Re-Installed Rotor & Amplifier

[John L]

I took advantage of the nice outdoor weather today and spent some time replacing the old rotor with a new one, and added the amplifier to the outdoor antenna system.  Improvements I've seen is that I can receive WFLD-TV, ch. 32 analog in very well.

But so far I have not been able to get a stable, error free digital signal on any of the local stations. I was able to get WMVS-DT and WISN-DT in clearly and stable before I added the rotor and -26 db rf amplifier.  I am wondering if maybe the signal is amplifying the digital signal too much to cause this?

-John L.

[John L]

But so far I have not been able to get a stable, error free digital signal on any of the local stations. I was able to get WMVS-DT and WISN-DT in clearly and stable before I added the rotor and -26 db rf amplifier. I am wondering if maybe the signal is amplifying the digital signal too much to cause this?

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Today my new system is working great!  Not sure exactly why I was getting the flicker or unstable signal.  I thought maybe a loose connection someplace or the antenna (its about 10 years old) with loose rods or whatever.  But not once today did I get any flicker or unstable signal. I am able to get all analog and digital signals clearly, except WITI-DT which I don't expect to get right now regardless whether my amp was more than 26 db.  I noticed 4-1 and 12-1 were both broadcasting a movie or some programs in High Definition this evening.

Earlier this morning I was watching Coral Ridge religious program over ch. 15 in Madison.  I was listening in on a couple chicago area FM stations.

I am thinking that because the power supply for the amp which was still in its place the last 10 years being plugged in the first time in probably 5 years needed to warm up. It took at least 6 hours after that before I notice the flicker and unstable signal problem go away.  Should the problems re-occur, I will simply replace the amp and see if it goes away since I have an extra one.

-John L.

[wxndave]

Hi John,

An amp can cause more problems than it can fix.  Most of our DTV local stations are running full power.  Some of these stations are channels next to each other.  If you have signals that overload the input of the amp, you could cause what is called intermod.  I have seen some amps cause distortions to signals  because the input was over loaded.  Keep in mind that the signal strentgh meter on the STB represents bit error rate.  Not RF signal.  The lower the signal stregth number the more errors you have.

Dave

[John L]

Well I discovered my unstable problem and flicker (relative of the same).  Thou I hope to fix it tonight.  I have a bad connection from the antenna amp to the power supply.  When I pressed on it to make the connection good I was able to receive WFLD-DT, which is 90 miles south of here!

-John L.

[John L]

Today I replaced the coax going from outdoor antenna and amplifier going 50 feet to the power supply.  It made a really big difference in the way I was receiving TV signals.  The old cable on there was 30 years old and replaced it with new stuff.  With the antenna aimed to the North all of the Milwaukee analog stations are clear, and all the DTV signals except WITI-DT are well received. Thou not even one sign of a weak signal from WITI-DT. But with the antenna aimed towards Chicago I can get weak digital signals of WGN-DT, WMAQ-DT, WFLD-DT, WCPX-DT, and WSNS-DT. Thou not strong enough to actually identify the Chicago signals nor any picture but the system did detect some sort of DTV signal at their assigned channels.  I am sure I will be able to receive a stronger signal and picture when tropo activity is good as such the case during the World Series that WFLD-DT came in with picture and its ID showed.

In spring I will replace the 10 year old antenna with one that is bigger and should even improve reception further.  

-John L.