Reception Conundrum

[smccue]

Hi All!

I recently moved to a new home and just got around to getting the antenna up. Prior to this, there was no antenna hookup at the new house, but we were still receiving quite a few channels (with the tv set to "cable)-so we left it as is. I didn't understand what was happening, but thought I'd avoid a trip to the roof to set things up since we were getting some sort of magical reception.

About a week ago we suddenly lost all our channels and I couldn't get them back. After getting the antenna set up once again, I find that I'm only getting a small pittance of channels compared to what I received at the old house. At any given time I'll receive about 5 workable channels (as opposed to about 40 at the old place), and they're not even the main network stations.

Here are the reports from my two residences-the first is from the old house (which forum users helped me get set up, thanks again!) and the second is from the new.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d46ae426ce29016

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d46ae4abf7e83a5

I've got the antenna (http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=HD-7082P) on the roof pointed at about 73 degrees magnetic. It seems to me (in my very limited experience) that I should expect to have the same signal strength, and thus a similar number of channels as I did at the old house, but that's not the case.

Does anyone have any ideas what my problem might be? Troubleshooting tips? Thanks again for any input!

[GroundUrMast]

Without any doubt, the TV tuner needs to be set to 'antenna' or 'air' mode. Your temporary success in 'cable' mode suggests you were connected to a cable company service, perhaps left in from the previous home owner. Perhaps the cable company did work in the neighborhood recently and audited the connections. In some cases they would simply disconnect your drop at the pole or pedestal. However it's possible they added an inline filter. If there is any type of cable company service connected to the coax in your home, you can not use that coax to convey OTA signals from your antenna.

1) Make certain that the cable company is not connected to any coax that your antenna and TV are using. Both will interfere with the other and possibly other over the air services.

2) Make certain that your TV is set to 'antenna' or 'air' and that you've performed a full channel scan.

3) If this fails to produce good results, ie. dozens of reliable channels, then reduce the system to the antenna, a single new 50' cable, and the TV. There may be problems with the coax or splitter(s) left in by the previous owner.

Basic trouble shooting starts with the establishment of a known good source, the antenna in this case. Then add parts like splitters and additional cables. If they fail, you focus on the part that did not perform as expected rather than guessing at everything.

[smccue]

Once again you've saved the day. I swapped out what appeared to be an ancient splitter for a newer model and the problem fixed itself. Thanks again!

[GroundUrMast]

Thanks for sharing your results.

Cheers