Dish USB OTA adapter problem

Breakfast97

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Apr 6, 2018
41
32
DFW
Hi Folks, I'm new here, and to Dish Network Pay-as-you-go program. I hope this question has not already been asked, and I hope some of you have run into this exact same problem AND found a solution to it. Here's my problem: When I connect my antenna straight into my HDTV's built in OTA tuner and do a scan from my HDTV, I'm picking up about 75 or 76 channels with perfect reception. Without touching the antenna in the attic, I unplug the cable from the HDTV's built in OTA tuner and plug it into the Dish Dual-Tuner OTA adapter and have the Wally scan for channels and it only finds 30. Every time I do a re-scan it finds a different number of channels between 30 and 50 but never even close to the 75 or 76 the TV OTA module itself finds. It would be no big deal at all except I can never get the major networks of ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX at the same time. Have any of you seen this on your systems? Did any of you who found this problem fix it by simply getting a more powerful booster? Or did you get a more powerful antenna? I can list all the equipment and troubleshooting steps I've taken if you want that info. Thank you to everyone for your input.
 
Yep.

Your TV has a better built in tuner. A bigger antenna MIGHT work, but is it worth it to try?

The older, discontinued, single tuner Dish USB OTA adapter is better than the new dual tuner model.
 
I experienced the same thing with the Dish OTA tuner. The tuner in my Panasonic Plasma TV picked up a lot more stations than the Dish dongle did. Also, with the Dish tuners, there is no way to add a channel which makes them useless to me (because I have channels coming from different directions). I never used the new 2 tuner Dish OTA module, I have the older single tuner version, but from what I have read, the old single tuner module worked better than the new 2 tuner version and was more sensitive. However, as I said, the tuner in my TV was much better.

You can try re-pointing your antenna, or you can try an amplifier, but it is normal for the Dish OTA tuner to not work as well as your TV's tuner.
 
Thanks, those are great answers. I bought a GE 29884 Antenna which is plenty powerful, and a Winegard LNA200 booster. The specs on the Booster are about 20db max gain. I have channels that register on the Walley at 100% signal, and others like ABC that trickle in at 67%. Would a more powerful booster, say 30db, be enough to overcome my 67% problem without washing out my channels coming in at near 100%?
 
It is hard to judge if a stronger amp will help you, but my guess would be that it would not help that much. If it were me, I would go with the 20db amp you have now. As you said, when connected to your TV the setup you have works fine. It is the Dish tuner that is the problem.
 
fortunately, I haven't had this problem
I get the exact same channels either way. The only problem I have is that 1 of the sub channels comes in via the ota adapter, but has no sound
I think that is a problem with the station, but they say not
 
I’ve said it before. I don’t understand why the broadcast stations can’t stream there content. It would be the same daily broadcast as they do OTA with all the commercials. To pay streaming internet fees is wrong. Free TV for customers who simply can’t pick up the signals.
 
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I had four single OTA adapters but gave one to my daughter.

You must REALLY love her.....
latest
 
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