OTA Antenna Install

odbrv

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Pub Member / Supporter
Nov 21, 2004
1,051
347
Lubbock, Tx
I lost 2 networks (CBS and ABC). I already had an outside antenna and single dongle to my H3. That setup could get the 4 major networks. However, I could not record all 4 at the same time anymore. I called in to get a dual tuner dongle sent to me. The CSR said that he could not do that, but could have a technician come to my house and install a new antenna and a dual tuner dongle at no cost to me. Seemed like an overkill , but I accepted the offer. The Tech came today and tried to replace the single tuner dongle with the dual tuner one. He tried scanning a couple of times and could not get 1/2 of the stations the single dongle could find. He then replaced the outside antenna with the dish supplied antenna and scanned again . That got more stations than the single dongle could get. He had no idea as to why that should happen. Seemed odd to me also. However, my problem was solved. Since all the wiring was in place to my house TVs , the total install time was about an hour.
 
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Enough with the bold already. The single dongle has always been better at finding stations with the scan than any of the dual-tuner models have ever been. As already stated, your new antenna is likely better than one you had before, or it is at least aimed better than your old antenna had been. I'll bet that if you connect the old single dongle to your new antenna, it will find even more channels. Of course, if you did that, it would still limit you to only one OTA tuner until you switch back to the dual-tuner dongle.
 
Will this single dongle work with my Wally? I'd give up the two channel recording to have one decent signal on more channels. I have the two channel dongle from Air TV and it is terrible, compared to my Tivo and TV tuners.
 
Enough with the bold already. The single dongle has always been better at finding stations with the scan than any of the dual-tuner models have ever been. As already stated, your new antenna is likely better than one you had before, or it is at least aimed better than your old antenna had been. I'll bet that if you connect the old single dongle to your new antenna, it will find even more channels. Of course, if you did that, it would still limit you to only one OTA tuner until you switch back to the dual-tuner dongle.
 
You might be surprised how many channels neither antenna is receiving their antenna offerings are slim, and not what you would consider high performance. No VHF high band gain for example. My guess is you are missing some stuff.
 
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You might be surprised how many channels neither antenna is receiving their antenna offerings are slim, and not what you would consider high performance. No VHF high band gain for example. My guess is you are missing some stuff.
Let us know what you find out.

In my case, I get a reasonable amount of channels with a high gain UHF quad antenna in my attic (didn't want to punch a hole in the roof). If they came out to install on, from what I've seen they just mount it to the same pole that the DIsh is on. I have an extra cable set from when the LNB's were separate running into the home. So I could combine both antennas before feeding the home.
 
I lost one channel, CBS. Called Dish and they said I qualified even though I have a self installed small UHF/VHF antenna inside. I was getting 4.5 channels, Fox, ABC, NBC, PBS and 1/2 of CBS which pixelated a lot. The NEXT DAY Dish installed the on-the-Dish-pole mounted omnidirectional antenna which now pulls in 36 channels (WIN!). Thanks Dish!
 
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Will this single dongle work with my Wally? I'd give up the two channel recording to have one decent signal on more channels. I have the two channel dongle from Air TV and it is terrible, compared to my Tivo and TV tuners.
Yes, in fact that is the very first model that I ever used with my Wally. For what it is worth, the Wally has also always been a poor-performer when it comes to scanning OTA channels. With the exact same adapter connected to a Hopper (I have used the original Hopper and Hopper Duos at various times) the scan finds channels much more reliably. Move the adapter to a Wally, and the results are all over the place, but usually quite a lot fewer channels than the Hopper scan finds. Still, the single tuner adapter works better with the Wally (in my experience) than either of the other Dish-branded dual-tuner OTA adapters.
 
I lost one, wonder if I could get one free. Will be calling them next week.
I chatted last week, they said free indoor antenna. I told them, I've got the indoor setup already, and it is good, but I need an outdoor antenna to get full out locks on the locals. Guy said they can do that, but they are out of outdoor antennas. I might try to chat again early this week to see if there is an update.
 
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