Reception troubles

[decatur]

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d60b51bc0a9c814

I had to retype this, so I hope I don't leave out any detail.

As you can see I'm very close to the major Atlanta towers. Unfortunately I have a huge forest in the way (pic is aimed due south):

http://i53.tinypic.com/ddc45g.jpg

I have an HBU33 in the attic. I currently have this splitter splitting at the antenna: http://www.amazon.com/RCA-DT2SP-Way-Digital-Splitter/dp/B00008X5E1 Then I have about a 10 foot run to a bedroom and a 30 foot run to the den. The runs are this cable: http://www.generalcable.com/NR/rdonlyres/6AFFAC0F-1665-4E2C-80E9-C80A0E1AFE2F/0/C5785.pdf

The longer run has a lot of dropouts. Poor weather and wind, and afternoons more than evenings. Particularly with 2.1 (39), which happens to be the wife's favorite (thanks Murphy!) Meanwhile the shorter run looks good.

I've tried running a different cable straight through the attic door to rule out cable with the same results. Interestingly channel 2.1 will come out with perfect video and audio using only the 30 feet of cable disconnected completely at the splitter in short bursts, sometimes as long as 10 seconds! I've also eliminated splitting altogether, going straight from antenna to the den, with no real difference, maybe even worse. I've tried this amp in various configurations: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3780245 I seemed to have mixed results with it. Sometimes a little amping seemed to help, other times turning it off completely helped more. And, unfortunately I still seemed to have problems with individual stations. It might have helped with one station but hurt on others. Currently I don't have the amp installed at all. I also experimented with disabling LNA in the TV setup on channels with trouble but with no apparent results.

Channel 2.1's signal according to the den TV is about 5 out of 6, when dropouts come it drops to 0. It doesn't really dip, it just drops out. Of course the TV signal meter is probably not very scientific.

Any suggestions? Thanks very much in advance.

[baud]

Your signals are to strong for an amp with one split.
Have you tried swapping the tuner on the short run to the long run?

[decatur]

Of course not, that would have been smart and totally narrowed the problem down :o Well thanks very much, you seemed to have nailed it. I'm not sure why I didn't question the internal tuner TV in the den...maybe because it's a nicer set. Anyway I even split the line at the wall and am watching both sets at the same time. The tuner from the short run isn't perfect but it's still much better.

So, clearly the tuner is to blame. I'm just not sure what's wrong with it? Maybe it's being overloaded too easily? Or maybe it's just crummy? It's a Samsung HPS4253X. The other TV is a cheap Sharp LCD (albeit newer than the Samsung.)

So I should just get a standalone tuner?

[John Candle]

For better reception I recommend a tree mount , http://www.ronard.com/tree_adjust.html , http://www.ronard.com/tree.html. And a Channel Master CM2016 antenna aimed at about 230 degree magnetic compass. The branches of the tree or trees must be cut away so that the branches can not swing and whip around and distroy the antenna. Here are places to buy antennas and etc. , http://www.solidsignal.com , http://www.amazon.com , http://www.starkelectronic.com , http://www.3starinc.com , http://www.channelmasterstore.com , http://www.ronard.com

[Tower Guy]

So, clearly the tuner is to blame. I'm just not sure what's wrong with it? Maybe it's being overloaded too easily?

That's a fair guess. Try an attenuator to prove it.
http://www.amazon.com/Steren-Coaxial-attenuator-connector/dp/B000O5MS3S

[decatur]

Thanks, I'll try that. A quick search of the Radio Shack website got no hits. Anyone happen to know if they carry them anyway? Maybe Fry's (no hits on their site either)? It's a shame the 'Shack can't be a viable business without dumping the parts business for cell phones or whatever. The workers seemed to be hired for their ability to try to get me to upgrade my phone.

[GroundUrMast]

So far, Amazon has been the easiest place to deal with for attenuators... IMO

But check with the vendors listed by JC on post 4 of this thread.

[Tower Guy]

A quick search of the Radio Shack website got no hits. .

You can try a 4 way splitter with nothing or simply terminations on the unused ports. It will have about 7 db loss.

[John Candle]

http://www.antennasdirect.com has a variable attenuator.