Inconsistent Quality from CBS 58

[cobra01]

I have been reading with interest all of the troubles others were having with CBS 58.  I live in Racine and have been experiencing the same problems.  I have followed Mr. Hall's suggestions, but to no avail.  Attached is a copy of the letter I sent to Mr. Hall on 7/31/03.  To date, I have received no reply.  Just wanted to let fellow Racinians know there's one more disappointed HDTV customer out there.

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I purchased a Mitsubishi HDTV with integrated tuner about a year ago.  I also subscribe to DirectTV and have a Hughes HDTV STB.  I live in Racine, about 3 blocks West of the lake and 3 miles South of the Milwaukee County –Racine County border.

For the first few months, I could not get 1-1 to scan on the TV tuner, but could get 58-1 on the Hughes STB.  I called American TV to check the TV, they said everything was OK.

I called Mitsubishi and had them send me the latest firmware upgrade, and after I installed that, I was able to receive 1-1.

However, the reception from 1-1 has always been pixilated and choppy sound.  I have been reading articles in the MilwaukeeHDTV.org forums and read your articles about improving reception.  I followed your instructions.

I have an antenna located in the attic.  Your website indicates this can reduce the signal strength, so I purchased a new Radio Shack outdoor antenna 15-2154 (37 element 120" boom) and installed it on my roof.  I aimed it using an accurate compass using the Long/Lat of your antenna and the Log/Lat of my home.  The antenna goes directly to my TV and STB with less than 75' of RG6U cable.  This cost me about $120.  The signal strength increased for channel 1-1 but no appreciable increase in the quality.

I then read your article about antennuating the VHF signal.  I purchased two VHF/UHF splitter/combiners and placed a 75 ohm 6db antennuator between the two VHF inputs and then recombined the signal.  Again, no appreciable quality increase.
I can receive 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 4-1, 10-1, 10-2, 10-3, 10-4, 10-5, 12-1, 28-1, 24-1, 36-1.  All but 1-1 have a clear picture, very few instances of pixilation (perhaps 1 X a month per channel) and no sound dropouts.  I get these results on both my HDTV tuner and through the Hughes STB.  I receive Dolby 2.0 sound on all except 12-1, on which I receive Dolby 5.1  When I watch Channel 1-1, I experience numerous pixilation and sound dropouts (anywhere from 20 – 50 per hour).  It gets so disgusting, that I have to switch back to analog to watch my favorite CBS shows.  The picture is so pixilated through the Hughes STB that the picture useless.  The signal strength meter on my Hughes STB consistently runs between 90 – 100 on all but 1-1.  1-1 runs between 70 – 80.
 
I have invested a considerable amount of money in my HDTV system and am very happy with its performance.  I followed your suggestions and spent over $150 and a lot of my time and I still cannot rely on watching a one-hour CBS HDTV program without experiencing pixilation and sound dropouts.  I find it hard to believe that my equipment is at fault, since I get every other Milwaukee HDTV channel without difficulty.  I know I am not the only person, especially from Racine, that has these problems.

Will you be addressing these issues in the near future?  I would like to know so I can determine if I should re-aim my antenna and work on getting CBS from Chicago before the new shows start and the weather gets cold.:bang: :bang:

[Dan the Man]

I too have experenced the same problems with pixilation and sound drop-out. This was happening earlier in the year when I was getting the signal, and seems to be still happening even since my antenna height modification (see my other posts).

I just now ordered a CM4228 and hope that that will help with any remaining DTV signal quality issues.

I'll keep an eye on CBS (no pun intended) and see how things go.

I live in the Town of Brookfield, near Springdale and Watertown on the top of a hill.

Dan out.......

[bklass]

FYI
I live in Delafield and 58-1 was breaking up on me last night (8/21/03) during "CSI"!  This seems to be an intermittant problem for me.  I'm receiving these OTA's through a HUGHES E86 DIRECTV box into a MITS 65311.

[JohnRacine]

I live on the south side of Racine, 1 mile north of the Kenosha Co. border, 3 miles from the lake.  I have a Toshiba DST3000 with a Radio Shack Yagi antenna (with pre-amp) on a rotor well above my roof line.  I have the exact same problems with reception as Cobra01 who's located about 7 miles north of me.  I also made upgrades to my antenna (new coax and new pre-amp) and noted that the signal strength went up a bit, but 1-1 is plagued with drop-outs to the point that it is not watchable.  The reception does improve somewhat when the temperature is below 70 degrees but it's still hit and miss.  I do not have these problems with any other Milwaukee or Chicago channels - just 1-1.  I've had my equipment for 17 months and it's always been this way. It appears that CBS 1-1 is unavailable to Racine/Kenosha viewers who do not have cable.

[Mr Bill]

Hey Cobra, how did you upgrade your firmware on the Mits? Was it thru the card slot? Did this upgrade your Netcommand?

Which model do you have? I've got a 55511.

Bill