Getting bad reception from Dish's OTA antenna. Any suggestions?

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N

NABRIL

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Aug 4, 2005
193
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A month or so ago, Dish came out and installed their OTA antenna for free; it is a small, white antenna that mounts on a small pole-arm that screws to the edge of my roof, not the one that clips to the Dish.
The tech rushed through the set up, I feel, and left me with locals tuned fine. Since that installation, I have sound and video drops on those OTA local channels.
A technician is coming tomorrow to investigate, so I ask if there are any tips or secrets for getting good reception. According to the OTA website (I can't remember), I get good reception for all channels since I am only 26 miles from most of the antennas. I was told and have read that I do not want to have the antenna too far from the receiver since a long cabling run will degrade the coax signal.

Thank you
It looks like this

outdoor--antenna.jpg
 
boba said:
You really need to pull a www.tvfool.com to see what channels are available and how good a signal you should receive.
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charlesrshell said:
Another good OTA site to check on channels too.
Address
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Yup, did that, and I get a lot (up to 40, with the main ones ABC, NBC and CBS being 25 miles away), and the majority are in the green = indoor antenna is suitable for reception. I am hoping that the tech can raise the antenna a bit. Or maybe I can convince him to connect the gigantic arrow-shaped antenna that is in my house's attic from 1979. I haven't connected it because I have no idea where the coax cable attached to it is. And here in Miami, climbing into an attic in the upper 90 degrees is not...fun or healthy.

TV Fool
 
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The signal at your location is way too strong to be using an amplified antenna. You could try unplugging the amplifier. Most built in amplified antennas completely kill the outbound signal without the amplifier powered, however in looking at the specs on Solid Signal it does appear your antenna will work in a passive state. It's worth a try.
 
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pamajestic said:
The signal at your location is way too strong to be using an amplified antenna. You could try unplugging the amplifier. Most built in amplified antennas completely kill the outbound signal without the amplifier powered, however in looking at the specs on Solid Signal it does appear your antenna will work in a passive state. It's worth a try.
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Pama...Here is what I see. The outdoor coax conencts to a small white box labeled Televes that has 3 coax inputs and plugs into the wall. One of those coax cables goes to the USB-coax converter that plugs in to the Hopper. Are you suggesting to bypass that white box altogether by connecting the outdoor cable to the USB converter? Or, even easier, unplugging that white box that I assume to be an amplifier?
 
NABRIL said:
Pama...Here is what I see. The outdoor coax conencts to a small white box labeled Televes that has 3 coax inputs and plugs into the wall. One of those coax cables goes to the USB-coax converter that plugs in to the Hopper. Are you suggesting to bypass that white box altogether by connecting the outdoor cable to the USB converter? Or, even easier, unplugging that white box that I assume to be an amplifier?
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Try pulling the power cord. Is the antenna connected to other TV’s? or just the hopper?
 
pamajestic said:
Okay, I just found the instruction book (on page 8) and it looks like you need to completely bypass the power supply. So you will need to connect it directly from the antenna to the hopper dongle.
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I will try that. Thank you. I'm curious if the technician will insist that I plug it in.
 
I have the same antenna and it never drops the signal while a channel is in use, but sometimes when changing channels it will say that the signal is lost.
The only way to get it back is to go to the guide and select another channel and go back to the preferred channel.
I have the amp that dish supplied with the antenna. It has two outlets and I have one going to other rooms and the main TV.
The other rooms and main TV never loose the signal.
 
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xyz38 said:
I have the same antenna and it never drops the signal while a channel is in use, but sometimes when changing channels it will say that the signal is lost.
The only way to get it back is to go to the guide and select another channel and go back to the preferred channel.
I have the amp that dish supplied with the antenna. It has two outlets and I have one going to other rooms and the main TV.
The other rooms and main TV never loose the signal.
Click to expand...

That's a side effect common on some receivers; it's very unlikely the antenna is causing that
 
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Cmon, this is the little cookie cutter antenna dish gives to people when they are in a dispute and loose one of their local channels.

First rule about antennas is that the same antenna does not produce the same results for everyone.

It’s all depends how far and where the towers are located.

You just need to find the right antenna or invest in a rotor.
 
Claude Greiner said:
Cmon, this is the little cookie cutter antenna dish gives to people when they are in a dispute and loose one of their local channels.

First rule about antennas is that the same antenna does not produce the same results for everyone.

It’s all depends how far and where the towers are located.

You just need to find the right antenna or invest in a rotor.
Click to expand...

It's actually a pretty decent antenna according to the specs. Good reviews on Amazon and over $100 retail, IIRC.
 
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If anyone is considering buying the Televes antenna, note that it's not suitable for low-VHF channels if you have any in your area. Following the current FCC channel repack, there will be about 60 channels across the country broadcasting on RF channels 2-6.
 
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NYDutch said:
If anyone is considering buying the Televes antenna, note that it's not suitable for low-VHF channels if you have any in your area. Following the current FCC channel repack, there will be about 60 channels across the country broadcasting on RF channels 2-6.
Click to expand...
After repack, will we need to get an updated OTA antenna?
 

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