# OTA problem



## caminatr (Jan 3, 2006)

Has anyone heard or experienced a problem with their 942 whereby a single OTA digital channel was garbled? All other digital channels are working fine and the signal strength for the bad channel is similar to most others. 

KTTV FOX 011-01 in Los Angeles is the bad channel and the problem started on Monday 01/12/06. 

Engineering at FOX states that they are unaware of any problem.


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## xsailor (Nov 9, 2004)

I am looking at Guide Data for KTTV digital (011-1) right now and see NO problems.


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## kevin44 (Oct 7, 2005)

I am having problems with the OTA also. My signal strength is great and the weather is clear yet it loses signal for no reason. It has happens on a few channels so far.


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## caminatr (Jan 3, 2006)

Update:
Though I can't think of any good reason for it, it appears as though the problem is caused by my cabling. I spent hours swapping cables (etc...) and though I was able to lessen the severity of the problem, I wasn't able to eliminate it.

Most of my digital channels have signal strengths in the 60's and though that hasn't been a problem before, apparently 60's are on the lower threshold of things and it's possibly part of the problem.

So, I'm throwing out my old radio shack amp since it seems to make no difference whatsoever in the signal, getting the new Motorola 484095-001-00 amplifier that everyone seems to rave about, and also getting a new Monster M1000V interconnect.

If this doesn't work, I may have to shoot something.


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## zephyr (Jun 25, 2005)

caminatr said:


> Has anyone heard or experienced a problem with their 942 whereby a single OTA digital channel was garbled? All other digital channels are working fine and the signal strength for the bad channel is similar to most others.
> 
> KTTV FOX 011-01 in Los Angeles is the bad channel and the problem started on Monday 01/12/06.
> 
> Engineering at FOX states that they are unaware of any problem.


What channel does 11.1 broadcast on? If it is VHF, then yes I have had a problem with the 942 and a low VHF channel not coming in, even though the signal strength is in the 80's.

The 942 is very susceptible to signal quality problems, even when the signal strength appears adequate.

Make sure your OTA antenna is appropriate for the channel frequencies (UHF/VHF) that you need to receive. Also verify antenna aim. My problem channel is best received with the antenna aimed 30 degrees off actual direction to the tower.

The Motorola amp may not work. It didn't for me, so don't start shooting just yet.


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## oljim (Aug 6, 2002)

When you look for an amp, the noise figure should be less than 3 db.
CM 7775 and 7777 are a few that are under 3db


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## deuces (Jan 4, 2006)

I am on my second 942, because of OTA issues. I cannot figure out the problem. It is similar to you only I lose all OTA channels at once. This is after having all of them at 100 digital strength and one of them at 90. Then suddenly I lose them all and get "Not Locked" and 0 strength. Happened with my first 942, they sent me a new one, it worked perfect for a while, then today during football, same problem. I am at my wit's end, we have tried everything. Anyone else with similar issues?


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## deuces (Jan 4, 2006)

OK, did a soft reboot (if that is what you guys mean by holding down power button) and now they are all back. Glad it is fixed but I don't understand how it loses all of them and obviously I don't want it to happen in the middle of recordings.


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## Puumba (Jan 16, 2006)

caminatr said:


> Has anyone heard or experienced a problem with their 942 whereby a single OTA digital channel was garbled? All other digital channels are working fine and the signal strength for the bad channel is similar to most others.
> 
> KTTV FOX 011-01 in Los Angeles is the bad channel and the problem started on Monday 01/12/06.
> 
> Engineering at FOX states that they are unaware of any problem.


As I reported in your other thread I was seeing the exact same problem with the exact same channel (KTTV FOX 11-01 in L.A.). Other channels are okay and only my 942 tuner has a problem; my TV tuner picks up the signal just fine.

So I doubt it's your cabling. I spent a LOT of time re-cabling and on the roof re-aiming my antenna but didn't see any difference with anything I tried. It was better Sunday than Saturday (weather?) but the signal strength still shows in the 60's.


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## caminatr (Jan 3, 2006)

Puumba said:


> As I reported in your other thread I was seeing the exact same problem with the exact same channel (KTTV FOX 11-01 in L.A.). Other channels are okay and only my 942 tuner has a problem; my TV tuner picks up the signal just fine.
> 
> So I doubt it's your cabling. I spent a LOT of time re-cabling and on the roof re-aiming my antenna but didn't see any difference with anything I tried. It was better Sunday than Saturday (weather?) but the signal strength still shows in the 60's.


Well, knock-on-wood, the problem disappeared on its' own. Signal strength is slighty up, now in the low 70's.

The cause of this problem has been so hard to nail down. My cabling is behind my 65" TV, so I don't like moving everything around very often. However, my roommate was having difficulty with getting a clean signal to the tv and it first started when things were overcast / rainy so it was assumed that it was atmospheric disruption. But since the problem lingered afterwards, I investigated and found the cause to be cables that had gone bad. I don't watch tv everyday, so a couple days later when I watched my recorded shows, that's when I noticed the problem. But since it was specific to just that channel and signal strength was similar on the other working channels, I ruled out cabling as the cause. Not finding anything else, the only possible cause I came to was the cabling.

KTTV's digital channel is VHF 011-01. My antenae is on the roof and is both VHF and UHF and pointed right at the broadcast spot for our area (Mt. Wilson.) I've tried in the past moving it around a bit, but there's a definite sweet spot whereby I get everything in it, or get nothing anyplace else.


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## Puumba (Jan 16, 2006)

caminatr said:


> Well, knock-on-wood, the problem disappeared on its' own. Signal strength is slighty up, now in the low 70's.
> 
> The cause of this problem has been so hard to nail down. My cabling is behind my 65" TV, so I don't like moving everything around very often. However, my roommate was having difficulty with getting a clean signal to the tv and it first started when things were overcast / rainy so it was assumed that it was atmospheric disruption. But since the problem lingered afterwards, I investigated and found the cause to be cables that had gone bad. I don't watch tv everyday, so a couple days later when I watched my recorded shows, that's when I noticed the problem. But since it was specific to just that channel and signal strength was similar on the other working channels, I ruled out cabling as the cause. Not finding anything else, the only possible cause I came to was the cabling.
> 
> KTTV's digital channel is VHF 011-01. My antenae is on the roof and is both VHF and UHF and pointed right at the broadcast spot for our area (Mt. Wilson.) I've tried in the past moving it around a bit, but there's a definite sweet spot whereby I get everything in it, or get nothing anyplace else.


How do cables just "go bad"? Were these cables outside exposed to weather? The problems I'm having also disappeared on their own so I dread the next storm. I guess we'll see whether (no pun intended) it's weather-related or not.

I was on the roof with binoculars trying to find Mt. Wilson on Sunday to aim the antenna. The wife accused me of spying on the neighbors. 

So the 942 still reports bad signal strength as compared to other stations but it was working at least during Sunday's game. Hope it recorded 24 okay last night.

Is your signal strength reasonable? I wonder if KTTV reduced their broadcast strength or something?


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## caminatr (Jan 3, 2006)

Puumba said:


> How do cables just "go bad"? Were these cables outside exposed to weather? The problems I'm having also disappeared on their own so I dread the next storm. I guess we'll see whether (no pun intended) it's weather-related or not.
> 
> I was on the roof with binoculars trying to find Mt. Wilson on Sunday to aim the antenna. The wife accused me of spying on the neighbors.
> 
> ...


The cables that went bad went from her receiver to the tv. Other cables worked fine, but those cables no longer passed a clean signal.

It was low 70's during the game on Sunday, but I haven't been able to check since then. We had a power outage yesterday from 6pm-9:30pm, so I missed recording FOX due to the outage.

As for signal strength, KNBC, KTLA, KABC, KCAL, KTTV, KCOP are all very close to each other -- Usually low to mid 60's. KCBS is usually in the 90's though, so they must be broadcasting a stronger signal since the source for all the broadcasts is the same area.


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