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I checked the voltage at the upper end of the coax, it shows 15.1 -- the same as it is on the lower end, indoors. What it looks like around here . . . Here is a view from the south, looking north towards Rochester where all the transmitters are (pik is about due north, Rochester is a bit to the west). Red arrow shows antenna which if you look carefully, you can see it is rotated a bit west: https://i.imgur.com/YTzra0Q.jpg Looking north from the roof: https://i.imgur.com/Ayv7pmH.jpg Looking south: https://i.imgur.com/mVEVr2C.jpg Looking north again. As you can see, not much changes from year to year. The hill shown in the FCC diagram (that you posted in September in this thread) is about 2-3 miles north of me, nothing but woods between me and the hill. https://i.imgur.com/0o9cuHv.jpg This all looks like a Wineguard, and makes sense as everything else is too: https://i.imgur.com/kVRurcq.jpg That checking stuff is a bit over my head. Wouldn't I be better off just buying a new preamp and taking my chances -- especially considering the two complete blackouts I've had in the past year or so? :confused: |
Thanks for the excellent photos. That looks like the Winegard HD7697P or 7698P.
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cartridge housing (balun/combiner). The CB-8269 is an odd design. The forks make contact with the wires from the UHF and VHF sections in a way that doesn't look 100% reliable to me. There is a replacement available: https://www.amazon.com/Winegard-CB-8.../dp/B003H2G5ZM https://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=cb-8269 http://www.winegarddirect.com/viewit...(CB8269)&post= The trees and the hill certainly could be the major problems. |
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Last fall was no different than the previous 34 falls, but this fall is different. Just taking the knowns and thinking logically, I would conclude that it isn't the terrain/flora (which probably hasn't changed much since the ice age) there is something not quite right with the man-made antenna system. As for a bad connector, would that have caused the two total blackouts I've had in the past year? If I go this way, what preamp would you recommend? |
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Possible preamps: Antennas Direct Juice https://www.antennasdirect.com/store/JUICE.html Channel Master 7777HD/Amplify (has high and low gain settings) https://www.channelmaster.com/Amplif.../cm-7777hd.htm on sale |
Growing up in Cheektowaga and Orchard Park, NY we were able to
receive locals plus Toronto, Hamilton, Barrie, Peterborough, London & Kitchener in Ontario plus Erie, PA. We rarely received Rochester even though it was much closer than many of the others. After seeing your photos, with the trees that tall and the hill, it is surprising that you receive anything at all. None of that explains why you are having the recent issues and the outages. Your Winegard antenna is a very good one but the weakest link in the design is that CB-8269 housing. I have replaced many of those over the years that fail due to the heat we experience here in Arizona. They usually cost around $25.00 As Rabbit indicated, Every connection is a potential source for problems. In my head, I'm thinking that those total blackouts were caused by shorting at one of those connections. If your cables are fairly old, like over 10 years, you may want to replace them with new, RG6. If you are up to it, you could replace each of the connectors yourself but be sure to weatherproof those outdoors with good silicone sealant. |
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I assume you are talking about the box in my last picture? When you said "replace each of the connectors," what exactly are you referring to? All coax was new in 2011. |
Dagwood, here is what I would do.
Check each outdoor connection. Is there any corrosion? Any rust? If so, that could be all or part of your problem. I would run a temporary new and VERIFIED RG6 cable directly from the antenna to a tv. See what you get. If reception remains poor, I'd replace the CB-8269 Winegard housing. If reception is improved, the next thing I would do would be to replace the cable between the antenna and the preamp. I would then run the temporary cable from the output of the preamp to a tv. See what happens. If reception remains about the same, you many want to replace the preamp. It should be helping you, not keeping things the same or worse. In essence, you will be isolating some of the most likely OUTDOOR culprits that are likely affecting your reception. You might try replacing each of the outdoor connectors with new ones but you might be opening yourself up to other problems. In the last photo, it looks like one of the lines that go into the CB-8269 connector box might be grounding out on a rusty screw. Be sure those lines do not touch anywhere!!!!! Finally, please be careful on that roof....... |
You could use this to seal all your connections:
https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Ele...ords=coax+seal I have found coax seal to be easy to apply, will last as long as you need it and is easy to remove if necessary. Also keeps moisture out and very UV resistant. Just a suggestion. Best holiday wishes..... |
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They came right over and put the ladder back up. Whew. There is almost never any wind down here in this hole unless it comes from the southeast, and there must have been a big gust that blew it over. Oh well, things could have turned out much, much worse. At any rate, I was up there cleaning my chimney and checking the antenna. TV reception has been pretty good since I posted last, but CBS would still have a little problem once in a while. FOX has been fine, and that is usually my weakest channel. So I took that plastic housing off the antenna (after unplugging the power supply inside) and there was quite a bit cobwebs and other bug "trash" in there. I cleaned it up, and after I got back down to earth again, I plugged in the power supply and turned the TV on. Everything is okay, but it may take a few days to see if what I did is helping any with CBS. A big thanks to all you guys for the help, and I'm probably not done yet. If everything is ok I will let it run til spring, and replace that housing then. Winter is supposed to come in with a roar in a day or two, I may not be able to get back up there til spring. https://s19.postimg.org/tr5divgyr/cheers.gif |
UPDATE: The weather has been pretty cold the past 2 weeks, so TV reception has been fine. But now it's been warm and cloudy, and CBS is not coming in at all tonight. (I'd noticed some slight pixelation the last day or two.)
I have never had a problem with CBS (or FOX) this time of year, even if we had a warm spell. In fact, although CBS is weak, I've never had a problem with it at any time of the year since I installed this system in 2011. So I know something is not right. Unless someone has some quick suggestions, I'm thinking of hiring someone to fix it. Although the preamp voltages have checked out well, could there be something else wrong with it that doesn't show up with a voltage test? Should I just buy a new one? Or hire someone? TIA! |
"pretty cold" = dry, low or no humidity = good reception.
"warm and cloudy" = wet, humid = bad reception. Sounds more and more like a weak corroded connection or balun somewhere. The moisture builds up and starts to short out or increasing resistance creating signal loss. |
"So I took that plastic housing off the antenna (after unplugging the power supply inside) and there was quite a bit cobwebs and other bug "trash" in there. I cleaned it up, and after I got back down to earth again, I plugged in the power supply and turned the TV on. Everything is okay, but it may take a few days to see if what I did is helping any with CBS."
I frequently run into a situation as you describe above. In addition to cleaning out the plastic housing, I also gently run some very fine sand paper or cloth on the contact points and antenna lines where "contact" is made. It often makes a huge difference. I'm inclined to agree with Rickbb. When safe to do so, check each and every outdoor connection point. |
I tried aiming it a bit each way today, but it didn't make any difference, CBS is totally dead. FOX comes in fine.
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That sounds like a good plan. Those lines/rods that go into the
permanently attached portion with still need to be sanded/cleaned to maximize reception. Finally, I'm able to stream WHEC and WHAM news from my Roku. I'd hate to hear about someone injured or worse trying to fix an antenna. PLEASE LET SOMEONE KNOW YOU ARE GOING ON YOUR ROOF. Make arrangements to call them back in a certain period of time, otherwise, they come over to help. |
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Some friends of mine suggested exactly what you recommended when I told them the story a couple of weeks ago. I didn't do that yesterday, but I did take my wireless land-line phone with me (no cell signal here), I tied a rope to the ladder, and had a second ladder in place in another spot. When I got down yesterday, no CBS as I noted above. But later in the evening it came in fine (weather got colder). I ordered a new housing from Wineguard Direct. A big "Thanks!" to all, I will update as needed. https://i.imgur.com/56QZEHI.gif http://i64.tinypic.com/24pjjmh.gif |
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I ordered that new housing thingy last winter. My channels were coming in fine after my last post, so the housing sat in its shipping box. So here it is in late June and channel 8 is still coming in fine (I always lose 31 in May). As it is now, everything is normal and as expected, yet I've done nothing to the antenna, preamp, and the new housing has not been installed. All of my equipment is the same as it was last December when 8 was giving me huge problems. So what was actually causing the reception problems, something atmospheric? (sunspots or something?) TIA for your comments! :D |
Greetings Dagwood,
In retrospect, the issue with channel 8, WROC may have been at their end. Perhaps they were running at lower power than normal or their antenna may have needed some "tuning" to perform at 100%. Glad you are able to enjoy CBS once again. Enjoy your fabulous summer! |
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I don't know what I would do without you knowledgeable guys here on this website. I probably would have gone up on the roof and jumped off on purpose, lol. There is no cable available here, and I don't think there is enough open area for satellite either, so OTA is all I have. https://s19.postimg.cc/lp0ltgcgz/thankyou.gif EDIT: Just for giggles, this is what it looks like around here today as contrasted to the December pictures that I posted earlier in the thread: http://i64.tinypic.com/xekaqh.jpg |
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Thanks for the report and the photo in the summer.
http://forum.tvfool.com/attachment.p...6&d=1529695081 http://forum.tvfool.com/attachment.p...7&d=1529695119 Even if your antenna system is in perfect condition, I think you will continue to have problems with the trees. Fox is your weakest signal, and their transmitting antenna has a directional pattern that doesn't send much power south; it favors east and west of Rochester. http://forum.tvfool.com/attachment.p...8&d=1529695181 http://forum.tvfool.com/attachment.p...9&d=1529695221 After the FCC Repack of UHF channels, WHEC will stay on 10: https://www.rabbitears.info/market.p...&callsign=WHEC WHAM will move from 13 to channel 9, so you will need to rescan: https://www.rabbitears.info/market.p...&callsign=WHAM WXXI will move from 16 to 22: https://www.rabbitears.info/market.p...&callsign=WXXI WROC from 45 to 21: https://www.rabbitears.info/market.p...&callsign=WROC WUHF will stay on 28. https://www.rabbitears.info/market.p...&callsign=WUHF Transition Phase 4: Testing Begins: 6/22/2019 Phase Ends: 8/2/2019 https://www.rabbitears.info/repackch...=&lss=&status= The only things I can think of to improve your reception would be to move your antenna higher to a location that doesn't have trees directly in front of it, or mount a smaller UHF only antenna on a tower to improve the reception of your weaker channels and combine it with your present antenna for VHF using a UVSJ UHF/VHF combiner. Quote:
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Thanks for your comments and help! :D |
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