Thread: 722 OTA dropout threshold . . .

Yup, I'm seein' the fall of DISH CS. Tonight I was having OTA dropout, 739 Error, all over the place. After "chatting" with a CSR it was determined that it was my local channels all do testing. Yeh, right during prime time. I called a couple and they are not and would only in the middle of the night.

I have a AntennasDirect C4 that is rated for 65 miles and the tower is 15 miles away. All my sets have OTA direct are getting 90-100%. The set that is connected to the 722 shares the antenna, the TV has 95% and the 722 has 72-75% even when the cable is connected directly. PLUS, since the L625 update the tail ends of recorded programs are getting cut off. This is new as of that update. Software issues?

Where on the % scale should/would one expect the receiver to drop the OTA signal?

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks . . .
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Originally Posted by SandFarmer

Where on the % scale should/would one expect the receiver to drop the OTA signal?

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks . . .
. . . fb

Upper 50s to low 60s on mine...before antenna upgrade.

Unless you are having OTA multipath problems. On some stations I have had momentary dropouts in the 70's. Also don't forget that OTA signals can be very inconsistent in quality. Cloud cover, temperature, humidity, even the time of day can affect the signal.

John

Had the same issue, error code 002 and I have a DB8 with signals in the high 90's on all stations.

It was suggested to turn to a strong OTA station when this happens to correct the issue and well, that didn't work nor make much sense to me.

I just gave in and unhooked my antenna, and subscribed to Dish locals. Yea, $5 extra a month but no issues whatsoever for well over a month and a half now.

My experience is it depends on what frequency band the channel is on. I get a very solid signal down to 60 on all of my UHF channels, but start to see drops on the VHF channels in the low 70’s. I use two antennas, one for each band. Remember the C4 is a UHF antenna, just something to consider.

Originally Posted by pamajestic

My experience is it depends on what frequency band the channel is on. I get a very solid signal down to 60 on all of my UHF channels, but start to see drops on the VHF channels in the low 70’s. I use two antennas, one for each band. Remember the C4 is a UHF antenna, just something to consider.

My C4 was given to me by the president/CEO of AntennasDirect to replace what we thought was a failed C2, which when I did some in depth research found out that the locals were transmitting from temporary positions and at a fraction of power. Once they moved to their permanent places on the new tower(s), they were all in one place and went to full power. Also the reason I went with the C series is that they are Hi VHF/UHF (channel 7 and up) antennas. AD was the only purveyor that had a device that did that. It is not a UHF antenna only. This antenna is over kill for my area and I have more signal that I really need. Also this really became a problem after the L625 update. I also am getting the tail ends of programming cut off now. Never did that before.

Originally Posted by Yragha

Had the same issue, error code 002 and I have a DB8 with signals in the high 90's on all stations.

It was suggested to turn to a strong OTA station when this happens to correct the issue and well, that didn't work nor make much sense to me.

I just gave in and unhooked my antenna, and subscribed to Dish locals. Yea, $5 extra a month but no issues whatsoever for well over a month and a half now.

Yup. Gotta locals on the box too. But it works out when there are too many things to record to have "dual" access to locals. It frees up tuners. And the changing channels thing never made sense to me neither and never worked. I get the 739 Error Screen and Macroblocking. All my direct connected sets get 100% signal. The DISH gear seems to be "pissy" about this and not want play right.

Originally Posted by jscud

Unless you are having OTA multipath problems. On some stations I have had momentary dropouts in the 70's. Also don't forget that OTA signals can be very inconsistent in quality. Cloud cover, temperature, humidity, even the time of day can affect the signal.

John

Signals on most all station are 95-100% on the boxes and sets direct. And I purposely went over kill on the C2 so teh C4 is even more so. The really strange thing is this happens on crystal clear nights when it is cooler. Radio waves travel better in the cool/cold of the night. I have line of sight on the towers and we never really get anything that would block it except rain or snow which doesn't really matter unless you a low signal to start with and when you would expect the signal to drop due to natural occurrences, it doesn't. Matter of fact the times that this should really happen, it doesn't. It's only when it shouldn't that I have a problem and since L625. I ran since Sept '08 with no OTA drop out.

Originally Posted by KAB

Upper 50s to low 60s on mine...before antenna upgrade.

The one local that I have most of the problems with comes in at 98-100% and is a Hi VHF (7 on 7). Where another is 9 on 9. I thought the point of the "transition" was to free up this bandwidth? Since I got the incredibly feeble excuse from DISH, I am thinking it's more receiver than antenna. Especially since L625.