[mythtv-users] boosting my HD signal

[Kevin Bailey]

On Mon, May 05, 2008 at 10:42:57PM -0700, Dan Wierenga wrote:
>    I finally got my antenna up on my roof, and I get a few HD stations
>    really well, and I get some pixelation on some others, and some I don't
>    get at all.  I live in Los Angeles which from other posts to the list
>    should have all the stations broadcasting from the same place, Mt.
>    Wilson.  From that I would expect to get all the channels with roughly
>    the same quality, but there is a dramatic difference between the best
>    quality channel and the worst quality channel.

Sounds exactly like my situation. Unfortunately, while they're
nearly all in the same location, they're not broadcasting at
the same signal level. Take a look at tvfool.com and see that
the difference in the amount of licensed power broadcasted
(which is only an upper limit) is about 5:1 between the biggest
and smallest broadcaster.

I've also noticed that, depending on the time of day, they
broadcast at certain levels. My experience has been that
they crank it up during prime time, but it hasn't been
consistent enough to say for certain. Just realize that
if you start playing with stuff, do the comparisons all at
the same time so you're comparing apples to apples.

Don't know what you're having trouble getting but I'm getting
pretty much everything except ABC and 13 (UPN), both of which I
get analog. It's not even close, like 20% versus the lowest
acceptable being 50%, so I'm not even going to bother, say,
moving my antenna to the roof.

I read that amplifiers can actually make the situation worse
by amplifying the noise above the weak signal that you're
trying to pick up. That doesn't completely jive for me and
so I bought an amplified splitter, since I send the signal
to 2 rooms. It didn't make a bit of difference (but then its
not the CM7777 so can't speak for it.)

If you're worried about amplifying over a 50' cable run, one
idea is to put your tuner in the attic. This can be a HDHomerun
or a whole myth BE. This is my eventual plan.

Multipathing can create a patchwork of coverage. A signal may
be strong one place and bad 3 feet away, so you can try
moving your antenna. Another technique described on hdtvprimer.com
is to gang antennas to "focus" the coverage in a certain
direction.

Me, I'm just going to wait until these bozos flip their
main antennas to digital. If its still bad, then I'll start
playing with stuff.

Just an FYI: The Los Angeles thread on avsforum.com might be
a better place for location-specific coverage questions.
Many times stations will change allocation or format and
you'll think its just you, when in fact everyone is seeing
the problem. Helps eliminate these red herrings.