[mythtv-users] OTA signal strength Q

William Munson william_munson at bellsouth.net
Fri Apr 20 16:53:36 UTC 2007


Yan Seiner wrote:
> Craig Treleaven wrote:
>   
>> At 9:36 PM -0700 4/19/07, Yan Seiner wrote:
>>   
>>     
>>> ... The BT878 can only pull in about 5-7 channels.
>>>
>>> ... 2 directional antennas -> 2x1 splitter -> 6dB 1x2 amp -> one leg to
>>> Myth, other leg to TV each leg is then split again at the box for digital and analog tuners
>>>     
>>>       
>> Pournelle's Law: Cables do matter. When something doesn't work, always check the cables and their connectors first.
>>   
>>     
> Yeah, that's what it points to, but I have to spend about an hour 
> crawling through my attic to rerun the cable, so I figured I'd ask here 
> first....
>
> It's also weird that it would happen at changeover; it is possible that 
> the cable was just flaky enough that handling it broke it...
>   
Bingo!!! The coax cables used for cable tv have a solid wire center 
conductor and are very easy to break. Just a few bends and the wire work 
hardens and breaks. That would be the most likely problem since you just 
handled the wiring. Make sure the connectors are tight, that will also 
look like a bad cable.
> Anyone know of a way to get a signal strength meter cheap?
>   
Thats not so easy.... I dont think the ones for satellite tv will work 
for your purpose so you need. Perhaps an easier way would be to measure 
the cable with an ohm meter (VOM). Most splitters look like a dead short 
to an ohm meter so just check the far end of each cable from center wire 
to shield. They should all measure close to zero ohms. The bad cable 
will measure an open and may even jump back and forth as you move the cable.
> --Yan
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
>
>   



More information about the mythtv-users mailing list