough, the soldered connections from the coaxial connected and the board had both broken, Bad soldering job at the factory in bumf**k China I suppose....
Chet

 

[ciwsguy]

Just thought I'd let you know what I found, maybe it'll help some one else. I finally got mad and disassembled the antenna. Sure enough, the soldered connections from the coaxial connected and the board had both broken, Bad soldering job at the factory in bumf**k China I suppose....
Chet

Could be Taiwan, Malaysia or Mexico too, you know. Just because it's from China doesn't necessarily mean they're junk. The Apple iPods are made in China and they are very well made.

 

[Jim5506]

Las Cruces has always had some trouble with TV out of El Paso, mostly due to a couple of towers being partly obscured by the Organ Mountains.

Get yourself a good Channel Master or Winegard antenna with an external pre-amp. I believe Winegard now has a combo antenna that is VHF-high/UHF, much smaller than the old VHF(2-13)/UHF antennas.

Put a Winegard HDP-269 on that and it should get your El Paso stations and not overload on KRWG-DT either.

 

[dodge]

I connected a radio shack hd antenna to my d*tv dvr and right away things worked great. That was 6 months ago. I recently started getting pixelation, so I began to work on the antenna.

Right now I have the antenna connected DIRECTLY to the HDtv, to rule out any DVR problem. I have it pointed 143 degrees south (zip 88005)
and 3 stations in El Paso (79935), and I'm about 45 miles away.
I cannot get any HD, only very crappy sd (on an hd program). I changed cables, no difference.

Has the antenna crapped out? How would I check it?
I had my wife look at the picture while adjusting the antenna, which has proved to be rather frustrating. Even if I show her HD from the satellite, she cant tell when it gets better.

I don't understand why it quit working, and why I can't get it back.
I've moved and raised the antenna, no help.

Chet
Frustrated in NM

Do you realize not all stations broadcast in hd??? If you are getting Digital tv even if it is sd, your antenna is fine. If you are refering to analog vs digital your terminology is wrong.

Did you get that F connector resoldered to the board. If that is a Winegard antenna those terminal boards are cheap and easy to get.
Check out Winegard Direct.com - Winegard TV Antennas and Accessories