Quote:
Originally Posted by johloh
I've tried 4 different antennas now and can't get half the channels I think I should be picking up... I'm not the type to normally ask for help but this is driving me crazy, and I cant figure out a solution... hopefully the knowledgeable people on these forums can help me out... I'm only looking to pick up the green stations listed on tv fool, I'm not greedy.
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Here are my numbers off the walmart antenna...
Channel 49 - 42%
Channel 15 - 64%
Channel 44 - 42%
Channel 30 - 40%
Channel 19 - 70%
Channel 22, 47, 2, 5, 8, 4, 25, 38, 12 - 0%
With my DB4 coat hanger I picked up 15(abc), 44(fox), 19(pbs) all without pixelation, but I didnt check signal strengths. I could pick up channel 5 on occasion but it broke up quite a bit.
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Any suggestions?? It seems like we have a ton of stations really close to us and after reading lots of posts where people are fighting to pick up stations 40+ miles away, that this should be easy... I think I must be missing something obvious here.
thanks!
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First let me say that I agree with
GroundUrMast. Next, let me say that except for the readings of "0," your signal meter readings are meaningless. There is no standard for signal meters in digital TV sets.
Personal example: I have a Samsung digital TV with a signal meter measures signal strength as the number of bars as with a cell phone. The set often gets better reception at 2 bars than it does at 4 bars. One of the things that these meters cannot tell you is whether or not your signal is a clean 20% strength on a single line or a multipath signal at 60% strength.
But I digress.
Clarification Your "Walmart" antenna is actually a RCA antenna that is sold at Walmart and other outlets. The RCA flat antenna and your DIY antennas are UHF antennas.
Except for KBLN (RF30), all of your full-power stations are VHF. Also, except for KBLN (RF30), your strongest signals are broadcast by are low-power translators.
The thing that you are missing is that you live at a location of rugged terrain. Forty miles? Look at your TV Fool Radar plot for stations in red, yellow, and green. These are the signals that you may reasonably expect to receive. There is not a single TV transmitter that you can reasonable expect to receive that is farther than 25 miles from you.
That said, many of the translators in your area retransmit the signals from Medford stations to viewers in Grants Pass. Check the call sign of each translator on
RabbitEars.Info to see which signal it carries.