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TV reception

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2005 Jun. ~ Aug.: All Things Technical: The Help Desk ARCHIVES: TV reception users admin

Author Message
Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Monday, June 20, 2005 - 8:55 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Dra or anyone, if you remember from my TiVo questions of a year plus ago, I have plain ol' TV -- no cable or satellite. TiVo is great. But now TV reception.... I'm in a 60 unit five-story condo building. The few of us who don't have cable have been having reception problems with the three network stations. (I'm in the Chicago suburbs.) Some of the comparatively lesser picture problems probably are due to interference from nearby electric lines. But in the past few weeks at times ABC and CBS has been terrible. Colors (especially red colors) very intense, lines within those color areas, picture flashes, picture / reception is interrupted -- blank screen. It's bad. At one point it was so bad it was not watchable. Condo association had worked on antenna and some wiring. TV antenna guy looked at things today. Thought if there is a ham radio operator in the area, that could be the problem. He drove around and found a ham radio not too far away -- kind of between here and general downtown area where network antennas / transmitters are. Could that be the problem? It comes and goes and is not on all stations transmitting from general downtown area to the east. Those of us that don't have cable don't want it -- we just want good reception like we had a few years ago. What happened?

Draheid
Moderator

09-09-2001

Monday, June 20, 2005 - 10:18 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Colordeagua: I doubt if it is a HAM operator causing the problem - that would be very intermittent as we only transmit occasionally which is when you might see problems, not constantly, probably not even for more than a couple minutes at a time - does that sound familiar relative to your problem?

Have the stations in your area recently upgraded to HDTV broadcasting that you know of? You might check their website to see if the ones you are having the most trouble with have any information about that. As I understand, the signal used for HDTV is split across two different 'channel' frequencies to give full HD quality signal - if they changed their systems somehow because of this, you might find that could be the problem.

I guess I would probably suggest you try calling your favorite station direct and ask to speak to someone in engineering to see if they have any thoughts on the subject. Certainly you should be able to receive their signal with the same quality as before. If there have been any changes, I would expect the engineer to know about it and suggest ways to improve your signal back to the quality you expect.



Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Tuesday, June 21, 2005 - 5:38 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Dra, the extremely poor reception was constant (anytime I was watching the station) for app. a week or more on ABC and then for a day or two on CBS. Then about a week ago there was a day or two when reception was good on all three network channels. Does that sound like HAM radio signal interference?

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 3:29 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Reception is still bad. Now to the point that ABC is sometimes unwatchable -- NO signal is being received. Some kind of interference out there. Looks like I may have to give in to cable or satellite.

So which -- cable or satellite? What is the good and bad about both? I've never had either so don't know much. I really don't know much about satellite at all. The dish has to face south? I think that would be possible outside my condo. (As I have TiVo already, not looking for that along with satellite. Generally here (Chicago area) I hear cable rates keep going up and customer service is bad and frustrating. What is the good and the bad about both?

With either one, I should still be able to record one show and watch another, yes? I just want to keep things simple.

Draheid
Moderator

09-09-2001

Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 8:08 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Satellite in most markets isn't able to provide your local stations like cable does, they usually depend on you putting an antenna attached to the dish to receive broadcast stations so you may not be much better off. What I have seen some folks do is a combination, if you need it. They get the very basic cable which usually only includes through channel 23 of their line for $10 - $12 per month then satellite for all the additional networks (CNN, TNT, FX, etc.) for less than digital cable.

One issue to keep in mind with satellite though, for each TV in your home to receive programming, you have to connect a satellite receiver. Whereas cable just needs to be connected to each TV and use the TV tuner to change channels. Cable is also much easier to use with a VCR for recording one show while watching another, although the newer satellite systems are available with built-in DVR (digital video recorders), with some even able to record two programs at the same time.

If you want to look more at satellite, look for special packages in your area. Also keep in mind that you have to buy the receivers for satellite or rent them from the cable company (for digital cable only, not for the basic cable).

Hope this helps. If you have other questions, let me know.

Max
Member

08-12-2000

Saturday, August 06, 2005 - 8:28 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
I have DishTV and I love it. I have DVR receivers and never use my VCRs anymore -- DVR is so much better! I also get all my local stations through the satellite -- it costs a little extra each month, but there's nothing special that needs to be done. Check on DishNetwork.com or DirectTV.com and you can see if local channels are available in your area.

Every once in a while the satellite signal cuts out, but that's not very often and never for very long. The biggest problem I had was once when we got really wet snow and it collected on the dish, blocking reception. Fortunately, I can reach my dish from my master bathroom window, so I just reached out and brushed the snow off and all was well again. If you live in an area where snow is more common, there are covers you can put on the dish to prevent this from happening.

Since I got my DishTV (been at least 4 years ago now), the rates have been increased once. Cable, on the other hand, has gone up several times.

I'm not sure, though, if DishTV would work with your TIVO or if you need their proprietary DVR receiver. DirectTV, which my neighbor has, used to use TIVO for their DVR receivers and are now (I think) using their own systems, but still can work with TIVO, too. Again, something to check with your local provider.

Good luck!

Colordeagua
Member

10-25-2003

Sunday, August 07, 2005 - 9:19 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post    
Thanks, Dra and Max. That gives me a better picture of both. I suppose I will go with cable. I want to continue getting network stations. And I want to keep it all as simple as possible. If it wasn't for the interference problems we've started having this year, I still would get it. I only found out recently that you can get cheap "antenna only" service, but as long as I'd be getting that I'll get a basic package.

Dang! What's flyin' around in the air that's messing up the network TV signals?