OTA Digital in Philly Area

[stunnerkline]

Hi,
I'm a new here and I recently got into the Digital TV market. I have DirecTV and an OTA antenna in my attic (from way back when DirecTV didn't offer locals).

I hooked up this antenna to see what I'd get in OTA Digital and I'm puzzled??

Channel 3-1 comes in wonderfully but every other Digital channel just keeps saying "searching for signal".

I checked the Digital Signal Strength through the setup menu on the receiver and for any of the Digital channels it typically is bouncing between 30% and 77%.

I've been reading quite a bit here today in this forum and I've seen suggestions where people were told to install and amplifier or some other kind of device.

I live in the Pottstown area so I'm not sure how close I am to the towers that broadcast the Digital signals....I tried moving the antenna around in the attic but the signal strength remained the same.

If anyone has any suggestions I'd greatly appreciate them.

SK

 

[rcbridge]

You are about 35-45 miles away from Roxborough you can try an amplifier, can you pick up the analog UHF stations?

 

[stunnerkline]

Thanks for the respons.

Yes, I can get the analog UHF stations without a problem. 17, 29, 57, analog come in very clear.

Any suggestions on a amplifier?

 

[rcbridge]

I am in Limerick and I am using the Motorola signal booster with an indoor antenna and I can pick up all the Philadelphia stations and If I turn it I can pick up the Allentown stations. Digital only (no HD).

 

[stunnerkline]

Thanks for the reply.

I've ordered an amplifier and will try that, but I'm skeptical.

On most of the Digital channels the signal is between 45% and 70% but I still get "searching for signal".

Tonight, however, for the first time NBC 10 HD came in. It was in for about an hour and then gone again.

I'll see what happens with the amp...

 

[stunnerkline]

Got the Channelmaster 7777 Amp and...

my reception is now WORSE!

I get zero HD OTA channels and my standard OTA channel reception is now much worse.

I just don't get this stuff.

What am I doing wrong????

Someone please enlighten me.

 

[stunnerkline]

Yep

Unhooked the amp and sure enough....reception is back where I started.

 

[rcbridge]

First let's eliminate the simplest things.
The amp has an in and an out which way did you connect it, the antenna it should be connected to the in port.

Is it plugged in?

If 1 and 2 are okay.

Is there a gain control on the amplifier if so vary it around and watch your set.

Let me know what happens when you do all the above.

If nothing works remove the amp and re-configure as it was before and see if you get back what you had.

You mentioned when you moved the antenna around nothing changed.

 

[rcbridge]

http://www.channelmaster.com/

I found this link at the very bottom there is a note to configure the amp for your usage.

Products,amplifiers,titan 2 and look at the bottom of the page.

 

[stunnerkline]

Thanks for the replys...

I had followed the instructions, connecting the amp as stated.

I also made sure the switches were in the correct positions (no FM signal and combined VHF/UHF).

Here's the but.

After I unhooked the amp I went back to the tv and I suddenly had NBC 10-1 along with CBS 3-1!

So, I went back up in the attic and actually losened the antenna and moved it around significantly.

I've got it now where I get 3-1, 6-1 thru 6-3 and 10-1.

I still can't get 29-1 nor any of the other lesser channels (17-1, 69-1, 57-1) but it appears that I just needed to move it around more then I had before.

Now I'm thinking that the amp was too much. I've read in other threads that if you are getting a decent signal that an amp can add too much that it does more bad then good.

Like I said before, when I check the signal strength for any of the OTA Digital channels it's typically bouncing between 30% and 75%. I would think that this would be enough to get them, but maybe I'm wrong.

I don't really notice a difference in the signal strength for the channels I do get now so I'm not sure how depenable that reading is???

I think I'm going to send the amp back and just keep playing with the location of the antenna in my attic.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[rcbridge]

That is some good news, yes you may need to play with your antenna a little more.
To much gain can be a bad thing!!
I have an indoor antenna and to get 12,57 and 29 I need to move it slightly.
3 , 6 , 10 are always strong.