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We lived in rural MN and used cable. Now we moved to the twin cities... and do OTA TV.... but ours works, and my friends does not, and yesterday a decent OTA portable antenna gave us the exact same problem.
Here goes.... The house we bought at a satellite dish. I removed it and used the mast and coax wiring/ground etc. that ran into the house and we installed a basic TV antenna. The towers where the broadcast signals originate are only a few miles away. Scanned for local channels and every thing was good...
My friend bought a house about 15 miles north of us, and asked for help doing the same exact thing. We remove the satellite dish, and were going to use the mast for OTA TV after adding an antenna... We decided to try the antenna before installing it on the roof... pointed it to the right direction... and hooked it into the satellite coax wiring that ran into the house. Now, his house does not have open ceilings.... keep this in mind... We went in to scan using one of his TVs and began the process.... The scan seemed to proceed normally and yes, we jumped through the hoops.... antenna/air versus cable.... etc etc..... and the scan began. There were three kinds of signals.... Analog, Digital, and RF CH....... On my system the digital count ran up to over 50 as expected.... On his system, the Analog and Digital remained at ZERO.... but.... the RF CH ran up over 50 as well...... When the scan was complete, we got ZERO TV channels to work.... In other words it said there were over 50 channels but they would not work at all.....
That is problem one.... and it happened to me yesterday and it is a long story, but I had a small TV in a work room and hooked a decent OTA antenna to it... did a scan..... and it came up with over 100 channels and all of them were ALSO RF CH and not "digital"..... and I thought, here we go again... but... when the scan finished, CH 2 came on (PBS) over the air and all the channels worked....
Back to my friend's house... new antenna, connected to the satellite wiring input coax that runs to all the rooms in the house and several TVs and none of them will show any channels.... modern TVs too... and then we tried several interventions taking one wire out of the splitter and hooking directly to that coax to the family room TV using, again, the existing satellite coax cable..... and got.... nothing.... This went on for quite some time.... final intervention.... hooked up one TV with a new coax cable from a store.... scanned using that new coax cable and the antennae..... got a bunch of stations... all digital.... and it worked fine....
Conclusion... there is a difference in satellite coax cable and OTA coax cable you buy at a big box store?????? Have I got this right?
Why does a scan show up at RF CH instead of digital? Why did the TV hooked up to a portable antenna list all the channels as RF CH and yet, it still worked?
And is his coax cable, buried in the walls of his house a lost cause? All the walls/ceiling are enclosed..... and the coax cables are not accessible..... any ideas other than trying to use the old cable to pull new coax?
I just need to understand more about what RF CH means... compared to digital signals....
Any help, suggestions... even humor... appreciated...
PS... All this came up yesterday again, because I installed a Tablo... what neat device! My friend has small portable antennas on all his TVs through his house.... one on each TV... they are acceptable for the most part but he would like one antenna on the satellite mount and use the coax cable throughout the house that exists.....
Thanks so much... please educate me!!!
Here goes.... The house we bought at a satellite dish. I removed it and used the mast and coax wiring/ground etc. that ran into the house and we installed a basic TV antenna. The towers where the broadcast signals originate are only a few miles away. Scanned for local channels and every thing was good...
My friend bought a house about 15 miles north of us, and asked for help doing the same exact thing. We remove the satellite dish, and were going to use the mast for OTA TV after adding an antenna... We decided to try the antenna before installing it on the roof... pointed it to the right direction... and hooked it into the satellite coax wiring that ran into the house. Now, his house does not have open ceilings.... keep this in mind... We went in to scan using one of his TVs and began the process.... The scan seemed to proceed normally and yes, we jumped through the hoops.... antenna/air versus cable.... etc etc..... and the scan began. There were three kinds of signals.... Analog, Digital, and RF CH....... On my system the digital count ran up to over 50 as expected.... On his system, the Analog and Digital remained at ZERO.... but.... the RF CH ran up over 50 as well...... When the scan was complete, we got ZERO TV channels to work.... In other words it said there were over 50 channels but they would not work at all.....
That is problem one.... and it happened to me yesterday and it is a long story, but I had a small TV in a work room and hooked a decent OTA antenna to it... did a scan..... and it came up with over 100 channels and all of them were ALSO RF CH and not "digital"..... and I thought, here we go again... but... when the scan finished, CH 2 came on (PBS) over the air and all the channels worked....
Back to my friend's house... new antenna, connected to the satellite wiring input coax that runs to all the rooms in the house and several TVs and none of them will show any channels.... modern TVs too... and then we tried several interventions taking one wire out of the splitter and hooking directly to that coax to the family room TV using, again, the existing satellite coax cable..... and got.... nothing.... This went on for quite some time.... final intervention.... hooked up one TV with a new coax cable from a store.... scanned using that new coax cable and the antennae..... got a bunch of stations... all digital.... and it worked fine....
Conclusion... there is a difference in satellite coax cable and OTA coax cable you buy at a big box store?????? Have I got this right?
Why does a scan show up at RF CH instead of digital? Why did the TV hooked up to a portable antenna list all the channels as RF CH and yet, it still worked?
And is his coax cable, buried in the walls of his house a lost cause? All the walls/ceiling are enclosed..... and the coax cables are not accessible..... any ideas other than trying to use the old cable to pull new coax?
I just need to understand more about what RF CH means... compared to digital signals....
Any help, suggestions... even humor... appreciated...
PS... All this came up yesterday again, because I installed a Tablo... what neat device! My friend has small portable antennas on all his TVs through his house.... one on each TV... they are acceptable for the most part but he would like one antenna on the satellite mount and use the coax cable throughout the house that exists.....
Thanks so much... please educate me!!!
6 Replies
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1521 views
M
Couple thoughts
What type of antenna are you using at the other location?
Satellite cabling is fine but if there is a splitter or something in the line (from satellite) you'll need to remove that. If it's a splitter or a switch etc
Can you post the rabbitears info?
www.rabbitears.info
Being that close it should work fine (towers are in shoreview) but it sounds like there is some piece from the satellite setup that needs to be removed.
What type of antenna are you using at the other location?
Satellite cabling is fine but if there is a splitter or something in the line (from satellite) you'll need to remove that. If it's a splitter or a switch etc
Can you post the rabbitears info?
RabbitEars.Info
RabbitEars, where you can learn all about local, over-the-air TV channels.
www.rabbitears.info
Being that close it should work fine (towers are in shoreview) but it sounds like there is some piece from the satellite setup that needs to be removed.
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Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/N2oPp-plZEw
Direct YouTube Link - Agentic AI Security: Why Unconstrained Agents Alarm CISOs #shorts
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View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/N2oPp-plZEw
Direct YouTube Link - Agentic AI Security: Why Unconstrained Agents Alarm CISOs #shorts
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TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHY_0D10LGw
Direct YouTube Link - AI, Coding, and SpinRite
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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHY_0D10LGw
Direct YouTube Link - AI, Coding, and SpinRite
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TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8ylZleSQCE
Direct YouTube Link - The OpenCode Cyberattack
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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8ylZleSQCE
Direct YouTube Link - The OpenCode Cyberattack
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4 views
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
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Direct YouTube Link - Apple's Foldable Phone Is Finally Here
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Direct YouTube Link - Apple's Foldable Phone Is Finally Here
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2 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68579 Replies
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2676120 views
Why are ViP922s So rare? like its crazy how ebay has none, i checked everywhere, also, i got a ViP222k now, which is actually activated!
29 Replies
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765 views
I remember this in the news too...
www.nbcnews.com
$14,000 spent on rented rotary phone
A widow rented a rotary dial telephone for 42 years, paying what her family calculates as more than $14,000 for a now- outdated phone.
www.nbcnews.com
That is a misnomer. In the old days you subscribed to telephone service. That included the telephone line and one telephone. An extension cost $1 a month extra. So that $14,000 over 42 years was for the service not the leased telephone. There is no way they paid $28 a month for 42 years for a leased telephone.I remember this in the news too...
$14,000 spent on rented rotary phone
A widow rented a rotary dial telephone for 42 years, paying what her family calculates as more than $14,000 for a now- outdated phone.
Lifetime Supporter
Schedule drops tomorrow. Mandatory mini camps in June. Hall of Fame game August 6th.
126 Replies
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2157 views
I haven't posted in almost 17 years. Over the air, sat, offline, anything-but-the-internet is still one of my avid pursuits. Been playing with offline tv viewing and offline web browsing. I have great appreciations for this site still being here. It's so hard to find public communities that haven't sold out to social media company.
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21 views
Pub Member / Supporter
Hello folks, well my luck ran out last week with a nasty thunderstorm and after 39 years here, finally took a hit. Now, the FTA receivers I had for some years worked great until now. Recently picked up a fairly cheap receiver, online, KOQIT and seems to be good, but for the life of me, I cannot get the HDMI output to work with 3 of my Samsung monitors. I can hook it up to my Samsung TV and its HDMI input and it works fine. The 2 receivers I lost also worked fine with them, so am I going crazy? anyone have come across this or have any suggestions? And, since this is a somewhat cheap unit but works, what is everyone out there using for receivers these days? without breaking the bank? I enjoy watching FTA TV, so I will invest more if needed, what is a really good, detailed unit these days. I'm so use to watching a few of them HD channels. Right now I'm down to composite hookups, yuck! Any help or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Frank 
46 Replies
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1134 views
Take the cover off, show me pics of the board of the bad one and also the bottom of the board. I'm an old hardware electronics tech plus a satellite dealer; I fixed a lot of FTA and regular receivers. I may be able to fix it for you. And yes, they got hit by lightning; it's best to email me the pics at diamondsatellite@snet.net or call me at 203-232-8888. I give you a 50-50 chance of fixing it; I do have spare parts. my phone is a fliptop phoneHello folks, well my luck ran out last week with a nasty thunderstorm and after 39 years here, finally took a hit. Now, the FTA receivers I had for some years worked great until now. Recently picked up a fairly cheap receiver, online, KOQIT and seems to be good, but for the life of me, I cannot get the HDMI output to work with 3 of my Samsung monitors. I can hook it up to my Samsung TV and its HDMI input and it works fine. The 2 receivers I lost also worked fine with them, so am I going crazy? anyone have come across this or have any suggestions? And, since this is a somewhat cheap unit but works, what is everyone out there using for receivers these days? without breaking the bank? I enjoy watching FTA TV, so I will invest more if needed, what is a really good, detailed unit these days. I'm so use to watching a few of them HD channels. Right now I'm down to composite hookups, yuck! Any help or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Frank
Gary
More room for the return of the Plague & Pestilence?
S
a good surge protector will help to.Hello folks, well my luck ran out last week with a nasty thunderstorm and after 39 years here, finally took a hit. Now, the FTA receivers I had for some years worked great until now. Recently picked up a fairly cheap receiver, online, KOQIT and seems to be good, but for the life of me, I cannot get the HDMI output to work with 3 of my Samsung monitors. I can hook it up to my Samsung TV and its HDMI input and it works fine. The 2 receivers I lost also worked fine with them, so am I going crazy? anyone have come across this or have any suggestions? And, since this is a somewhat cheap unit but works, what is everyone out there using for receivers these days? without breaking the bank? I enjoy watching FTA TV, so I will invest more if needed, what is a really good, detailed unit these days. I'm so use to watching a few of them HD channels. Right now I'm down to composite hookups, yuck! Any help or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Frank
Pub Member / Supporter
Now that I'm retired, obviously I have different health care insurance. I take 2 prescriptions. With my old insurance I didn't have to pay for either of them, now I do. It's not a huge amount but it led me to dig a little into the cost of prescription medications. I have been using Walgreens for the longest time. But what I found was that Walgreens price is 4.8 times more for one of my prescriptions and the other is 2.3 percent more compared to the lowest price pharmacy. If you pay for prescription medications you might want to have a look at trumprx and see if you can get a lower price.
11 Replies
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86 views
Actually I take just 2 prescriptions, Atorvastatin and Lisinopril. They cost me $6 each for 100 pills. Next year that will be nothing.That's ok. I probably take enough for the two of us.
God knows what Bobby takes. Maybe so much they count as a meal?
