[mythtv-users] Bay Area antenna tuning [was Re: OT - Antenna tuning/aiming]

[Yeechang Lee]

Robert Tsai <mythtv at tsaiberspace.net> says:
> I have a similar problem in that a single antenna cannot receive all
> stations.
> 
> If you can get yourself a second tuner and antenna, it should help.

Bah! Ingrates, all of you!

Well, maybe that's a wee bit harsh. However, living on the 14th floor
of a downtown San Francisco highrise apartment building--so no issues
with trees, but certainly potential for multipath problems--I've
*never* been able to receive (with my Zenith Silver Sensor indoor
antenna pointed vaguely in the direction of Sutro Tower, and an
Airstar-HD5000 tuner card) anything other than KTVUDT (FOX), KRONDT
(My Network TV, formerly independent), KBCWDT (The CW, formerly UPN),
KBWBDT (independent, formerly The WB), KCSMDT (PBS; non-HD), and
various religious and other low-power stations. mythtv-setup
occasionally locks onto KGODT (ABC) while doing a full scan, but the
resulting channel never actually works, and no sign ever of KNTVHD
(NBC), KPIXDT (CBS), or any of the KQED subchannels. Were it a simple
case of needing multiple antennas in different orientations I'd simply
do what Robert does and put the unused HD5000 in the closet to work
with another Silver Sensor, but believe me, I've tried every antenna
orientation possible.

Signalwise, KTVUDT and KRONDT are always rock solid, while KBWCDT is
almost always fine, with occasional signal breakups (_The Simpsons_
reruns I record end up several minutes short when this
happens). KBWBDT is a real mystery; about 25-30% of the time it comes
in great, and will stay this way for days or even weeks at a time, but
at other times it break up so badly that mythfrontend can't pull up a
coherent picture and will sometimes crash.

Not being able to receive KNTVHD is not surprising given its
transmitter's location in San Mateo, but I don't know why KGO and KPIX
don't tune in when Sutro Tower transmits their signals just as it does
the channels I do receive. I wonder if any of the following would
help:

* A new antenna. Obviously, given my living quarters, I'm limited to
  indoor antennas. The general consensus is that the Silver Sensor is
  on average far better than any other indoor antenna out there,
  including the horrible Terk amplified models, but perhaps my
  situation is not average.
* A new capture card. I've never read of any particular complaints of
  technical issues with the HD5000's design, but perhaps something
  else (like the HDHomeRun) would perform better?
* Using a channels.conf that's known to work. This assumes, not
  implausibly, that tuning a channel in for the first time amidst a
  cacophanous background of signals is harder than simply looking for
  a channel using known-to-be-good frequencies. Unfortunately, as I
  describe at
  <URL:http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/202206#202206>,
  I've never been able to get the channels.conf-import feature in
  mythtv-setup to work; when I put in a valid file name the next
  screen is blank. 0.20 didn't change this.

I know that many of you reading this are right now forming a lynch mob
because I *do* have 100%-reliable FireWire cable-box connections with
100%-unscrambled access to my subscribed channels. Believe me, I know
how fortunate I am to not deal with 5C encryption. That doesn't mean I
don't wish I could also get ABC, NBC, CBS, or The CW over the air.

Yeechang, playing the world's smallest violin

-- 
Yeechang Lee <ylee at pobox.com> | +1 650 776 7763 | San Francisco CA US