[mythtv-users] Increasing ATSC signal strength going into DVB card

[RAM]

Vern wrote:
> Is your antennae UHF, VHF, or both?
>
> The reason I ask that is because I had a very similar problem (still do).  I use a UHF only antennae for ATSC and it worked great.  I always thought all DTV was going to be in the UHF frequency range.  After the switch over last week, I had two channels that were very low (10%) and not usable at all (not found on scan) even though the others were all very high (80-90).  After a lot of messing with the antenna on the roof and getting them up to about 40% tops, I discovered with google that those channels were on temporary UHF frequencies for the last few years but now are back on their original VHF frequencies only sending digital (at least that's what I was lead to believe).  So I think I need a combo UHF/VHF antennae now to get them.  It kind of pisses me off.  I would have just bought and aimed a combo antennae from the start if I thought that could happen.  Even their little clips on how to receive the new channel on their web site showed using a VHF
>  antennae still.  I didn't know that was even going to be allowed.
>
> Since you lost across the board, not just on some channels, that might not be your problem but worth checking into before you start looking at amplifiers.
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: MythTV <MythTV at assuredsolutions.com>
> To: Discussion about mythtv <mythtv-users at mythtv.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 11:41:55 AM
> Subject: [mythtv-users] Increasing ATSC signal strength going into DVB card
>
> Ever since the decommission of NTSC, my ATSC signal strength has been about 30% lower than before across all channels.  Unfortunately, the channel we watch the most now only has a signal strength of 11% which is not enough for MythTV to lock on nor record from.  Before July 12th, our favorite channel had a signal strength 51%.
>
> I do have a signal amplifier on my antenna cable. It's a Blonder Tongue Broadband VHF/FM/UHF Distribution Amplifier.  I've been told that it is good enough for my area but I'll change if there's a better one to use.  Here's the URL to my amplifier:
> http://www.sjmediasystem.com/zta-15.html
>
> I also have a Digital Converter box connected to the same splitter where both pcHDTV HD-5500 cards are connected; the converter reports a signal strength of 40% on the channel in question where MythTV reports only 11%.
>
> I have tried changing the direction of my antenna.  No luck.
>
> Is there a way to increase the signal strength going into the pcHDTV HD-5500? Or, is there a way to make the pcHDTV HD-5500 more sensitive to the signal it is being fed?
>
> Rob
> My configuration is:
> MythTV version: 0.21.20080304-1 18722
> Ubuntu 8.10, kernel version: 2.6.27-9-generic
> CPU: Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.2GHz Socket 775 800 FSB w/Hyper Threading
> Technology
> Memory: 1Gig DDR 333 Memory 180 Pin
> Motherboard: ASRock 775i65G Mother Board
> Optical Drive: LG 18X DVD RW + Dual Layer
> Hard Drive: 1 Western Digital 250 Gig HD contains the OS and 1
> Western Digital 1 TB 7200 RPM Cache Serial ATA contains the video data
> Video onboard: Integrated SiS Ultra256 2D/3D Graphics
> Video card: Micro-star International (MSI) AGP GeForce FX5200-
> TD128LF, 8X, 128M, DDR1, D-Sub, DVI-D, TV-out
> Audio onboard: AUDIO ADI AD1888 6-channel audio CODEC
> Audio card: Riviera C-Media CMI 8738 (Connected to my entertainment
> center via the optical cable)
> Network Card: Onboard 10/100 Network Card
> Tuner cards: 2 pcHDTV HD-5500
>
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>
>
>       
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>   
One more thing to try - if your splitter is a 3 port, typically 2 ports 
have 7-10db loss while the other only has 3 or 4 db loss (they cascade 2 
port splitters.)
You might try swapping the digital converter box cable with one of the 
mythtv cables.  Also, many stations are running lower power/auxilery 
antennas especially during the day as they replace the old analog 
antennas with their new digital antennas.  In the San Francisco Bay 
area, they will be working on Sutro tower until sometime in October.

Roy