# Lost OTA -1 from the big 4



## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

I just walked in and flipped on the TV and noticed that my -1 OTA channels from the big 4 (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC) are all missing from my guide. I have -1 OTA channels for all the major indies & PBS stations in the Atlanta market just none from the Big 4!

For the record, the digital sub channels on those stations (i.e 2-2, 11-2, etc.) are all showing up okay and can be tuned to without any problem.


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## Scott in FL (Mar 18, 2008)

Have you tried resetting your receiver? Not sure if you have a converter box, tv with ATSC tuner, or what. but the first thing I would do is perform a reset. When in doubt, unplug for 15 seconds and plug it back in again (what the Dutch call a "Belgian boot").

Good luck!


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

Scott in FL said:


> Have you tried resetting your receiver? Not sure if you have a converter box, tv with ATSC tuner, or what. but the first thing I would do is perform a reset. When in doubt, unplug for 15 seconds and plug it back in again (what the Dutch call a "Belgian boot").
> 
> Good luck!


One of the first things I tried


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## dettxw (Nov 21, 2007)

fluffybear said:


> I just walked in and flipped on the TV and noticed that my -1 OTA channels from the big 4 (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC) are all missing from my guide. I have -1 OTA channels for all the major indies & PBS stations in the Atlanta market just none from the Big 4!
> 
> For the record, the digital sub channels on those stations (i.e 2-2, 11-2, etc.) are all showing up okay and can be tuned to without any problem.


Is that happening with all of your HR20-700 units?

Do they still tune the stations?

My bet is that the guide problem will fix itself.


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

dettxw said:


> Is that happening with all of your HR20-700 units?
> 
> Do they still tune the stations?
> 
> My bet is that the guide problem will fix itself.


Doing it on all receivers!

No, trying to access the stations directly doesn't appear to work.


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## dettxw (Nov 21, 2007)

You might try resetting up the OTA, inputting your primary zip into one of the HR20-700s again, but I'd be surprised if that did anything. Sounds like you are simply not getting guide info, and that inhibits the HR20-700 tuning of the stations. The don't scan for channels, just tune what they are told is available in your area.
For what it's worth the guide here is intact and OTA working just fine on my HR20-700s, so not a system-wide problem. 

Anyone else in Atlanta having a similar problem?

Are your LiL channels available?


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

Oddly enough, they just reappeared. 

Go figure!


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## dettxw (Nov 21, 2007)

fluffybear said:


> Oddly enough, they just reappeared.
> 
> Go figure!





dettxw said:


> Is that happening with all of your HR20-700 units?
> 
> Do they still tune the stations?
> 
> *My bet is that the guide problem will fix itself.*


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Possible a station problem.


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## fluffybear (Jun 19, 2004)

Jim5506 said:


> Possible a station problem.


I would agree except this problem only affected the big 4 and did not effect any of their sub channels.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

Jim5506 said:


> Possible a station problem.


How on earth could the stations affect the -1 OTA setup of your IRD? I would guess it was a D* issue and apparently has been fixed.


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## Scott in FL (Mar 18, 2008)

fluffybear said:


> I would agree except this problem only affected the big 4 and did not effect any of their sub channels.


I've thought about this a bit more, and it might be similar to how some Direct-to-Home satellite services provide their EPG (Electronic Program Guide). I'm sure Direct TV and Dish use their own service, but in Europe where you can have different channels uplinked to different satellites by different uplink providers, the EPG is sometimes provided by a separate service. This is not the case with Sky, but is with some of the European services on Astra and Hotbird. You send your program info to the service weeks in advance, they put in in the correct format, and send the data back to the uplinker to be transmitted to the satellite along with the program material itself. This data combines with all the other channel's data, and make up the EPG.

I wonder if terrestrial digital tv stations in the States use a similar system. It could be that the big 4 all subscribe to the same EPG service, and that service was having problems at the time.

Just a thought.


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