OTA Antenna Question

[BrianK]

I have the 3 LNB "Turbo HD" dish and a CM3010 antenna that came with my VOOM install. The antenna and two satellite cables feed into a Terk multiswitch (3 in 2 out) and run to two VIP622 receivers. I have always had trouble receiving the CW and CBS OTA and now ABC is starting to get spotty. I bought an RCA ANT751 antenna to replace the Channel Master but when I hooked up the new antenna, it killed the satellite signal to the 622s. Why would this happen? Should I take the RCA antenna back and get something different?

 

[knotle]

Possibility that the multiswitch went bad. I would try a new switch and see if that might be the problem.

 

[garys]

Make sure you have the ota connected to the correct input.

 

[BrianK]

Probably should have mentioned that I took down the ANT751 and put the 3010 back up and all reception (satellite and OTA) went back to normal. I'm sure there's a good reason why that happened but shouldn't any antenna output be the same and therefore interchangeable?

 

[harshness]

A critical element of figuring this out involves knowing how far away the broadcast towers are and what frequencies these channels occupy. The CM3010 is rated a little better for distance.

A reviewer on CNET commented that the balun supplied with his unit was faulty and it screwed him out of two channels that returned when he replaced the balun. Sound familiar?

 

[BrianK]

Towers are 16-17 miles away and 353-356 degrees heading which means the antenna needs to be pointing at the corner of the two story house next door to me. The 3010 picks up NBC and FOX if I point it at the house. If I turn the antenna around 180 degrees I can get the CW crystal clear. The best that I can do with ABC is in the 60-70's. Obviously I would like to get everything which I would think wouldn't be a problem since I'm not that far away from the towers.

 

[BrianK]

These are the channels I'm trying to pick up:

uhf WJXT-DT 4.1 IND JACKSONVILLE, FL 356° 16.7 42
uhf WAWS-DT 30.1 FOX JACKSONVILLE, FL 353° 17.4 32
vhf WJXX-DT 25.1 ABC ORANGE PARK, FL 356° 16.7 10
vhf WTLV-DT 12.1 NBC JACKSONVILLE, FL 356° 16.7 13
uhf WTEV-DT 47.1 CBS JACKSONVILLE, FL 353° 17.4 19
vhf WJCT-DT 7.1 PBS JACKSONVILLE, FL 353° 17.4 7
uhf WCWJ-DT 17.1 CW JACKSONVILLE, FL 354° 17.0 34

 

[harshness]

I would think that a basic indoor antenna should be sufficient. The backside performance of the CW is a little troubling like maybe you're getting a big multipath from the south.