Pixelation

[Wesro]

I have a question about my OTA setup. It has been a struggle to get good OTA reception in my area. I have a channel that comes in anywhere from 90-100% steady all the time. When I watch it though I get pixelation every one in a while. I was trying to watch 'The Big Bang Theory' tonight and got constant pixelation even though the signal was 90-100%. Should I be getting pixelation with this strong of signal?

Thanks

 

[Tower Guy]

I have a question about my OTA setup. It has been a struggle to get good OTA reception in my area. I have a channel that comes in anywhere from 90-100% steady all the time. When I watch it though I get pixelation every one in a while. I was trying to watch 'The Big Bang Theory' tonight and got constant pixelation even though the signal was 90-100%. Should I be getting pixelation with this strong of signal?

Thanks

What are you using for an antenna?
Which station are you having trouble with?
Is the antenna aimed directly at the station?
What does your TVfool report look like?

 

[Wesro]

I am using an Antenna Direct DB8 with an CM7777 preamp. Antenna is aimed directly at the station. I have always had trouble with all the stations. It just seems if WRBL is coming in at 100% is shouldn't pixelate but it does.

 

[boba]

You might have too much signal and be overdriving the tuner.

 

[navychop]

Yep. I suspect you may get better results removing the pre-amp. Or at least aim your antenna 90 degrees off, if you have a rotor.

 

[Wesro]

The problem I have taking the preamp off is that I cannot get the other stations to come in without it. I don't have a rotor. The transmitters are in the same general area. Or, at least the wide span of my antenna can grab all four of them.

 

[Tower Guy]

I am using an Antenna Direct DB8 with an CM7777 preamp. Antenna is aimed directly at the station. I have always had trouble with all the stations. It just seems if WRBL is coming in at 100% is shouldn't pixelate but it does.

The beamwidth of the DB-8 is too narrow for you. The DB-8

Can you disconnect one side and use it as a DB-4?

The 7777 preamp is wrong for a station with a noise margin of 58.3 db. Perhaps you won't need a preamp at all when you disconnect half of your antenna.

You have three high band VHF stations and one low band VHF station that you are trying to receive with a UHF antenna and no rotor. They are in four different directions.

It's really time to start from scratch and redesign your antenna system.

 

[Tower Guy]

Or, at least the wide span of my antenna can grab all four of them.

au contaire! Yes, the db-8 is labeled "multidirectional". It's not.

 

[Wesro]

As far as I know the only VHF I have is WSFA out of Montgomery and WTVM out of Columbus the rest are UHF.

I really can't use a rotor as the antenna is connected to an DirecTV HR22.

 

[Tower Guy]

As far as I know the only VHF I have is WSFA out of Montgomery and WTVM out of Columbus the rest are UHF.

I really can't use a rotor as the antenna is connected to an DirecTV HR22.

I'm also not a fan of rotors. Unfortunately WSFA and WTVM are on adjacent channels 11 and 12. Jointennas don't work on adjacent channels. You can ignore NBC on 12 and watch WLTZ on 35 instead. Channel 11 is in the right direction without a rotor or joiner. A Winegard HD7694P will work for you. Don't go bigger!

You have two more VHF stations that you can get.

WACS channel 8
WABW channel 6

It's easy to add channel 6 with a HLSJ
It's cheap to add channel 8 with a Jointenna on Amazon.com.

Some of your antenna decisions would be based on how much you like PBS and which PBS stations carry identical programming.

These suggestions should be verified with an exact tvfool report.

 

[Wesro]

I'm also not a fan of rotors. Unfortunately WSFA and WTVM are on adjacent channels 11 and 12. Jointennas don't work on adjacent channels. You can ignore NBC on 12 and watch WLTZ on 35 instead. Channel 11 is in the right direction without a rotor or joiner. A Winegard HD7694P will work for you. Don't go bigger!

You have two more VHF stations that you can get.

WACS channel 8
WABW channel 6

It's easy to add channel 6 with a HLSJ
It's cheap to add channel 8 with a Jointenna on Amazon.com.

Some of your antenna decisions would be based on how much you like PBS and which PBS stations carry identical programming.

These suggestions should be verified with an exact tvfool report.

Here is what I would like to do, maybe you can help.

I have two options.

Option 1:

WRBL - CBS - Columbus, GA
WTVM - ABC - Columbus, GA
WCOV - FOX - Montgomery, AL
WSFA - NBC - Montgomery, AL
That would get my my big four as the NBC and FOX out of Columbus, GA power is low and I have a hard time getting those.

Option 2:

WTVY - CBS - Dothan, AL
WDHN - ABC - Dothan, AL
WCOV - FOX - Montgomery, AL
WSFA - NBC - Montgomery, AL

That would also get the big four.

How can I get this to work?

Thanks for all your help

 

[Tower Guy]

Here is what I would like to do, maybe you can help.

Option 1 can't work without a rotor because channels 11 and 12 are adjacent and in different directions.

Option 2 can't work without a rotor because channels 20 and 21 are adjacent and in different directions.

WSFA's power of 31.6 KW on channel 12 is not low power for a VHF channel. You can't get it now because you don't have a VHF antenna. But don't worry about it, reception of WSFA without a rotor would most likely preclude reliable reception of WTVM, your strongest ABC.

WXTX's power of 499.5 KW on channel 35 is not low. I suspect that your DB-8 antenna is too sharp to get it reliably.

WLTZ's 50 KW on channel 49 may be marginal, but without an exact tvfool report any conclusions are just a guess. The generic report for your zip code says that it's 37.7 miles LOS (line of sight) with a 37.5 db noise margin. That should work fine.