new to OTA HDTV

[David Hendrickson]

First of all, great job on this site to all. I have been a browser since it first started, and found this along with The HOME Theater Spot to be the only sites I need for my home theater resources. I finally purchased an antenna to receive ota hdtv. The problem I have is I am not receiving nbc. The signal strength on my Mits indicated 100% power strength for channel 28, yet there is no picture. Channel 28-1 doesn't appear on my program guide either. When I enter channel 28-1 in my remote I am bumped to 4-1, but ther's no signal, and 4-1 also doesn't appear on the program guide. Is there something fundamental I haven't done in order to receive the signal? I have done a channel scan three times, and the other hdtv stations are on the guide. I don't receive the same signal strength as 28 or 34-1, but that will change once I put the antenna on the roof. Any help would be appreciated.

[Tom Snyder]

Are you getting a picture on the other channels? What model Mitsu do you have?

[ReesR]

Here are some ideas from personal experience and some questions:

1) Can you adjust the antenna? What kind is it?  Multipath can affect the results.
2) Is there a pre-amp on the antenna?  Sometimes having too much signal can corrupt the digital data.
3) How high is the antenna currently? More than likely once on the roof the problem will go away.
4) What kind of ATSC tuner are you using? You don't mention that your getting pictures on the other digital channels.  Are you?

Hope that helps


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Rees Roberts
Racine, WI
reesr@wi.net

HDTV Receiver:  Sony KD-34XBR2 16X9
Bi-directional AntennaCraft VHF Yagi Model #2260P
+
2 Winegard PR9022 UHF yagi's pointing N & S
Antennas at about 30 feet
Samsung SIR-TS160 HD Directv receiver

[David Hendrickson]

Tom, Yes I am receiving a great picture on 34-1, as well as the pbs stations. My set is a Mits, WS55907, with a Mits SR-HD5  stb. I receive Direct tv, and cabble along with the ota now. The cable is directly into the mits through an antenna input, and the sat feed along with the new ant go through the stb.

[David Hendrickson]

ReesR, I have a Channel Master 4 bay bow tie, currently leaning against the wall behind my set. I realize that needs to be, and will be moved. I was surprised the signal strength would be so high, but there would be no picture.
I'll get that puppy on the roof as soon as I can. I just hate drilling another hole in my house for the input.

[ReesR]

Thanks for the feedback.  What effect does moving the antenna around have on 4.1?

[David Hendrickson]

ReesR,
Nope, not a thing shows up. Btw, thanks for your help.

[ReesR]

do you have enough cable on the antenna to move it away from the tv by at least 10 feet?  I'm thinking maybe there is some coupling to some interference inside the tv which may effect the digital content on ch4 which prevents it from locking up properly and therefore unable to give you the picture.

[David Hendrickson]

That seems plausible. I don't have enough cable right now, but I will be picking some up today. I will post here with the results. Thanks!

[David Hendrickson]

Well,
I put the antenna on the roof, ran my cable through a window, and the results are mixed. I receive 10, 12, and now cbs beautifully. NBC hows signal strength on 28-1 of 100%, but no picture on 4-1, no 4-1 on program guide. I'm perplexed, any Mits people able to tell me wether I have to do something special to my stb?
Also, no Fox 6-1, but from what I read that's nothing new.

[This message has been edited by David Hendrickson (edited 11-02-2002).]

[ReesR]

One thing to try is taking your antenna feed and instead of running it to your set top box run it directly to your Mits receiver antenna input.  See if that helps.  The purpose of this is to isolate what is causing this.  If Ch 4.1 suddenly appears then the problem is in the configuration of your set top box.  If it doesn't then the problem would have to be with your tv.

[Pat]

You really should let us know where you live.  If you live anywhere near the towers, the problem is probably too strong of a signal.  The towers are located north of downtown and near the lake.

[David Hendrickson]

I live in Waukesha county, with a good sight line due to being on top of a hill. I received the following reply from a 'Home Theater Spot' post:

Most likely this is an issue with the local stations PSIP.
There have been many instances around the country where incorrect PSIP settings in a stations stream have caused problems for a particular brand of STB.
I would suggest a call to the stations engineering department. They may be blissfully unaware of any problem.

I am not familiar with PSIP settings and wether they affect different stb brands. If Paul is reading from WTMJ perhaps he can help?

[drgingras]

Reminder - WTMJ was, for the most part,  only turning their digital feed on during the evening hours (until Sean announced the 24/7 news late last week). Also,Kerry and Tom both reported a signal loss this morning. Hopefully, the problem was on their end, not yours. May want to try a rescan - they're back on now.

Dave



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I kinda thought that might happen ...

[David Hendrickson]

I just tried it again - nothing! Arrrgh. I know my box is receiving the signal, the signal strength still comes in strong, and when I hit 28-1 on the remote, the stb automatically switches to 4-1. So there is a signal being received, but no picture.
Thank goodness the Sopranos comes on in 10 minutes. Thanks to all for the suggestions, I'll probably go to Flanners tomorrow and see if they have any ideas.