# Help!: Lost CBS OTA



## Sailor (Feb 18, 2004)

Around L181, I was receiving local PBS-HD and CBS-HD OTA just fine. Then all of a sudden, I can only receive PBS-HD OTA and can't find the local CBS-HD. If I scan DTV, I find the PBS, but not the CBS. If I try to add manually, the PBS is around 110 signal strength, and the CBS will fluctuate between 0 and 60, but I only get signal from CBS at night. In the daytime a manual add will show 0 signal strength. 

I have called the local CBS station and they say that everything on their end is fine, with no changes to their transmission equipment. I have a Terk 55 in my attic for OTA reception and replaced the inline amp with a Radio Shack amp just to be sure that the amp wasn't the point of failure.

Any ideas?

BTW, this is in zipcode 77845.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

Sailor said:


> Around L181, I was receiving local PBS-HD and CBS-HD OTA just fine. Then all of a sudden, I can only receive PBS-HD OTA and can't find the local CBS-HD. If I scan DTV, I find the PBS, but not the CBS. If I try to add manually, the PBS is around 110 signal strength, and the CBS will fluctuate between 0 and 60, but I only get signal from CBS at night. In the daytime a manual add will show 0 signal strength.
> 
> I have called the local CBS station and they say that everything on their end is fine, with no changes to their transmission equipment. I have a Terk 55 in my attic for OTA reception and replaced the inline amp with a Radio Shack amp just to be sure that the amp wasn't the point of failure.
> 
> ...


The very same thing happened to me except it was the local NBC station. I was receiving it just fine prior to L181 and then all of a sudden the signal does not come in strong enough. I'm hoping that this is one of the OTA problems that Marks talking about to be fixed in the next release.


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## jsanders (Jan 21, 2004)

Sailor said:


> Around L181, I was receiving local PBS-HD and CBS-HD OTA just fine. Then all of a sudden, I can only receive PBS-HD OTA and can't find the local CBS-HD. If I scan DTV, I find the PBS, but not the CBS. If I try to add manually, the PBS is around 110 signal strength, and the CBS will fluctuate between 0 and 60, but I only get signal from CBS at night. In the daytime a manual add will show 0 signal strength.
> 
> I have called the local CBS station and they say that everything on their end is fine, with no changes to their transmission equipment. I have a Terk 55 in my attic for OTA reception and replaced the inline amp with a Radio Shack amp just to be sure that the amp wasn't the point of failure.
> 
> ...


Well sailor, if your antenna is on that boat, then that might be your problem, as the orientation is always moving.....

Anyway, your CBS (KBTX-DT) is pretty much at the opposite direction of your pbs station (KAMU-DT). I haven't looked at your directional pattern on the antenna. Is this antenna an omni-directional antenna, or is it a yagi style? If it is the style that has a bunch of elements on it, then you need to turn the antenna 225 degrees to get your CBS. Directional antennas have NULLs in them, usually at the end where the elements are the largest. No signal comes in there, but you get a signal gain at the other end. It has the advantage of receiving more signal in one direction, and rejecting multipath from the other.

I tried looking on the web, I can't find a pattern for your antenna. One page suggested it is omni-directional, another said bi-directional. If it is bi-directional, then try turning it 90 degrees.

Don't mess with the amplifier stuff. in-line amps are just there to overcome cable line losses primarily. They amplify signal and noise. You should try the one that came with your antenna.

The CBS station is 15.3 miles, the PBS station is 5.1 miles from your zipcode. You may want to try and rotate the antenna until you get the CBS station in. Since, the PBS station is closer, it might be able to pick that station up better if it happens to be in an antenna NULL.


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## jsanders (Jan 21, 2004)

jsanders said:


> The CBS station is 15.3 miles, the PBS station is 5.1 miles from your zipcode. You may want to try and rotate the antenna until you get the CBS station in. Since, the PBS station is closer, it might be able to pick that station up better if it happens to be in an antenna NULL.


BTW, antennaweb.org doesn't mention anything about transmitting power, so this may or may not work all depending, but it is something worth trying.


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## deweybrunner (Feb 8, 2004)

In Tampa, radio shack has an antenna called the "Tampa Bay Special", mounted in my attic.. This antenna takes care of our CBS station which is opposite from the others. Actually it's two antenna in one.one facing to CBS and The Main one to all others. I tried a Terk before and it did not work. The only way to truly find out if you'r getting a strong signal from all stations is to put a meter on the line just before the 921. Professional installers have this and can give you good advise for your area. If you are that close, with the proper antenna(probably dual) you should get excellent reception. Good luck.


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

I really think that this is an antenna issue, not a 921 issue. Especially with the terk antenna trying to pull in signals from opposite directions. Moving to Broadcast forum.


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