Lost OTA programing

[bobcat]

Is anyone having problems with OTA reception in the North Bay Solano county area? I was receiving all the OTA content last night before I turned in,when I turned on the system this morning I'm only able to get the HD content. I did a local channel scan and I receive 6 local station. I did a soft reboot it didn't help. Voom tech support tried to tell me it was the local broadcasters. I can pickup the OTA on a non connected set with bunny ears, but not on my Voom receivers or either HD set.

 

[dougmcbride]

bobcat - I'm speculating your "bunny ears" are picking up an analog signal and feeding it into an analog TV. The digital channels are separate from the analog channels so this is not an indicator you can rely on.

When you say you did a local scan and you receive 6 stations, is that what you used to get or are getting now and are missing some others?

Couple of things to try - check the AVS forum for reports on San Francisco digitals. I had read that Sutro Tower had some problems with their digital antenna and was undergoing repair. Second, do a quick check of your system to make sure your antenna is still there, pointing the right direction, coax is hooked up at both ends, etc.

Hope that helps.

Good luck,

Doug

 

[bobcat]

Great Info.

doug- thanks for the reply. You were 100% on the money on all counts. I was getting all the local OTA content last night, but nothing thru-out the day. After the channel scan I received 6 stations. I visually checked the OTA and it seemed to be where the installer set it up. I have no way of checking at the present time it is mounted on a second story chimney. I gave up and went to the driving range and it some balls. When I returned everything was backup and running. So, I asume as you mentioned in your reply it was maintenance being done At Sutro that caused the outage. I have a question. My current OTA antenna is the standard Voom VM-2NPS Flying wing. I'm not able to receive KNTV or KCRA the NBC affiliates in the Bay area. Would a better OTA antenna allow me to receive one or the other? I'm closer to Sacramento than San Jose. 50 miles as opposed to 70. I called tech support and inquired about an up grade. I'm scheduled for(I hope a no charge) upgrade on 2/10. If the upgrade won't buy me anything I will cancel the service call. Again thanks for the reply and all the timely info. Look forward to hearing from you again.

Bob

 

[dougmcbride]

Hi bobcat - have you checked http://www.antennaweb.org to see what it says about what you can get and what type of antenna it would take? I believe I've read that unless you have some hills in the way toward Walnut Grove where the Sacto broadcast towers are, you should be good on getting the Sacto locals. With the right antenna and a rotator, you should be able to get both Sacto and San Francisco stations.

What DMA is in your Voom box - Sacto or San Francisco? You can tell which one if you are getting guide data for the stations. I live up in the foothills (Auburn) and my local DMA is Sacto, but I can occasionally get stations from the Bay Area, but with no guide info. BTW - the new "Super DMA" update should solve this problem.

Anyway, check out antennaweb.org if you haven't already to see what it says for an antenna. I'd guess that if you are in the 50 - 70 mile range, it will suggest a large directional and perhaps a pre-amp, and if you want to get both Sacto and Bay Area, a rotator. If you proceed, you'll need to make the call on a UHF only, or a UHF/VHF antenna.

Another good reference for antenna topics is over at the HomeTheaterSpot. Friendly, helpful place. The url to get directly to the antenna forum (they have scores of different forums) is http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/postlist.php/Cat/0/Board/UBB55

Hope this helps. I check in here every once in a while so if I can be of additional help, let me know.

Cheers,

Doug

 

[bradley]

Program Channal Paradigm Issues

Recently discovered OTA issues may be impacted by the following...

see: http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=46803

 

[dougmcbride]

Bradley - thanks for the link and the great post.

bobcat - I have not seen any issues from the Sacto or SF stations I get related to Bradley's post. This may be becasue the stations have not switched (or switched back) or the Voom box was able to understand the change based upon the way the station implemented it. BTW, I'm on version 7.34 at the moment.

Doug