Original Hopper and OTA dongle

vrkeller

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Jan 31, 2014
38
0
Kansas
Hello all! Im a newbie and have a problem with the local channels through my new ota dongle. I just had an ota installed and when I hook it up to the tv straight I get 17 channels. When I hook it up to my original hopper via USB dongle it only finds 10 channels and 2 of the main ones I want through the hopper are cbs and abc and they aren't found. I moved the dongle to the back of the hopper, reset it, rescanned several times? The hopper software is S424. Any help would be much appreciated!!
 
Thank you...I'll see what I can find out! I did try to do a reset with the dongle in the Hopper to no avail...

Thanks again!! Appreciate it!
 
My ota dongle seems to be just as sensitive as my direct ota to tv. I have mine connected thru a powered usb hub on both my HWS's. I use a splitter to connect both the HWS and ant input on the tv. Are your connections tight? What type of antenna are you using. How far are the antennas from you house. You may need to put a signal booster in line. I have a roof top antenna and with the booster I can pull in stations from Syracuse NY which are over 50 miles away crystal clear. My Dish locals are Rochester NY.
 
Thanks for the response. My connections are tight. I had a guy install the antenna that's done it for years and he just finished it up yesterday. I know he tightened the connections with a wrench but don't think he was overbearing by any means. I hand tightened the cable to the dongle. I know he put an amplifier in the garage because we have it split but it's like a 13db (I think is what he said). The antenna is a Channelmaster 4221 Bowtie. The signal is around 40 miles I think. When I hook the OTA directly to the tv my main channels (NBC, ABC & CBS) come in HD and are perfect. The hopper just doesn't seem to be able to pick them up on a scan?
My ota dongle seems to be just as sensitive as my direct ota to tv. I have mine connected thru a powered usb hub on both my HWS's. I use a splitter to connect both the HWS and ant input on the tv. Are your connections tight? What type of antenna are you using. How far are the antennas from you house. You may need to put a signal booster in line. I have a roof top antenna and with the booster I can pull in stations from Syracuse NY which are over 50 miles away crystal clear. My Dish locals are Rochester NY.
 
Sorry-forgot to mention that I think there is a booster in there too. There's a piece that the cable ties in to that plugs in to the electical outlet in the wall...is that a signal booster?
 
Are all your channels broadcast as UHF because I think that's all that antenna picks up. We use to use those a lot and were great until we had two channels move from UHF back to VHF. We now use Digitennas.
 
Are all your channels broadcast as UHF because I think that's all that antenna picks up. We use to use those a lot and were great until we had two channels move from UHF back to VHF. We now use Digitennas.
I'm not sure about that...I just know that when the OTA is hooked up directly to the tv they all work great but once I hook it up to the USB dongle connected to the Hopper it won't find them all? Thank you!
 
Sorry-forgot to mention that I think there is a booster in there too. There's a piece that the cable ties in to that plugs in to the electical outlet in the wall...is that a signal booster?
That is most likely a small power supply which feeds the amp mounted near the antenna.
 
I'm not sure about that...I just know that when the OTA is hooked up directly to the tv they all work great but once I hook it up to the USB dongle connected to the Hopper it won't find them all? Thank you!
I'm thinking that perhaps the signal arriving at the dongle is overdriving/overloading the dongle but not the TV input. You might try removing the booster/amplifier at the antenna to see what happens. If you unplug the power to the booster, you might not get any signal to dongle or TV.

You also may have a dongle that is defective. Most people who have bought the OTA dongle for the Hopper find that it gets a better signal than other methods/devices.
 
Another question. Had someone tell me today that because my hopper wouldn't find the OTA channel 11 or 13 is because I already have those locals through dish. Is that right?


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I'm thinking that perhaps the signal arriving at the dongle is overdriving/overloading the dongle but not the TV input. You might try removing the booster/amplifier at the antenna to see what happens. If you unplug the power to the booster, you might not get any signal to dongle or TV.

You also may have a dongle that is defective. Most people who have bought the OTA dongle for the Hopper find that it gets a better signal than other methods/devices.

I did unplug the amp/booster and rescanned to no avail...you think dish would exchange the dongle? Thank you!!


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We're you able to verify what Sherman asked? What are the station call letters, what local market?

I don't know if the antenna is both UHF or VHF or both. I do know I get all the channels I want when the OTA is plugged directly to the tv so I didn't figure that mattered. I'm really close to the Colorado border but with Dish the only locals I can get are Wichita. I wanted the antenna so I can get the locals out of Colorado Springs. The 2 channels I want and come in great when the OTA is directly plugged to TV is KRDO and KKTV. Those 2 channels the hopper won't find??? Thanks!!


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KRDO and KKTV both out of Colorado Springs. Is that what you mean? Thanks!!


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Yep. I just looked real quick and it appears the are both UHF and the digital channels are 24/49. When you scan the locals on the Hopper do you pick up a channel 24 or 49?
It doesn't find anything above 11-03...I tried to go in to the Add Local Channel but that is a feature not yet working.
 
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