So I have a client with Direct TV. When they (DTV) installed a new Dish (5LNB) they also installed a antenna for the local hi-Def (Client owns a HR10-250 Tivo unit). The problem that I am now having is some of the HD channels are not coming in. It started with CBS and now more channels are dropping. DTV said that it is not there problem so now it’s my problem. I have replaced the diplexers once, and it was a short fix, but CBS still never worked. It did work for months after the install.
Any thoughts?
Thanks

Probably the antenna is not good enough for the location. Reception conditions are generally better in the summer and as winter approached the signals do not propagate as far. What's your client's zip code??

The Zip Code is 60614 I think.
When I lookied it up at Antenna web it said that in the yellow and the antenna was fine.

Can you bypass all direct tv cables and plug the tv directly in to the antenna and see if all expected channels do indeed appear? Also you may have to rotate the antenna some to recapture stations, lack of fall leaves changes apparent direction of signals.

Also do a rescan of the OTA ATSC channels, it is not unusual that it is a remap issue.

-DonB2

At that range (3 miles) almost anything should pick up the stations - CBS is the only VHF channel so maybe that's a clue, I don't know. What antenna did they use? Does it have an amplifier, the signal might actually be too strong....

I am going to the house tomorrow to work on the dish. I plan on running a wire stright from the dish to the receiver to see what happens. I will also try and rescan the ATSC channels and rotating the antenna.

is the antenna they used. I belive it is a Aspen Eagle Antenna. There is no Amplifier attached to the system

Looks like a UHF antenna to me.
There is basically no gain on this antenna in the VHF band.

Is the antenna in the attic or something? If not, GET IT OUTSIDE, high up, and try to find a place where there arent obstructions right in front of the antenna.

HOW HIGH CAN YOU GET IT? DO IT

HD seeker is right there is no VHF on that antenna.

What is the terrain like where you are? Chicago will be alot easier to deal with than San Diego

This antenna is in Chicago ( one of the flatist places in the world) It is installed on the Roof of a 4 flat about 40' high. The antenna has direct line of site with no obstructions to the hancock and sears towers. D** installed this antenna and now wont help my client so I am. Is this not the correct antenna to use?

It is the correct antenna but it won't pick up VHF worth a damn, as mentioned. DirecTV did not do their homework and know that at least one HD channel was on VHF. CBS is on channel 3, so there is just no chance that this antenna will work.

At some point, the FCC will be selling off all of the VHF channels (so I hear), so CBS will have to move to a different frequency at that time. Your challenge is to have no CBS until that happens or change to a VHF/UHF antenna. I live about thirty, maybe forty miles, from the transmitting towers up on a mountain in the Los Angeles area, and a smallish Radio Shack VHF/UHF antenna brings in enough signal to split it four ways! I paid around $30 for that antenna. You should go there and try one in that price range. You are definitely too close to use a large antenna. Large means more gain, and since you are so close, the signal might be so strong as to not work properly with your TV.

So CBS is channel 2.1 in Chicago. It is on Frequency Assignment 3 according to cea's antenna web. Is that what you mean about being on a VHF Channel? If so why would it be working for 6 months and than all of a sudden go out? Did they change the Frequency Assignment?



What antenna would you guys suggest? I do see the same style all over the place here, but if it’s wrong I will have no problems changing it.

Thanks
SDZD

Did you read my last post? You seemed to have missed some things.


First, let's understand something about HD channel numbers. Here in Los Angeles, CBS or NBC, I forget and don't care which, has its HD signal on UHF channel 36. Let's say it's CBS; they don't call if 36, they call it 2.1. Why would they do this?

They do it for the stations, so that people who used to watch 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 can go look for 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, 7.1, etc instead of having to learn that they now want 36, 55, 68, 23, etc. In other words, it was to minimize confusion for the person who knows nothing about this stuff and just wants to find the fleekin HD station.

You know something about this stuff, so now you need to know more. Yes, 2.1 IS channel 3. That is, CBS is broadcasting its HD signal on channel 3. Their non-HD signal is on channel 2. But the names of the channels are 2 for non-HD and 2.1 for HD.

This is why there is a column at antennaweb for the actual channel assignment, and that is the more stuff you needed to know about.


Yes. Channels 2 - 13 are VHF.


Define "working." I got the impression from the first post that the client might never have gotten 2.1 very well, and it got worse. Not that it was excellent and suddenly is gone. Zip. Zero. Nada. Just that it got worse. Of course, maybe I am reading faster than I am thinking....

So, was it ever perfect? Did it go from perfect to non-existent? More to the point, how many business days have gone by with you wondering this but not calling the station to find out? They are the people who will actually know. google is very happy to give out phone numbers. Their call letters might be the name of a web site with channel info, too, or at least contact phone numbers. You don't have to pay telephone info a buck to find the phone number.


That's what you would ask the station. It is possible for antennaweb not to be completely up to date. They're only human.


Did you read my post? I made about as clear a recommendation as I could, taking into account how close you are and the fact that Radio Shack has changed antenna models since I bought mine.

I would just go ahead and recommend the Winegard GhostKiller, which I think is the HD-7210. It's a great VHF/UHF antenna with no elements that angle up or down from the antenna. That means you can put it into a shallow attic very nicely, not that this is a help to you. But it's a great antenna.

However, it is a VHF/UHF antenna. Read my last post again -- whether you get one depends on where 2.1 is now, in the future, and when it will move there. I noticed from the antennaweb channel listing for your zip code that no other HD stations now broadcast in the VHF channels, so CBS, in the words of our illustrious President, is the Decider.

EBG,
Thanks for the education. I am still learning about the Actual antennas. I must of overlooked your answer when you did tell me which antenna you would use.

In the first post I guess that i didn't explain myself that well. The house did have CBS for about 4 months than all of a sudden went out.
I appreciate the help and I am going to the house tomorrow or Saturday. Since its been raining everyday here i need to wait till there is some what of a nice day to get on the roof. I will give you a update when I am finished to let you all know what happen.
Thanks again
SDZD

This is a good good reason to call the station and ask them if they have changed the transmission channel for 2.1. It just occurred to me that if they did, a new channel scan by your receiver should locate the new channel location and make it work. If they moved it, it MUST have gone to a UHF channel, so a channel scan might fix it without you having to go to the roof. Call the station.


Call the station first.

Did I remember to tell you to call the station? :-)