Need OTA HD help please.
 

Okay here's my situation. I just installed an activated Voom receiver that I bought on eBay. I attached it to a Phillips 45db amplified antenna. I live 35 miles from the stations. My zip code is 27712 in Durham, North Carolina. Anyway I just hooked it up and I can see all the local channels but they keep cutting out. It gets all pixelated and the screen keeps saying "No signal received on local channel 5-1. Check Your Signal." I pointed the antenna in the direction of the towers but nothing seems to help. I was under the impression that once it grab a signal it would just "lock on" to it?

Is my problem with the antenna? Should I try and get one of those silver sensor antenna's? Or go for an outdoor antenna? I would prefer something indoors since that would be easiest. Based on the message I'm getting it seems like the antenna isn't strong enough or something.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

35 miles is a pretty significant distance, especially if there is any type of terrain between your location and the towers.

An indoor antenna like the Silver Sensor is likely not going to give you the best results. I would strongly recommend that you use an outdoor antenna.

Here is a helpful site to determine what type of antenna will benefit you:

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx

A quick check of your zipcode shows that a medium directional antenna will pick up most of the digital channels in your area. I would suggest trying the Channel Master 4221. It's pretty unobtrusive, and will work very well at that distance.

I was afraid 35 miles might be too far. Is there a good chance if I hook up this 4221 it should clear up my problem? It doesn't look like that antenna is too expensive but I guess I'd then need to buy a pole and mount, I obviously haven't done this before, but I could probably figure it out with a little help here on the web.

I have some pictures I took and some small video clips of what I've been seeing tonight. I have to get those off my camera and onto the web. I'll post those once they are ready.

The 4221 will almost certainly work for you, assuming that you have good line-of-site to the transmission tower (no large hills, buildings, nearby aiports, etc).

I have been using this particular antenna for over a year now, and love it. To give you an idea of it's range, I have the antenna pointed at Mt. Wilson (Los Angeles stations), which is over 70 miles away, and get most every station with good signal strength, depending on weather conditions.

Is your home a single story or multi-story? Do you have an attic? An attic installation might work well for you, depending on the height and building materials used in your home. This is cheap and easy to do.

Cost-wise, the 4221 can be had for around $35 shipped. A 5' mast will cost around $6-7. The cost of mounting hardware will vary depending on your situation. I think I paid around $15 for chimney straps. Be careful up on the roof!!!!

Let me know if you need more help...

Wow that's really awesome of you to help me out. Thanks! I live in a two story house with an attic. I guess my house is a standard build, I couldn't really tell you the materials other than stanard shingles, standard wood rafters, and wood paneling on the outside of the house. I can't imagine it would be too easy to run the cable for the antenna from the attic down two floors, but maybe it's easier than I think. The direcTV installer ran cable along the base of the house (brick) where it meets the wood paneling and brought the cable up through the floor via the crawlspace under the house. We do have a lot of trees here in North Carolina so I'm sure there's ton over the 35 miles and the landscape goes up and down a lot. I'm pretty confident because the picture I was getting tonight was excellent other than the dropouts and pixellation. I'll try and get those pics up right now.

Okay here are the video clips.

NBC-HD Olympics 1.92mb http://www.danicus007.com/images/dvd...om/voom001.wmv

NBC-HD Olympics 1.35mb http://www.danicus007.com/images/dvd...om/voom002.wmv

NBC-HD Olympics Split screen. Left is the OTA HD, right is SD DirecTV 1.33mb http://www.danicus007.com/images/dvd...om/voom003.wmv

CBS-HD UNC/NCSU Split screen. Left is the OTA HD, right is SD DirecTV 1.49mb http://www.danicus007.com/images/dvd...om/voom004.wmv

CBS-HD UNC/NCSU 1.39mb http://www.danicus007.com/images/dvd...om/voom005.wmv

...and she sticks the landing! ;)

It looks like you're getting a pretty decent signal, considering the little indoor antenna being used.

Given what you told me about your house, an attic installation would likely work very well for you, if you go the larger antenna route.

Here's what I'd suggest:
1) If you want to go for the quick fix, give the Silver Sensor a try. Just buy it from someplace that has a good return policy.

2) Go for an attic installation. You can run the coax out of one of the vents, down the side of the house, and back up through the hole the satellite uses. The important thing is to keep the cable run as short as possible. This will avoid signal loss.

Give this antenna a try first:
Radio Shack Model: U-75R
Catalog #: 15-2160

It's a $25 yagi that is easy to set up, and works remarkably well. I used one of these for almost 2 years before switching to the Channel Master. You can mount it in your attic using a piece of PVC pipe as your "pole".

I suggest trying the RatShack antenna, because it's cheap, works well for situations like yours, and is easy to return if things don't work out. Heck, you can even test it out in your living room with a short piece of coax! That's what I did originally...

Hope this helps. Good Luck!

Are these only available online? I can't seem to find any good B&M that may have one.

Okay you lost me here on the running out of a vent. Are you referring to the roof vents at the very top? I live in a multi-story house so I'm sure the cable would have to be pretty long.
I think I can handle the $25 for that one. I can easily get some PVC from Lowes to mount the antenna.

I thought that BestBuy used to sell them. Maybe Tweeter? I'm pretty sure they have stores in the Raleigh-Durham area.

I'm referring to your attic vents. It's easy to cut a small notch out of the screen that's just large enough to fit the coax through.

An easy way to do it is to screw the PVC into one of the roof trusses in your attic. Then you can point the antenna in the proper direction. Try to avoid mounting it where there is metal stapping, etc., that might interfere with the antenna.

Alright Bretski, you're the man!!!! That antenna is awesome. I have it sitting in my living room lying on the floor 5 feet from my TV and I'm getting every local HD channel crystal clear!!! Thanks so much. And to think this antenna was cheaper than the amplified indoor one I was trying last night. I did have to buy a transformer to connect the 75-ohm downlead to the 300-ohm antenna, but that was only $3 and the Rat Shack guy actually gave me the advice to buy it.

I think I'm going to mount this outside right next to my back deck on a pole or something. Is it vital to mount these up high, is that why the attic is suggested? I think it will be easier to mount outside on a pole and run the wire under my crawlspace and into the house. If I do this do I need to connect some kind of ground or in-line fuse in case of lightning or am I being too cautious?

Thanks again for everything, you rock!

I have one more quick question. I'm getting all the big boy channels NBC, ABC, FOX, and CBS. However, I'm not getting WB or UPN. They all broadcast from the same location, but Antenna Web says I need BLUE - UHF antenna and all the others are red. The only difference I can see is that the Blue needs a pre-amp. What do I need to do to get WB and UPN? Here's the listing from AntennaWeb:
http://www.danicus007.com/images/dvd...d_channels.jpg

Schweet! Glad it's working well for you. :up:

I originally suggested an attic install for a couple of reasons: 1) Antennas like to be up high, with good line-of-sight to the tower. 2) It's generally *safer* and easier than a roof mount.

If you're getting good reception on the floor of your living room, give the back deck a try. Chances are that you'll pick up WB and UPN once the antenna is mounted outside. If not, you can always try a pre-amp later.

...and yes, you definitely need to ground the antenna. That is a critical safety item.

What materials do I need to install the antenna outside. I was just hoping to either mount it onto my deck, or if I need to get it up into the air high, should I just buy a standard pole and stick it onto that? Also I don't recall seeing anything in the instructions that came w/ the antenna about how to ground it. What's the best way to do that?

To mount the antenna you'll need to get a mast (size of your choice). They sell 5 and 10 foot masts at Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. You'll be able to find hardware to mount the mast to your deck there as well.

As far as the grounding goes, you need to buy a 75-ohm grounding block. This should be mounted where the coax enters the house. There should be instructions (like a consumer product safety sheet) that came with your antenna.

Don't underestimate the importance of grounding your antenna. Safety first!

Okay I'm off to Lowe's for the mast and hardware. Where do I need to run the ground wire for the grounding block to? Just anything nearby that I find that's grounded?

Alright I got everything I needed and it's up and installed. I now have all the HD channels coming in perfect. The only thing I haven't done yet is the ground wire. I did a little research and it appears I just need to stick the cable into the ground? I haven't found any information regarding how far deep I need to go.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow when it's light outside.

Right on!

If you have a water pipe coming out of the ground nearby, that'll work. For my antenna, I drove a grounding rod into the ground where the cable enters the house. Anything that's properly grounded will work fine.

So I will actually need to find something grounded to make contact with the ground cable? I can't just bury it into the ground a few feet and not have it making contact with a solid ground somewhere?

Okay here are the pictures of my antenna installation like I promised. Unfortunately I had a lot of pixelation today while watching the basketball games. It wasn't horrible but was happening far more than I expected. The reception at night is flawless. It was pretty windy today so I wonder if that had anything to do with it. Or maybe my antenna isn't high into the air enough? Anyway here are the pictures.

http://www.danicus007.com/images/dvd...antenna001.jpg

http://www.danicus007.com/images/dvd...antenna002.jpg

http://www.danicus007.com/images/dvd...antenna003.jpg

http://www.danicus007.com/images/dvd...antenna004.jpg

Elevation is good, when it comes to antennas...hence my original suggestion for an attic or roof installation.

Live with your current setup for at least a week or so, and see how it performs, before making any major changes. Have you double-checked your azimuth to the broadcast towers?

As far as the ground goes, I don't think sticking the wire in the ground will cut it, you'd have to go pretty deep to meet code. It looks like your gas main is nearby, but I would check with an electrician before attaching your ground wire there. My spidey-sense tells me electricity + flammable gases = potential trouble. ;)

I ran the ground over to where my DirecTV and power meter are grounded. I read online that it needs to be grounded at 8 feet of depth, so I just ran the wire where I knew there was a good ground.

What's an azimuth? Is that a fancy word for pointing in the right direction? :) If so, yes I did make sure it's pointing at 153°.

You got it.

I'm not really familiar with the voom receivers, but assuming you have some type of signal meter, pull up the meter and move the antenna right/left slightly to see if the signal is improved (if the pixelation continues).

Good luck, and let me know how things work out.

Okay well I'm offically at my wits end with this thing. I now have the antenna high enough so it is level with my attic and still I am having problems. Last night all the channels were fine except NBC. NBC kept dropping and gets pixelated very bad. Today while watching I get FOX perfect, very little drops from CBS, and NBC is unwatchable and ABC is almost unwatchable. These are all broadcasting from the same tower. I guess it's just a matter of the different power these stations are putting out. So where do I go from here? Do I need a stronger antenna, maybe an amplifier of some sorts? I'm getting quite frustrated.

Well I've got the antenna about 25 feet into the air and now I'm getting the major channels without any pixelation so I'm happy about that. However, I've lost WB and UPN for good it would seem. Oh well, no big loss there since I never watch any UPN or WB broadcasts.

See if you can find an HD user group on the web in your area. We have one for Mpls/St. Paul and it is fabulous for figuring out the last 2% of problems. Like one station was underpowered for awhile, and another has their transmitter low on the tower which causes problems, etc. We even get station engineers to post some help.

I've seen these for many different cities, maybe you'll get lucky.